IB Diploma · Chemistry
IB Chemistry, on the syllabus your child is actually sitting.
Content-heavy and technically unforgiving. Most students who underperform know more chemistry than their grade suggests — they are losing marks on terminology, equation notation and answer structure. That is a faster problem to fix than the syllabus.
Both levels sit Paper 1 and Paper 2. Under the current syllabus, first assessed in 2025, there is no Paper 3 and there are no options. [TO CONFIRM — Glen] verify against the current IB Chemistry subject guide before launch.
Chemistry · Standard Level
SL — the full conceptual spine, at standard depth.
The current syllabus organises everything under Structure 1–3 and Reactivity 1–3. SL students meet every one of those themes; the difference at Higher Level is depth and extension, not a separate list of topics.
| Structure | Models of the particulate nature of matter, the periodic table and periodicity, chemical bonding and structure |
| Reactivity | Energetics and thermochemistry, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, redox, organic foundations |
| Papers | Paper 1 (multiple choice and data-based) and Paper 2 (extended response) |
| Internal Assessment | Individual scientific investigation — 20% of the grade |
| Common failure | Knowing the chemistry and writing it in language the rubric does not credit |
| We focus on | Chemical terminology, state symbols and equation notation, and answer structure the examiner can mark |
Chemistry · Higher Level
HL — the extensions, and where most of the pain lives.
Everything in SL plus the Higher Level extensions, with substantially more quantitative work throughout. Organic chemistry and spectroscopy are reliably the two sections students arrive asking for help with.
| Additional content | Organic synthesis and reaction mechanisms, spectroscopic identification (NMR, mass spectrometry, IR), electrochemistry, entropy and spontaneity, advanced equilibrium and acid–base calculations |
| Papers | Paper 1 and Paper 2, with HL-only content and greater quantitative demand |
| Internal Assessment | Individual scientific investigation — 20% of the grade |
| Common failure | Organic mechanisms learned as a list to memorise rather than a system to reason through |
| We focus on | Mechanism types first, then reaction pathways, then spectroscopic identification — each practised in exam format before moving on |
If your child is losing marks in HL organic chemistry, that is the single most common request we get in this subject, and it responds quickly to being taught systematically.
The Internal Assessment
A fifth of the grade, and the most controllable part of it.
Students most often lose marks on scope — a research question that cannot generate enough data — and on the evaluation section.
We coach the topic choice early, because a badly scoped question cannot be rescued in the write-up. Most IB schools provide lab access; where a student’s arrangement is different, we help design an investigation that works within it.
Across both levels
- Full syllabus on the current Structure and Reactivity framework
- Chemical language training — answers written the way the rubric marks them
- Paper 1 data-based questions, which are routinely under-practised
- Past papers from recent series, marked with written feedback
- Internal Assessment coaching, research question to evaluation
- Five to a class in Kovan, or one to one online
Questions
What parents ask.
What is the difference between IB Chemistry SL and HL?
How is IB Chemistry different from A-Level or IGCSE Chemistry?
My child is struggling with organic chemistry at HL. Can you help?
Does my child need lab access for the IA?
Send us a marked Chemistry paper.
We’ll tell you if it’s content or technique.