Who Grades the IA in the IB
IA’s are internally graded, meaning that your own teachers mark your IAs. Using the IA rubric for the respective subject, they evaluate the final score of your IA.
However, the IB has measures in place to ensure fair marking. Some IA’s are then externally moderated by the IB. They compare their score to your teachers and accordingly adjust. For example, if your school sends 10 IAs to be moderated and the majority of them are internally marked lower than the IB’s score, your whole cohort's IAs marks will increase. Vice versa for if the majority of them were internally marked higher.
This ensures that the same marking standard is held across all schools.
IA Rubric
What is a rubric? A rubric essentially guides the markers on what score should be given based on what you have written. In this article, we will break down the rubrics for the most popular subjects including Math, English, Chemistry and Biology.
Math IA Rubric
The math rubric contains 5 main parts:
- Criterion A: Presentation (/4)
- Criterion B: Mathematical Communication (/4)
- Criterion C: Personal Engagement (/3)
- Criterion D: Reflection (/3)
- Criterion E: Use of Mathematics (/6)
Criterion A assess the organisation and coherence of your exploration. To score highly you must structure it in a way that is logically developed and easy to follow. The structure should include:
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
These parts must all be linked logically.
Relevant graphs, tables, and diagrams must be used to accompany the work.
Criterion B assesses your mathematical language. To score highly you must:
- Use accurate and consistent mathematical terminology, symbols and notation
- Explain key terms, variables and concepts
- Must represent your math in various forms – including formulas, graphs, tables, etc.
- All calculations are explained, and the data used is described.
Criterion C includes thinking independently and creatively. To score well you must:
- Connect the IAs exploration subject to your own personal interest
- Must formulate predictions and conduct tests
- Explore the topic from various viewpoints
Criterion D involves reviewing, analysing and evaluating your exploration. To achieve all 3 points you must:
- Have a final evaluation
- Analyse both the strengths and weaknesses of the exploration
- Include suggestions for improvements
- Expansions to the study are present
- Evaluation links back to the initial objective of the report
Criterion E, the biggest criteria (6 marks) involves the use of mathematics. You must use mathematics relevant to the course you are studying. To score well:
- Use relevant mathematics based on your level (SL or HL)
- Any math beyond the syllabus must be clarified and explained
- The math explored is correct
- All calculations must have explanations
- Unnecessarily math is avoided
English Rubric
The English IO (SL and HL) contains 5 main parts:
- Criterion A: Knowledge, understanding and interpretation (/10)
- Criterion B: Analysis and Evaluation (/10)
- Criterion C: Coherence, balance, focus and organisation (/10)
- Criterion D: Language (/10)
Criterion A grades how well the oral shows knowledge and understanding of the extracts, and the literary work and non-literacy body of work from which they were taken.
To score well you must:
- Show perceptive knowledge and understanding of the text
- Your interpretations are consistently relevant to your global issue
- You effectively support your points with convincing references to extracts and body of work
Criterion B marks the extent to which your oral analyses and evaluates how the author presents the global issue through the authorial choices in the extracts. To score well you must:
- Show insightful analysis and evaluation of how authors present global issues through authorial choices in the extract and body of work
Criterion C is centred around how coherent, balanced and focused your oral is. To score well you must show effective coherence, balance, and focus. This involves spending equal amount of time analysing each text and focusing on the authorial choices which present your global issue.
Criterion D grades your vocabulary, jargon, and effectiveness. To score well you must be accurate and varied in your vocabulary, style, syntax and terminology.
Chemistry and Biology IA Rubric
The Chemistry and Biology IA (SL and HL) rubrics are the same and contain 4 main parts:
- Criterion A: Research Design (/6)
- Criterion B: Analysis and Evaluation (/6)
- Criterion C: Coherence, balance, focus and organisation (/6)
- Criterion D: Language (/6)
Criterion A assesses how well-structured your investigation process is. To score 6 marks you must:
- Have a clearly defined research question
- Discuss background theory relevant to your research question
- Explain the methodology thoroughly. This includes the apparatus used, the procedure and why, the measurement units.
- Address the safety, ethical, and environmental issues
- Avoid unnecessary or repetitive information
Criterion B grades how you process and interpret the data to formulate a conclusion. To score well you must:
- Clearly communicate how the data was recorded and processed
- Communicate how the data was recorded and processed
- All graphs, tables and figures are labelled, and annotated, use the correct units and have standard decimal places
- Consider uncertainties
- Should not have major inaccuracies or inconsistencies
Criterion C revolves around your final conclusion. You must:
- Provide a conclusion that is relevant to the research question and is consistent with the data analysis
- Ensure your conclusion is supported and justified by the analysis you conducted
- Incorporate accepted literature values and compare them to your results
- Interpret the uncertainties and outliers
Criterion D is the evaluation section. To score well your evaluation should include:
- Relative strengths of the report and investigation
- Methodology weaknesses or limitations and possible solutions to them
- Explanations of the relative impacts of the methodological weakness on the data and uncertainties
- Identify realistic improvements of the investigation that relate to the identified weaknesses and limitations
- Discuss a proposed extension to further investigate your topic
My Final Tips:
To ensure your IA is meeting the requirements constantly refer to the rubric and compare your responses with high-level exemplars. If you want extra feedback, KIS offers assignment marking which is one of the best ways to improve your IA Score.
This concludes how the rubric works for the most popular IB subjects. Good luck with your IAs! With enough effort and constant reference to the rubric, you can score a 7 in your IAs.
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 IB and QCE, Sameer Baad. Sameer is currently studying for a Bachelor of Advanced Finance and Economics at the University of Queensland. You can view Sameer’s profile here and request him as a tutor.
