The International Baccalaureate (IB) will launch digital exams for the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) and IB Career-related Programme (CP) in May 2026.
A select number of schools have been invited to participate in the first live session of online IB exams next year.
The IB plans to introduce digital exams across subject groups from 2026 to 2029 in a phased approach. All IB World Schools will have the option to sit online exams for select subjects, including Language and Literature and Language Acquisition, from November 2026.
During this early rollout, students will have the option to choose between digital and paper exams for certain subjects; the exam paper will be the same for both options. Grade boundaries will be set to ensure that a student could get the same exam result, whether they take a digital or paper assessment.
The IB plans to include more subjects, such as Individuals and Societies, Sciences, and Mathematics, with more details to be shared after the trials in 2026.
By the early 2030s, all exams will transition exclusively to a digital format.
Key milestones include:
May 2025: Sample digital exam papers will be distributed to all IB World Schools.
January 2026: The IB's Digital Examination System will be launched.
May 2026: The first digital IB exams will be conducted, starting with a limited number of selected schools.
Announcing the news, Matt Glanville, Director of Assessment, International Baccalaureate, explained the benefits of moving to online assessments. He said that online exams will "massively increase the range of accessibility functions" for students, and allow them to "take control of their own engagement with the assessment".
The online IB exams will offer video footage, interactive tools, moving images, which will enhance how students interact with concepts and express their understanding.
"Showing that you understand how to interact with concepts, to learn from those concepts, and to express what you see and what you can understand, " explains Mr Glanville.
"Moving to digital assessments is really all about letting students engage with assessments and education in the way that's natural to them."
Will there be a worldwide switch to online exams?
The Director-General of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), Olli-Pekka Heinonen, announced in 2023 that the organisation was looking at how it could bring digital assessment to its Diploma Programme, noting that "we have now come to the moment for the IB to move into that area".
But it’s not just the IB that is making the move towards online exams.
England’s exam regulator Ofqual is exploring the use of online testing over the next two years as part of its future plans for GCSEs and A Levels. It has removed certain regulations, allowing exam boards to use remote assessment, digital delivery and adaptive testing software that tailors exam questions to student responses.
In 2020, Pearson Edexcel was among the first to launch onscreen assessment; it launched a partly online computer science GCSE with a combination of live and on-screen interactive coding challenges and a written paper.
The number of students sitting onscreen GCSE and A Level exams has increased in the last few years, and Pearson Edexcel says that by "2026 there will be 14 subjects available for international schools to take onscreen exams in".
Exam board Cambridge International has also announced the launch of digital exams across six subjects, from June 2026. This initiative will first be available to students at schools in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States. Following this initial rollout, Cambridge plans to offer digital exam options globally across its full Cambridge IGCSE, International AS, and A Level curricula.
Can you do the IB Diploma Programme online?
Yes! The IB recently launched its first online delivery of the IBDP, with the online school King’s InterHigh being one of the first schools in the world to offer the programme completely remotely. Its first cohort of IBDP students sat their exams in May this year, following the traditional paper-based format.
Commenting on the key advantages for students studying the IB Diploma Programme online compared to attending a traditional brick-and-mortar school, Alastair Summers, Head of Key Stage 5 at King’s InterHigh, said:
“There are several angles to consider. Firstly, many of our online IB students are located all over the world. In some cases, they reside in areas where there's limited access to quality IB schooling or no IB school at all. Our programme allows these students to access a high-quality IB education from wherever they are.
“Another key factor is the mobility of our student population. Many come from families that relocate frequently due to parental work commitments. Online IB education provides stability by allowing these students to continue their education without the disruption of changing schools midway through the IB diploma programme."
Other online schools now offering the online IB include Dwight Global Online, SEK Education, Aoba-Japan International School, Eastwood Global, Scotch Global and Nazaret Global. It marks a significant milestone for the IB: for the first time, it allows students to pursue the IB Diploma without being tied to a physical campus.