The Differences Between AP and IB

High school students looking to challenge themselves academically and earn college credits early sometimes take Advanced Placement courses. Likewise, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is another way some get a head start on postsecondary education.

“Both groups of students are really looking to challenge themselves with college-level material to potentially earn college credits,” says Stuart Jones, the IB diploma program coordinator at Midlothian High School in Virginia, which offers both AP and IB courses.

According to data from the College Board, which runs AP, more than 22,800 U.S. high schools offered AP classes in 2021, which was up by more than 4,000 from 2012. About 35% of high school graduates have taken at least one AP course.

On the other hand, more than 900 high schools in America offer the IB diploma program, according to IB. The first IB program course was taught in a U.S. school in 1971, while AP courses were introduced in 1955.

Although the presence of IB is small in the U.S. compared to AP, it has a more global reach. About 3,700 programs across all grades are offered worldwide at more than 5,700 schools in 159 countries. It’s an attractive option for students who want to attend college outside the U.S., experts say.

One thing the programs have in common is a race-related opportunity gap. Black, Latino and Indigenous students are more likely than white and Asian students to attend a school that doesn’t offer AP or IB courses, according to a 2021 report by the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute based in Washington, D.C. And in high schools that offered 18 or more AP courses, there were significant gaps in the rates at which Black, Latino and Indigenous students were enrolled in those courses compared to their white and Asian peers, noted the report, which looked at disparities in advanced coursework opportunities for high school students.

In AP classes, students often research a subject and then explain it in a short essay or answer a variety of multiple-choice questions about it, says Shawn Abel, principal at Midlothian.

“IB students tend to have that global-mindedness to them,” he says.

Jones adds that IB courses tend to go into more depth than the AP courses, which usually cover a wider breadth of information with less time spent on each aspect. IB diploma programs are two years while AP classes typically last a semester or two.

“The IB courses are designed with a specific approach to teaching and learning in mind,” Jones says. “They’re very inquiry-based and student-centered and they require students to collaborate and really focus on a critical thinking component.”

There are some differences in the student assessments for the two programs, he notes.

“AP assessments tend to be very multiple-choice heavy in assessing … factual knowledge, whereas IB assessments are almost exclusively written responses,” he says, “so it requires students to understand the content but also to demonstrate that they have a clear conceptual understanding of what they’re learning.”

Students who score high enough on either exam can typically obtain college credit, although the amount may vary from college to college.

The AP exam is scored on a scale of 1 to 5, where 3 or above is passing. Students need to research what prospective colleges accept for credits, because some schools accept a 3 while others require a 4 or 5.

Each IB course is graded on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the highest score. A score of 4 “is generally considered passing at most colleges and universities,” Jones says, “but you’re going to need to earn a 5 to earn college credits, and then some of the more selective colleges or universities are going to require a 6.”

AP courses last one semester or two, and a student can take multiple AP courses or just one. Meanwhile, an IB diploma requires two years of courses across six subject categories.

The College Board offers 39 AP courses in fields such as arts, English, history and social sciences, math and computer science, and world languages and cultures. There are 57 IB courses across the subjects of the arts, language and literature studies, language acquisitions, individuals and societies, mathematics, sciences and the arts.

While AP courses are geared to help students be able to do college-level work and improve their critical-thinking skills, Jones says IB programs aim to help students be reflective, balanced, healthy risk-takers and caring.

AP instructor Joseph O’Connor, a social studies teacher at William Tennent High School in Pennsylvania, says there are two main benefits of taking an AP class.

“It’s a really deep dive into the content area that’s been selected,” he says, “but more than that, it’s to be introduced into a genuine college-level learning experience, which is very different from high school learning.”

Students become much more active participants, diving into their interests within a particular subject to see where it takes them in future endeavors with a career.

“Students have to own the material on a different level in AP classes” than in regular courses, he says.

IB courses are also more active and rigorous than standard courses, and they focus on holistic learning, problem-solving and creative thinking to a greater degree than AP classes, he says.

Most high schools in the U.S. that offer IB diploma courses are public, while the majority of IB diploma programs in foreign countries are at private schools.

“After a certain number of years, it seemed to me as a teacher that I was just moving really quickly through a set curriculum and had to teach a certain number of titles since three, four or five titles would be on the test,” he says.

AP’s accelerated learning pace can be beneficial, but IB classes explore the curriculum more comprehensively, he says. “IB courses are two years long, so by the time you’re done, you’ve gone very in-depth. It’s an inquiry-based framework. Everything leads with questions and leads with inquiry.”

Regardless of preference between IB and AP, Abel says, taking courses in both can benefit students (although both programs at one school is uncommon).

“The notion that you need to pick AP or IB and that they can’t coexist in a school is inaccurate,” he says, “and I think we’ve proven that they can and it’s actually been very beneficial to all our students to have both.”