IB exam hacks they don’t teach you at school

Know EXACTLY what you need to know 

Being familiar friends with the syllabus (especially for your science subject/s) is super helpful to structure your study. Otherwise, with the sheer volume of everything covered during the 2 years of IB, it can honestly feel like navigating a brand new city with a completely dead phone and getting lost down all the dead ends. 

Knowing exactly WHAT you need to know can make it so much less overwhelming than scrolling through the seemingly endless ocean of slides in a PowerPoint presentation at 1am in the morning. 

Planning is everything 

Time management is the golden key to staying sane during exam season. You would get diminishing returns if you studied every single minute of the day – planning your time effectively and fully locking in during study is a much healthier way to approach exam revision. 

Figuring out whether you function best in the morning, afternoon or evening and create a study timetable that suits your needs. If you are someone who is functional and alert early in the morning, you could consider doing the most brain-intensive study (e.g past papers, stuff you find hardest) at that time, saving the softer revision (easier subjects, more straightforward things) for when you’re needing a bit more of a relaxed session. 

Make sure to remember to schedule regular breaks to help you refresh your mind and avoid burnout. And remember to SLEEP! It helps your brain strengthen memories and gives you energy for the next day of study. 

Keep track of your mistakes 

During your intensive revision period in the lead-up to exams, keep track of the questions you find tricky or get wrong. Write down the reasoning or the mark-scheme answer as well in your record. Then during the days prior to your exam, go through this list and fully revise EVERYTHING. It’s basically a summary document tailored specifically for your learning gaps. 

Focus on understanding and breaking things down, rather than passively copying notes 

Simplifying things down into smaller, more achievable goals definitely reduces your chance of having a breakdown. 

Try to incorporate active recall study methods into your revision. Think things like past papers, flashcards, creating summaries, mindmaps and teaching others – these are all super effective at forcing your brain to synthesize all that content. And the exam itself is pretty much entirely active recall – it can only be beneficial to have studied like this.

Try out the IB score predictor 

If you’re aiming to get an idea of how your scores might turn out, the IB score predictor  (https://ibpredict.org/)  predictor is a useful tool to try out. It uses previous grade boundaries to estimate your final subject scores and total diploma points. Remember, at the end of the day it’s an estimate, so use it a a guide to see where you could focus your efforts. 

Making yourself a mini-study guide

Create a summary cheat sheet (e.g 1 x double-sided A4 page) to summarize concepts in your subjects - the process of doing this can really help your brain consolidate and condense COMPLEX information into a more manageable size. 

And by limiting yourself to a double-sided sheet of paper, it encourages you to think and be selective about what you are writing down, rather than copying down everything and getting 10s of pages of note bloat. 

Banish your phone, cast distractions away

Sometimes, there’s no avoiding it – you really gotta lock-in. One of the biggest distractions is probably your phone. The temptations of scrolling on social media are sometimes too great… You could try using an app that locks your phone while you study, or turning your phone off and putting it in another room, as far away from you as you can. 

Some find it helpful to have an accountability buddy – e.g studying with a classmate, however you do need to consider whether it will be productive or lead to hours of talking and distraction. Yapping is good but not all the time.

Exam technique

Always make sure to get to know the exam during your revision period – know what the format will be like, how much time you have and most importantly WHAT TIME IT IS AT !!  

Time management during the exam is paramount, make sure to practice this when doing past papers. Pace yourself and keep an eye on the clock. While doing the exam, note down questions you are struggling with and come back to them LATER, rather than spending way too much time on one question. This can help save you several marks – by leaving the question blank, you guarantee that you have NO chance of gaining those points. BUT if you get to all of the questions, you’re giving yourself at least some chance of getting it right and collecting some more marks!! 

Try your best to stay calm, collected and confident during the exam. It is testing things you have been exposed to over the past two years, and it’s time to shine and show the examiners what you know! If you hit a wall of something you’re not sure about, take several slow, deep breaths to calm your nerves and settle that adrenaline. Becoming panicked or flustered during the exam can leave some students feeling more confused and unsure. 

Finding past papers

Your school’s online portal and your subject teacher should be your first point of call as an efficient and safe way to get practice papers. Some students may not be aware of this until the last minute – make sure you don’t miss out. The IB website itself also has sample exam papers for some subjects. 

Importantly, try to time doing past papers at the same time as your exam – this can help get your mind into the right habit of focusing at that time. Particularly for those afternoon exams when the pesky urge for a nap can often strike… 

Ultimately, approaching your IB finals with a strategy can make all the difference and help you stay sane! Make use of active study techniques, past papers, and the syllabus to guide your study. And remember to take breaks and sleep well to stay refreshed and avoid burnout!! You’ve got this! 

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

Written by KIS Academics Tutor, Sue Nguyen. Sue is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from The University of Adelaide and has been tutoring for over 5 years. You can view Sue’s profile here and request her as a tutor.