Guides · 18 articles
IB exam technique: papers, command terms and mark schemes
Knowing the content is half of an IB exam. The other half is knowing what each paper rewards: how a command term sets the length of an answer, how a mark scheme splits marks between method and result, how many minutes a mark is worth, and what to do when you're stuck. These guides cover the papers in the app's seven courses on the current syllabus, plus the cross-subject skills that apply to all of them.
All exam technique guides
BiologyHow to answer IB Biology long-answer questions (Paper 2)The 9-step scaffold I used for IB Biology long answers in my own exams and teach to students, plus the diagrams worth knowing and how to use the marks to plan length.3 min readBiologyIB Biology Paper 1B: how to read unfamiliar data fast and score on every questionWhat IB Biology Paper 1B asks, how to read unfamiliar graphs quickly, the calculations to master, and two worked examples.9 min readBiologyIB Biology exams now: Paper 1A, 1B and 2 explained (2025 syllabus)What the IB Biology exams look like on the current syllabus (first exams 2025): paper lengths, weightings, question types at SL and HL, what changed from the old course, and how to prepare for each paper.4 min readChemistryIB Chemistry Paper 1A: multiple-choice strategy, timing and the traps to expectIB Chemistry Paper 1A strategy: elimination, estimating, the calculator and data booklet, timing, distractor patterns and 5 worked MCQs.7 min readChemistryIB Chemistry Paper 2 tips: calculations, explanations and mechanisms that earn the marksHow to earn method marks in IB Chemistry Paper 2: calculation layout, error carried forward, particle explanations, mechanisms and timing.7 min readChemistryIB Chemistry exams now: Paper 1A, 1B and 2 (2025 syllabus)What IB Chemistry exams look like on the current course (first exams 2025), including the change many students miss: calculators are now allowed in Paper 1A, and the data booklet is with you in every paper.3 min readESSIB ESS exam format from 2026: Paper 1 case study, Paper 2 and the HL lensesESS papers from 2026 at SL and HL: marks, timings, the unseen case study, essays, HL lenses and command terms.9 min readGlobal PoliticsIB Global Politics Paper 1: how to read the sources and answer every questionHow Global Politics Paper 1 works on the new course: reading sources, using concepts, answers by mark value, timing and a worked example.9 min readMaths AAIB Maths AA HL Paper 3: how the problem-solving paper works and how to score on itHow the AA HL problem-solving paper builds from simple cases to a general result, and how to keep scoring after you get stuck.9 min readMaths AAIB Maths AA Paper 1 tips: how to score on the non-calculator paperStrategy for the only calculator-free IB maths paper: exact values, show that and hence questions, timing and checking by hand.11 min readMaths AAIB Maths AA vs AI exams: papers, calculators and the IA comparedThe exam structure of IB Mathematics analysis and approaches vs applications and interpretation at SL and HL, which papers allow a calculator, and how the maths exploration is marked.3 min readMaths AIIB Maths AI HL Paper 3: modelling questions, GDC technique and a worked taskHow the AI HL modelling paper works: reading the context, choosing a model you can defend, and writing limitations that earn marks.8 min readPsychologyIB Psychology exam format from 2027: Papers 1, 2 and 3 and how to answer themThe new IB Psychology papers at SL and HL: marks, timings, answer structures and a revision plan built on concepts and contexts.9 min readExamsIB command terms: what examiners actually want (with answer scaffolds)What the most common IB command terms ask you to do, in plain words, the traps students fall into with each one, and the answer scaffolds I teach for explain, justify, evaluate and discuss.5 min readExamsIB grade boundaries: how they're set, why they change, and why one paper can't predict your 7How IB grade boundaries are set at grade awarding, why they move between sessions and time zones, and what they mean for revision.7 min readExamsIB mark schemes explained: marking points, M1 A1 marks, markbands and how to self-markHow IB markschemes award marks in science, maths and essays, what M1, A1, R1, AG and ECF mean, and how to self-mark honestly.11 min readExamsIB past papers: where to get them legally, which ones match your syllabus, and how to use themLegal sources for IB past papers, which old papers still fit the new syllabuses, and how to sit, mark and log a paper properly.7 min readExamsTime management in IB exams: minutes per mark for every paper, and what to do when you're behindMinutes per mark for each IB paper, section-by-section timings, when to skip a question and how to use the last 10 minutes.8 min read