How to get a 7 in IB Maths AA (SL and HL)

What you are aiming at

Current course, May 2027 exams. Times from the IB's November 2026 and May 2027 exam schedules.

Seven habits that turn a 6 into a 7

1. Make Paper 1 arithmetic automatic. Exact trig values, laws of logs, surds, fractions and expanding brackets, without a calculator and without slips. Most lost Paper 1 marks are arithmetic, not method.
2. Write the line before the answer. Method marks need the method on the page: the substitution, the equation you solved, the integral with its limits. A bare answer that is slightly off scores nothing.
3. Round once, at the end. Keep full calculator values (store them), then give 3 significant figures unless the question asks otherwise.
4. Do "show that" forwards. Start from what you are given and reach the result. Substituting the answer back, or working on both sides at once, does not earn the marks.
5. Use the GDC on Paper 2. Intersections, numerical integrals, regression and distributions are calculator work on Paper 2. Doing them by hand costs time you need for the long questions.
6. Know the formula booklet. Know what is in it and what is not, so you look up only what you need and learn the rest.
7. HL: practise Paper 3 as its own skill. Paper 3 is two long problem-solving questions that build towards a general result. Read to the last part first, then use each part in the next.

Our view from teaching these courses, not a statistic.

Where students lose marks

From the IB's own subject reports for recent sessions, summarised in our own words.

IB Maths AA SL

Biggest areas in the 5 subject reports we read:

• Calculus in context: kinematics, integration with a boundary condition, optimisation
• Probability and distributions: conditional probability, binomial inequalities, normal bounds
• Functions: rational functions, transformations, inverses and logs

Mistakes to fix first:

• Accuracy: 2 s.f. answers, early rounding and ignored accuracy instructions. Keep full calculator values (store them) until the very last line. Give final answers exactly or to 3 s.f. unless the question says otherwise, and when a given answer has more figures, show your value to more figures than that before rounding.
• "Show that": substituting or working back from the given answer. Start from the information in the question and write every step, left-hand side to right-hand side, until you reach the printed result, then say "as required". If you reject a value, give the reason in words.
• Missing brackets and arithmetic slips on Paper 1 (subtracting, squaring, simplifying). Put brackets round every expression you subtract or square, and expand them on a separate line. Work in fractions rather than long decimals on Paper 1, and simplify fully (integers as integers, surds simplified).

All IB Maths AA SL mistakes, with examples →

IB Maths AA HL

Biggest areas in the 2 subject reports we read:

• Calculus: volumes about the y-axis, differential equations, pdfs
• Proof, induction and complex numbers
• Trigonometric equations and vectors

Mistakes to fix first:

• Accuracy: early rounding, 2 s.f. answers and ignoring the stated number of decimal places. Store full values and round once, at the end: exact or 3 s.f. unless told otherwise. When a question says "to 6 decimal places", do exactly that. For a given answer, show your value to more figures than the printed one.
• "Show that" and proofs: verifying, working backwards or working on both sides. Start from one side (or from the given facts) and move to the result line by line, with a reason for any condition such as a > 0. Give the reason for rejecting a solution in words. Never start from the printed answer.
• Slow algebra on Paper 2 where the GDC is expected. On Paper 2, write the equation or integral in mathematical notation, then evaluate it on the GDC. Use analytic methods only where the question asks for an exact answer or says "show" or "deduce".

All IB Maths AA HL mistakes, with examples →

The IA: 20% you can work on now

The exploration is the one part of the grade you can work on with time and feedback. Pick a question you can answer with mathematics at or just above your course level, use it properly, and reflect on what your results mean.

The IA criteria explained · IA ideas and guides · The IA in 8 weeks

A plan from now to May 2027

• November to December. Sit one timed mock paper per level you take, mark it, and list every lost mark by topic. Fix the top three topics first. Keep going over the break with Christmaths and the New Year revision challenge.
• January to February: mocks. Use the mock season plan and the 12-day IB Maths AA SL mock plan (or the HL plan). After the mock, redo every question you lost marks on.
• March. Finish the IA by your school's deadline. Then one topic a day: notes, a few questions, and the mistakes list for that topic.
• April to May. Timed past and practice papers, one every few days, marked straight away. Paper 1 is on 13 May 2027, Paper 2 on 14 May 2027 and HL Paper 3 on 18 May 2027: see exam dates.

Sources

• IB Mathematics: analysis and approaches specimen papers (first assessment 2021, PDF)
• IB: Mathematics analysis and approaches curriculum updates
• IB November 2026 examination schedule (PDF)
• IB subject reports for IB Maths AA SL and HL (May 2024 to November 2025), available to schools on the IB's Programme Resource Centre: see IB Maths AA SL and HL for the full list.
• IB May 2027 examination schedule (final), for the exam dates.