IB Math IA first draft: what to fix before you hand it in
Your teacher can comment on one draft only. What a complete draft has, the 8 marks you can fix in one evening, how to check the maths level, and a 10 minute checklist.
Blog & resources
Practical articles on IB Maths, SAT Math, Bocconi prep and how to study effectively, written by someone who has sat the exams, not just taught them.
Your teacher can comment on one draft only. What a complete draft has, the 8 marks you can fix in one evening, how to check the maths level, and a 10 minute checklist.
When dropping is the right call, when it is not, which universities require AA HL, the deadline question, and a four week test to run before you decide.
The two application rounds for 2027 entry, the last test dates, what is in the 50 questions, the scoring rule with its 0.2 penalty, and a simple plan to prepare.
Fifty original questions across the whole published Bocconi maths syllabus, timed like the real test and scored the same way, with a full worked solution for every one, which the official simulation does not give you.
Paper 1 gives you under two minutes a question at HL; Paper 2 carries 44%. Triage on multiple choice, the trainable data skills, command terms, and how to structure an extended response.
Half the marks sit in conclusion and evaluation, which should decide your topic. What makes a research question work, ideas by theme, and the choices that quietly cap your score.
Presentation 4, Communication 4, Personal Engagement 3, Reflection 3, Use of Mathematics 6. What each criterion actually rewards, and why A and B together outweigh E.
Only 40 of the 44 questions count, the second module adapts to how you did on the first, and a blank scores exactly what a wrong answer scores. What that means for strategy.
Yes, but predictably so. Where the difficulty actually sits, the five themes and where HL goes deeper, how the 2025 papers are structured, and the four habits behind a 7.
A concrete framework for choosing between IB Math AA and AI, by career path, difficulty, and university requirements, plus how (and when) you can switch, and a quick decision checklist to run before you commit.
Choosing an IB Math AA IA topic is where your score is quietly decided. Here are topic ideas by mathematical area (SL & HL), the criteria that actually matter, the overdone topics to avoid, and a 5-question checklist to run before you commit.
The IB Math AA SL common mistakes that cost students marks aren't always about not knowing the content. They're about how answers get written. Here's where marks disappear across the five key syllabus topics, and what to do about each one.
A complete, practical guide to mastering IB Math AA HL: the hardest topics and how to attack each one, the IA criteria that actually move your score, Paper 1, 2 & 3 strategy, and a study plan that takes you from Year 1 to exam day.