Danish students graduating with an International Baccalaureate (IB) will in from now on have their results compared more fairly with the Danish studentereksamen.
Until recently, the conversion of IB grades into the Danish scale was updated only once every three years. This created a lag that could disadvantage students applying to Danish universities, especially when grade trends shifted internationally.
According to the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, there will now be an annual evaluation of whether the conversion table should be adjusted in light of new statistical data. The latest tables are published by 1 March each year and remain valid until the end of February the following year.
Danes Worldwide has long campaigned for this change. In a 2023 letter to the Education and Research Agency, the organisation noted that annual conversions would ensure greater fairness, particularly for young Danes taking the IB abroad.
Michael Bach Petersen, Secretary General of Danes Worldwide, explains why the issue matters:
“It is absolutely crucial that the upcoming revision of the grading scale does not put Danish students in international upper secondary programs, including the IB, at a disadvantage compared to Danish students in domestic programs. Denmark invests in IB as a state-funded education, and therefore there should be insistence on a conversion model that is both transparent and fair.”
Danes Worldwide has also put forward a number of other proposals to secure a more fair system by recognizing that even small shifts in conversion keys can have a major impact on whether a student qualifies for admission to the higher education of their dream.
On top scores, Danes Worldwide also points out that the highest achievable IB result in the subjects is 42 points, which should be equated with an average grade of 12 in Denmark. The additional possible points up to 45 should then be treated as extraordinary, similar to how Danish averages can reach above 12.
The move toward annual reviews has been welcomed as a major step forward. Danes Worldwide stresses that the new system must remain both simple and fair, so that Danish IB graduates are not discouraged from returning home to study.
