TIPS FOR IB STUDENTS

Many students naively put too much emphasis on reviewing material by reading the textbook over and over; however, active recall is one of the best ways to ensure understanding and retention. Active recall is the act of learning by constantly testing yourself, recalling answers without looking at the solutions actively. Using valid practice papers at the appropriate time is one of the best ways to improve this skill. This approach helps you review the course content and, more importantly, plan how to apply your knowledge of this content using the correct format. Your familiarization with each assessment’s criteria is fundamental to your success on the external assessments, internal assessments, and the exams you encounter in Groups 1-5 at the end of Year 2–your teachers have access to these and should provide them to you at the appropriate time during the course so that you know exactly how your work will be assessed. We also recommend that, in the three months leading up to the IB exams, you simulate the test conditions by giving yourself the exact amount of time you will have on the actual test day without access to notes. This will help you manage your time on the actual exam and help calm any nerves because you will know what to expect.

Many past papers also come with mark schemes that include “model answers”–often these include criterion-based examiner marks and written feedback justifying these marks. These are incredibly valuable in showing you how to format future answers and anticipate the approaches, skills, and terminology your examiners will look for in your responses. Again, your teachers have access to these samples and should provide them to you at the appropriate time. However, we do not recommend delving into exam papers without learning the course content first–memorizing past papers won’t help you because they change every exam session.