IB Mathematics Internal Assessment
Twenty marks, five criteria, and almost every student loses the same ones in the same places. This is what each criterion is really asking for, in plain English, from someone who sits in the moderation meetings.
| Criterion | Marks |
|---|---|
| A · Presentation | 4 |
| B · Mathematical communication | 4 |
| C · Personal engagement | 3 |
| D · Reflection | 3 |
| E · Use of mathematics | 6 |
| Total | 20 |
Notice where the marks are. Use of mathematics is worth more than any other single criterion, and it is the one most affected by a decision you make right at the start: your topic. Choose badly and there is a ceiling on your grade before you have written a sentence.
Whether the exploration reads as one coherent piece of work with a clear line of enquiry, rather than a collection of sections that happen to be stapled together.
The top of this criterion is about structure serving a purpose. A reader should be able to follow why each part comes where it does, and should not have to hunt for what you were actually trying to find out.
Whether you use the language of mathematics properly: notation, symbols, terminology, and appropriate forms of representation such as graphs, diagrams and tables.
This is not the same as criterion A. A is about the shape of the whole thing. B is about whether the mathematics itself is written correctly, including defining your variables and being consistent with them.
x^2 or sqrt instead of proper mathematical typesetting; variables used but never defined; axes unlabelled; degrees and radians mixed; rounding that changes partway through without explanation.The most misunderstood criterion in the entire IA. It is not a paragraph at the start explaining that you have always loved football.
It is evidence of you thinking. Using your own data rather than a downloaded set. Adapting a method rather than applying one. Asking a question that occurred to you halfway through and then chasing it. Making a choice and explaining why you made it rather than a different one.
Whether you look at your own results and say something meaningful about them: what they mean, where the method was weak, what you would do differently, and what the limitations actually are.
The difference between a middling mark and a top one is usually that reflection appears throughout rather than only in a conclusion. Reflecting as you go, at the point where a result surprises you, reads as genuine. Three sentences at the end reads as an afterthought, because it is.
The biggest criterion, and the one your topic decides for you. It asks whether the mathematics is relevant to your aim, correct, and at the right level for your course , and whether you actually understand it.
"The right level" is the phrase that catches people. For Higher Level the expectation is genuinely demanding. A correlation coefficient and a line of best fit is not HL mathematics. Equally, mathematics far beyond your course that you clearly do not understand scores worse than something within your course that you do.
One. The topic. Criterion E is 6 of the 20 marks and your topic sets its ceiling. Most students choose a topic in a hurry, then spend two months trying to force marks out of something that cannot yield them.
Two. Engagement and reflection run through the whole document, or they do not exist. Between them they are 6 marks, the same as Use of Mathematics, and they are the cheapest marks in the IA to earn if you know that before you start writing.
Three. Almost nobody reads the criteria before writing. They read the subject guide, which is a different document, and then write something they hope is good. The criteria tell you exactly what is being rewarded.
If you want to know whether your topic can actually score, ask me.
The first reply is free. Send your year group, whether you take AA or AI at SL or HL, your deadline, and whatever exists so far. I will tell you honestly whether the topic has a ceiling on it, and whether I can help. If I cannot, I will say so and you pay nothing.
Ask me about your topicThese pages are free and stay free, but they are general and your IA is not. Send me your research question, or whatever exists so far, and I will tell you in writing whether the topic has a ceiling on it, where the marks are going, and what to change first. That costs nothing and it comes back within 24 hours.
Written by a serving IB Diploma and Career-related Programme Coordinator and Head of Mathematics, who reads internal assessments across every subject group every year. If you then want the whole draft reviewed properly against all five criteria, that is the paid one, and it is refunded if it does not name at least three specific things to fix.
Get a free verdict Full written review, $99
I never write any part of it. Not a sentence, not a calculation, not your data. Under 18: a parent buys this and the thread is with them. I do not work with students at my own school.