Exam technique · Maths AA · Maths AI · 3 min read
IB Maths AA vs AI exams: papers, calculators and the IA compared
Both IB Maths courses have the same skeleton: two papers at SL, three at HL, and a 20% exploration. The important difference is the calculator.
AA Paper 1 is the only calculator-free paper in IB Maths. AI has no calculator-free paper at all.
The papers
Mathematics: analysis and approaches (AA)
| Item | SL | HL | Calculator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 1 h 30 min · 80 marks · 40% | 2 h · 110 marks · 30% | No calculator |
| Paper 2 | 1 h 30 min · 80 marks · 40% | 2 h · 110 marks · 30% | Graphing calculator |
| Paper 3 (HL only) | — | 1 h 15 min · 55 marks · 20% | Graphing calculator |
| Exploration (IA) | 20% | 20% | — |
Mathematics: applications and interpretation (AI)
| Item | SL | HL | Calculator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 1 h 30 min · 80 marks · 40% | 2 h · 110 marks · 30% | Required |
| Paper 2 | 1 h 30 min · 80 marks · 40% | 2 h · 110 marks · 30% | Required |
| Paper 3 (HL only) | — | 1 h 15 min · 55 marks · 20% | Required |
| Exploration (IA) | 20% | 20% | — |
In AA, Papers 1 and 2 each have a short-answer section and an extended-response section. In AI, Paper 1 is short-answer questions and Paper 2 is extended-response questions. HL Paper 3 is two compulsory extended problem-solving questions; older guides and blogs give it 1 hour, but the official timetables now allow 1 hour 15 minutes. You get a clean formula booklet for every paper.
These are the current courses, examined for the last time in November 2028. Revised AA and AI courses are taught from August 2027 and first examined in May 2029. They trim some content, cut the paper totals (HL Paper 3 becomes 1 hour and 50 marks) and bring new exploration criteria. If you sit your exams in 2026, 2027 or 2028, everything above applies to you.
What the difference means for revision
AA students: practise without the calculator. A lot of AA students do all their homework with a calculator and then meet Paper 1 cold. Fractions, surds, exact trig values, logs and algebraic manipulation need to be automatic by hand. A two-minute daily warm-up (squares, simplifying roots by prime factors, exact values) helps more than people expect.
AI students: know your calculator better than anyone in the room. AI questions assume technology: regressions, statistical tests, solving equations, finance functions. Calculator fluency is part of the course, and the slips that cost the most marks are collected in GDC mistakes in IB maths.
Both:
- Keep exact values in the calculator. Write three significant figures on the page if you like (that, or an exact value, is what calculator-paper answers are credited at unless the question says otherwise), but carry the full value forward (use the previous answer) so rounding errors don't stack up.
- Write down what's given and what's asked before choosing a method. The most common error I see isn't a calculation slip. It's choosing the wrong method because the student started calculating before reading what the question wanted.
- Plug back. After finding a value, put it back into the original equation or context. Does the sequence term work? Does the maximum height make sense? Ten seconds, every time.
- Show method. On extended-response questions, method marks are often worth more than the final answer.
The exploration (IA)
Both courses use the same criteria, out of 20 marks:
| Criterion | Marks |
|---|---|
| A Presentation | 4 |
| B Mathematical communication | 4 |
| C Personal engagement | 3 |
| D Reflection | 3 |
| E Use of mathematics | 6 |
These criteria apply to the current courses; what each one rewards in practice is in the maths IA criteria guide. The usual guidance is roughly 12–20 double-spaced pages. My advice from coaching explorations is to pick a topic you actually care about, because you'll be living with it for weeks, and keep it to one clear mathematical question. If your topic involves movement (sport, throwing, anything you can film), read my guide to video analysis for the maths IA.
Practice
Heptavo has both AA and AI at SL and HL, from algebra to calculus and statistics, with non-calculator technique included for AA.
Sources
- IB Mathematics: analysis and approaches guide and specimen papers (first assessment 2021).
- IB Mathematics: applications and interpretation guide (first assessment 2021), and the IB AI subject brief.
- IB curriculum update pages for AA and AI (2026), for the revised courses first assessed in 2029.
- IB May 2026 examination schedule (paper durations, including HL Paper 3 at 1 hour 15 minutes).
- IB: Mathematics in the DP.