Physics
IB Physics Exam Technique: Where the Marks Actually Go
In Physics the gap between knowing and scoring is wider than in Maths, because so many marks sit in explanation questions where the physics is right in the student's head and wrong on the page.
"Explain" means give a cause and a consequence. A statement of fact is not an explanation. If the question is worth three marks, the mark scheme is looking for three linked steps, so write three.
Every number carries a unit and a sensible precision. Marks are lost on units more than on physics. Match the significant figures to the data you were given, not to what the calculator shows.
Show the substitution, not just the formula. Writing the equation earns nothing on its own. Writing it with the numbers in earns the method mark even if the arithmetic then goes wrong.
The current syllabus has no options. The relativity, engineering, imaging and astrophysics options were removed for first examination in 2025. Past papers from 2024 and earlier still contain them: skip those questions, they cannot come up.
Data analysis rewards care, not cleverness. Read the axes, check whether the scale is linear, and say what the gradient physically represents before you calculate it.
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