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The Photon blog: IB exam skills that earn marks
Short, practical articles on the parts of the IB Diploma that cost students the most marks: reading the question, using the calculator, handling uncertainties and planning revision. Written by Ejaz Ahmad, who has taught IB Maths and Physics since 2015.
- Maths
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Revision and grades
IB command terms: what each one asks you to do
State, explain, show that, evaluate: what every common command term expects, what earns the marks and the usual slip.
How IB grade boundaries work and what a 7 really takes
From raw marks to a grade, why the 7 line moves between sessions and timezones, and how to set a target mark per paper.
IB Maths calculator guide: GDC skills that save marks
Graphs, intersections, regression, distributions and the finance solver, and how to write GDC working that keeps method marks.
Uncertainties in IB Physics: error bars, gradients and propagation
Propagation rules with worked examples, error bars, max and min gradient lines, and the mistakes that cost marks in exams and the IA.
IB Chemistry Paper 1A and 1B: how the papers work
Multiple choice, data-based questions and Paper 2 in the 2025 course: what each part tests and how to practise for it.
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Put it into practice
Every course in the Photon Library has two free topics with questions at four levels, Paper 1 and Paper 2, and step-by-step worked solutions. Try them, then open the free cheatsheets and annotated formula booklets.