IB Exam Hacks: How to maximise your resources

Manoj Arachige -

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is known for its tough academic calibre and challenging curriculum. Here I want to share some of the strategies I've found to be useful in making my study more efficient, and ones that I've heard have worked for others, including how to use the IB score predictor, and the best place to find IB past exams. Keep reading to see how you optimise your IB marks too!

The IB Score Predictor: The what, the how, and the why

Many students have aspirations for what they want to do in their post-school life and need an identifiable score to go where they want to. The IB Score Predictor is an online tool that inputs your current in-school assessment data to receive a predicted final result if you predicted score those marks in your Finals. It can be used to facilitate students to achieve their plans by aiding to: 

  • Set realistic goals: Knowing what score you’re currently sitting at can help you plan for your next steps to achieve the score you ultimately want.
  • Identify your weak areas: Everyone has their weaker subjects – it may be one that you don’t particularly enjoy studying. The IB predictor can make the differences in the marks of your 6 subjects to understand which ones need more focus in the future. 
  • Track changes: If this tool is used periodically, it can be used to track how your score is changing, identifying if your changing study habits are helping or hindering!

The IB Score Predictor can actually be quite nifty as it doesn’t just ask for a weighted average of all your subjects but asks for an individual breakdown of each of the examined components.

 As you can see in the example above of a fake student I’ve created as a sample, it asks for your subject, level (HL/SL), and marks for each of the examined components. This could potentially tell the student that in Literature, they might need to mostly work on their exam strategy as their Internal Assessment seems to be fairing slightly better than the rest. It could also tell them that the subjects they’re struggling with the most are their Group 4-6 subjects, so they need to spend more time on those.

It also has a really cool feature where you can select the year of grade boundaries you want to use:

Bear in mind that this is simply a prediction – a useful tool that can be used as a guide to your study. If you’re savvy with Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, an alternative to this could be a table set up where you keep track of each of your assessment results to reach an average in your grades – maybe one like 'u/rickey_rad's Google Spreadsheet IB Score Calculator'.

IB Past Exams: Where do you find them? How do you use them?

One of the most important steps in preparation for any exam, but especially IBDP exams is practicing on actual past papers. The IB has its own unique format and question style in each of their exams which makes it hard to get an idea for what it’s like without using actual past papers. Below are a few examples of where you might be able to get past exams for your DP subjects: 

  • School Resources: This should be the first place you check for IB past exams. If you’re unsure, ask your classroom teachers, DP coordinator, or library if the school has access to them. If so, great! If not, there are still other options.
  • IBO Website: This resource can be pretty limited in the amount available as there are only specimen and sample papers. However, they can be a useful starting point on your past paper-collecting journey. Just note that in my experience, the sample essay responses and their marks tend not to reflect reality (the marks appear to be severely overinflated).
  • Online Resource Platform: There are websites such as IB Documents Repository which provide a plethora of valuable materials including past papers, textbooks, samples, question banks, subject reports, and more. They are available for free download however, as always, exercise caution when accessing these unofficial sites and do a full safety evaluation before doing so.
  • Online Communities: Online communities where IB candidates around the world discuss anything and everything to do with the IB tend to be great places to find past papers and also advice on exam prep. Reddit’s r/IBO is always a good place to start (and is where I got that spreadsheet I linked earlier from). Places like this are often also closely affiliated with other resources such as the IB Documents Repository. Again, take anything on Reddit with a good dose of scepticism.

 When using past papers, don’t limit your study to only them. They should be one part of your study plan, not the whole thing! Also, don’t be afraid to use them in untimed situations. Use them in a mix of open book, untimed closed book, and test condition format to get the best use of them.

 I hope this short blurb into the world of independent IB study technique and strategy has given you some ideas on how you can improve your studying and get the mark you want. Any time you spend refining your preparation boosts your chances of success in your IB exams and is time well spent. Good luck, and I wish you all the best in your IB study especially the N24 candidates who will be having their mocks and finals in the next couple of months.

Want more personalized study guidance to help drastically improve your marks? A private tutor can make the biggest difference!

Written by KIS Academics Tutor for IBDP, Caelan Browne. He is currently in his first year of a Bachelor of Biomedicine/Doctor of Medicine at UWA and has extensive experience tutoring a broad range of subjects, students and groups. You can view Calean's profile here and request him as a tutor.