IB Diploma · Physics
Understand it, then learn to show it.
IB Physics rarely asks a student to recall a formula. It asks them to choose the right principle from several that could apply, use it precisely, and present the working so the marks are findable. Most lost marks live in that third step.
Both levels sit Paper 1 — 1A multiple choice and 1B data analysis — and Paper 2. Under the current syllabus, first assessed in 2025, there is no Paper 3 and there are no options; the experimental and data-handling skills that used to sit in Paper 3 are now examined in Paper 1B. [TO CONFIRM — Glen] verify against the current IB Physics subject guide before launch.
Physics · Standard Level
SL — the full set of themes, at standard depth.
The current syllabus runs on five themes, and SL students meet all of them. What separates a 5 from a 7 here is almost never additional content; it is precision of language and presentation of working.
| Themes | Space, time and motion · the particulate nature of matter · wave behaviour · fields · nuclear and quantum physics |
| Papers | Paper 1A (multiple choice), Paper 1B (data analysis and experimental skills), Paper 2 (extended response) |
| Internal Assessment | Scientific investigation — 20% of the grade |
| Common failure | Selecting a valid principle that is not the one the question tests |
| We focus on | Pattern recognition across question types, and laying out working so method marks are collected even when the final number is wrong |
Physics · Higher Level
HL — same themes, considerably more mathematics.
The additional HL content is rarely the real obstacle. The mathematical depth is: more derivation, more algebraic manipulation, more multi-step problems under time pressure.
| Additional content | HL extensions across all five themes — rigid body mechanics, deeper thermodynamics, advanced wave and field treatment, extended nuclear and quantum physics |
| Papers | Paper 1A, Paper 1B and Paper 2, with HL-only content and heavier quantitative demand |
| Internal Assessment | Scientific investigation — 20% of the grade |
| Common failure | The physics is fine and the algebra is not — which reads as a physics problem and is not one |
| We focus on | Mathematical foundation built in parallel where HL demands it, plus derivation technique and multi-step problem discipline |
For SL, a solid IGCSE Extended Mathematics foundation is enough. For HL it is not, and we assess that at the diagnostic — treating a mathematics problem as a physics problem wastes months.
Paper 1B
The new paper almost nobody is taught properly.
Experimental skills and data analysis moved out of the old Paper 3 and into Paper 1B, and most students meet uncertainty, error propagation and graph analysis for the first time in an exam.
We teach it as its own discipline rather than as something the IA will cover incidentally.
Across both levels
- Conceptual clarity first — the why behind each principle, not the formula sheet
- Choosing the right principle: pattern recognition across question types
- Presentation of working in the format that collects method marks
- Paper 1B: uncertainties, error propagation, graph analysis
- Cross-topic connections — energy, forces, fields and waves as one system
- Internal Assessment: design, data processing, evaluation
Questions