If you are predicted 30 to 34 IB points, you are in one of the most useful bands in European admissions. It is at or above the global IB average, it clears the threshold for the majority of English-taught bachelor's programmes on the continent, and it keeps a genuinely wide set of countries open to you. The question is not whether Europe will accept a score in this range. It will. The question is where a 30, a 32, or a 34 places you, and which programmes are worth an application.
Before the country breakdown, one principle that should change how you read every number below. Published entry requirements are guidelines, not automatic cut-offs. A university that lists 32 is describing a typical successful applicant, not operating a barrier that rejects a 31 on sight. Many European universities also make offers on your final certified results rather than predicted grades, which means a strong finish in Year 13 can count as much as the prediction on paper. Treat the figures here as a map of where you are competitive, and build a list that includes one or two programmes slightly above your predicted score. For the full country-by-country picture across the whole points range, see our guide to how many IB points you need to study in Europe.
Where 30 to 34 actually sits
The global IB average sits at around 30 to 31, so a prediction in this band already places you at or above the midpoint of IB students worldwide. Across most of Europe, that opens the large middle of the market: solid, well-regarded public universities and a good number of the more selective ones. What a 30 to 34 does not reliably reach are the two most contested categories: undergraduate medicine at public universities, which realistically expects high-30s to 40, and a small group of internationally selective institutions such as ETH Zurich or Bocconi. Everything else is in play. If your heart is set on medicine, our guide to the best countries to study medicine abroad sets out the realistic picture, and do not rule it out at private institutions, where the points thresholds are lower.
Two things that matter more than the total
At this score band, two factors decide more applications than the headline number.
The first is your Higher Level subject combination. A 32 with HL Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches is a stronger engineering application than a 34 without it. Medicine expects HL Biology and HL Chemistry almost everywhere. Business and economics programmes are split: some require HL Mathematics, others are flexible. Check the subject requirements of the courses you care about before you finalise your options in Year 1, because a subject gap can close a door that your total would otherwise open.
The second is timing. European admissions do not run on the UK's predicted-grades-then-confirm rhythm. Many systems work to their own deadlines and assess you on certified results. If you are weighing the IB against A-levels for European entry, our comparison of A-levels and the IB for university applications explains how each is read.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands has long been a natural home for a 30 to 34 IB student. The IB maps cleanly onto the Dutch pre-university diploma, and the country has historically offered one of the widest ranges of English-taught programmes on the continent. One current change to weigh: from 2025 the Dutch government is reducing the number of English-taught bachelor's programmes and letting universities cap the places on English-language tracks, so provision is tightening rather than growing. It remains a strong option at this band, but check that your specific programme is still running in English for your intake year. Non-selective programmes typically sit at 26 to 28, so a 30-plus clears them comfortably. The competitive programmes in Amsterdam and Utrecht land in the 30 to 34 range, which means the upper part of this band reaches them. The exceptions are psychology and medicine, which are capped numerus fixus programmes where each university runs its own selection, and which are oversubscribed at any score. For the mechanics of applying, ourguide to studying in the Netherlands covers Studielink and the numerus fixus system.
Germany
Germany's public universities charge no tuition in most states, only a semester contribution of a few hundred euros (a small number of states, such as Baden-Wurttemberg, charge non-EU students a modest tuition fee), which makes a 30 to 34 an unusually good-value proposition here. Most undergraduate programmes admit from 28 to 30, so this band opens the majority of them. The more competitive business, law, and computer science courses at the larger city universities ask for 32 to 35, which the upper half of the band reaches. Public medicine is the exception and sits well above this range. Our comparison of the UK and Germany weighs fees, work rights, and language if you are choosing between the two.
Ireland
Ireland is worth a close look at this band, and as an English-speaking system it removes the language question entirely. For applicants with EU fee status, entry runs through the CAO, which converts your IB total into CAO points on a fixed table, with a bonus for Higher Level Mathematics; students without EU fee status usually apply directly to each university, which assesses the same IB results. A 30 to 34 converts into a mid-to-upper points range that opens a broad set of courses at universities in Dublin, Cork, and Galway, with the very high-points courses, medicine and some law programmes among them, out of reach at the lower end of the band. Because Irish entry is points-based rather than built on individual conditional offers, knowing your converted score early is the single most useful thing you can do. Ourguide to studying in Irelandexplains the CAO and the conversion in detail.
Poland
Poland offers some of the best value in Europe, with English-taught programmes at public universities costing roughly 2,000 to 6,000 euros a year. The University of Warsaw and Jagiellonian University in Krakow are the most selective, and competitive candidates for their popular English-taught programmes typically present scores in the low to mid 30s, so this band is in range. Most other public universities admit from 26 to 30, which a 30 to 34 clears with room to spare. Ourguide to studying in Polandcovers the application route and the NAWA scholarships.
Czech Republic
Charles University in Prague anchors the Czech option. Its English-taught medicine programme is genuinely competitive and sits above this band, but its non-medical programmes in English, and those at other Czech public universities, work in a 28 to 32 range that a 30 to 34 meets. Prague also has some of the lowest living costs of any European capital, which matters as much as tuition for the total cost of a degree.
Spain and Italy
Both countries are expanding their English-taught provision, though the total volume is smaller than in Germany or the Netherlands. Spanish public universities admit international students through a formal conversion of the IB score (the UNEDasiss credential), and most programmes are comfortably within reach of this band, with the most popular courses favouring higher converted scores. Private institutions are more selective: IE University typically admits from around 34, with admitted students averaging closer to 36, which puts it at the very top of this band. Italian public universities admit from 26 to 28. The standout exception is Bocconi in Milan, where admission runs on the university's own selection process and successful IB applicants typically present around 35 or higher, just beyond this band for its flagship business and economics degrees.
Scandinavia
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway offer well-regarded, often English-taught degrees. Competitive programmes typically start at 30 to 32, which places the middle and upper part of this band in contention. The cost picture depends on your passport: tuition is free for EU and EEA students across the Nordic public universities. Non-EU and non-EEA students pay fees in Denmark and Sweden, and, since 2023, in Norway too, where fees run roughly 11,000 to 33,000 euros a year. A proposal to remove Norway's fees from August 2026 is before parliament, so if Norway interests you, check the current position for your intake year rather than relying on its old tuition-free reputation.
If you are at 30, and if you are at 34
At the lower end, a predicted 30 is not a reason to narrow your list to the least competitive options. It is a reason to build a balanced shortlist: a couple of programmes where 30 sits comfortably above the guideline, a solid middle where you match it, and one or two slightly above, applied for on the reasonable expectation that a strong final result can lift you there. Foundation-year routes and strong regional universities across Central Europe and the Baltics widen the field further.
At the upper end, a predicted 34 is a genuinely strong European application. It reaches the competitive programmes in the Netherlands, the better courses in Germany and Poland, and a good share of what Ireland offers. The one habit worth keeping even at 34 is to check the Higher Level subject requirements, because at the more selective programmes it is a subject match, not the total, that separates an offer from a near-miss.
Wherever you sit in the 30 to 34 band, the most useful next step is to see your own predicted score matched against real programmes rather than reading ranges in the abstract. Our freeBest-fit Study Options tool does exactly that: enter your predicted IB total and your Higher Level subjects, and it shows the universities and courses where you are competitive across Europe. It is free to explore, and it turns a general sense of where you might get in into a specific shortlist you can act on.