European Baccalaureate History

Candidates sit five written examinations and three oral examinations at the end of s7. L1, L2 and Mathematics are compulsory written papers. For the orals, L1, L2 or a subject taught through L2 (History or Geography) are compulsory. You must therefore show written and oral proficiency in at least two languages.

The overall pass mark for the European Baccalaureate is 5 out of 10, that is 50 out of 100. This is an overall threshold for the final mark, which combines your preliminary mark with your examination results, rather than a separate pass requirement for each individual paper.

Half of the final mark is your preliminary mark, reflecting formative A marks and summative B marks from Pre-Baccalaureate examinations during s7. The other half comes from double-corrected examinations: the five written papers account for 35% and the three oral papers for 15% of that examination-based part.

Both written and oral examinations are marked by your own teachers and by external examiners, and the final mark is the average of the two. If their marks differ by more than two points, a third external corrector is brought in and sets a final mark between the highest and lowest of the two previous corrections.

Each examination covers the entire syllabus of the corresponding subject in s7, but it also assesses the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired in earlier years, especially s6. Revising only s7 content is therefore a common strategic error; build revision around s6 foundations as well.

The session is overseen by the Chairman of the European Baccalaureate and national inspectors acting as Vice-chairmen, who safeguard the quality of papers and fair assessment. External examiners are selected annually by the Board of Inspectors and must meet their home countries' requirements for appointment to examining boards of the same level.

A marks are formative and reflect daily work: attention and participation in class, regularity of work at home, positive attitude, initiative and independence, short progress tests or oral interrogations, and noted progress. B marks are summative and come from term or semester Pre-Baccalaureate examinations held under controlled conditions and time constraints.

Beyond the compulsory core, you choose options and complementary subjects to complete your package, which must amount to a minimum of 31 and a maximum of 35 periods per week. The catalogue of complementary courses varies from one school to another, so check what your own school offers.

The source page does not describe any retake or resit arrangements for the European Baccalaureate, so no policy can be confirmed here. Candidates needing that information should consult the European Baccalaureate Regulations in the Official Texts and ask their school's Baccalaureate coordinator directly.

Treat s6 as the base: the examinations test competences from earlier years too. Sustain A-mark habits throughout s7, since they feed the preliminary mark worth half the final result. Then rehearse under exam conditions, including oral practice in your second language and past-paper timing for the compulsory written subjects.