How to get a 7 in IB Maths AI (SL and HL)
By Pete Bromfield, former Head of Maths with IB examining experience · Updated 1 November 2026
The short answer
A 7 in IB Maths AI comes from three things you control: a strong internal assessment (20% of the grade), almost no lost marks on accuracy and working, and timed practice on papers you have not seen.
A graphic display calculator is used in every paper, at SL and HL, so speed and accuracy on the GDC matter as much as the maths. But a bare calculator answer earns little: write down what you entered.
The marks that separate a 6 from a 7 are rarely the hardest question. They are accuracy instructions, missing working, and conclusions that don't answer the question in context.
What you are aiming at
| SL | HL | |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 1 hour 30 minutes, GDC | 2 hours, GDC |
| Paper 2 | 1 hour 30 minutes, GDC | 2 hours, GDC |
| Paper 3 | Not taken | 1 hour 15 minutes, GDC |
| Internal assessment | 20% of the grade | 20% of the grade |
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
- Read the accuracy instruction. 3 significant figures unless the question says otherwise, but many AI questions ask for 2 decimal places, the nearest dollar or a whole number. Keep full values until the end.
- Write what you put into the GDC. The equation you solved, the test you ran, the values in the TVM solver. A bare GDC answer that is slightly off scores nothing.
- Finish every test with a sentence in context. Hypotheses in words, the comparison (p-value against the significance level), and a conclusion about the situation, not just "reject H₀".
- Master the finance solver. Payments per year, signs of PV and PMT, and what N counts. Finance comes up often and its marks are easy to lose.
- Use the notation the IB uses. Function notation, vectors in columns, the variables the question defines. Answers in calculator notation lose marks.
- Interpret, don't just calculate. Many marks ask what a value means: a gradient, a parameter, a limit of a model. Answer with units and context.
- HL: practise Paper 3 as its own skill. Paper 3 is two long questions that take a real situation through modelling and analysis. Practise reading a long context quickly and keeping the parts connected.
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 AI SL
Biggest areas in the 4 subject reports we read:
- Statistics: hypothesis tests, probability and distributions
- Finance, sequences and accuracy
- Calculus: tangents and normals, rates, trapezoidal rule, optimisation
Mistakes to fix first:
- Accuracy: 2 s.f. answers, early rounding, and ignoring the accuracy asked for. Write the full calculator value, then round once: 3 s.f. unless the question says otherwise (keep trailing zeros). Read each question for its own rounding instruction and for context (whole years, whole items).
- No working shown: bare GDC answers and calculator notation. Write the formula or distribution first (X ~ B(n, p), P(X ≤ 3) = …), then the unrounded value, then the rounded answer. Convert calculator E-notation to a × 10ⁿ. Cross out the attempt you do not want marked.
- χ² and t-tests: hypotheses, the comparison and the conclusion in context. Use a fixed layout: H₀ and H₁ in symbols with the population parameter (μ₁ = μ₂; μ₁ > μ₂) or in words naming both variables for χ²; the p-value; "p < 0.05, so reject H₀" (or not); then one sentence in context.
All IB Maths AI SL mistakes, with examples →
IB Maths AI HL
Biggest areas in the 5 subject reports we read:
- Statistics: hypothesis tests and combined distributions
- Calculus: differential equations, volumes, rates in context
- Graph theory and vectors
Mistakes to fix first:
- Accuracy: premature rounding, 2 s.f. answers and ignored instructions. Use the full GDC value in every later step, round once at the end to 3 s.f. (or as instructed), and write the unrounded value first. Round, don't truncate. Give a sensible level of accuracy for the context.
- Hypothesis tests: hypotheses in words, the wrong test, and conclusions that don't follow. Write H₀ and H₁ with symbols for population parameters (μ, ρ, p). Choose the test from the design (paired data → paired t; σ unknown → t). State the p-value, compare it with the stated significance level, then conclude in context. For goodness of fit: df = cells − 1 − parameters estimated.
- HL algebra: product rule, brackets, logs and exact solutions. Practise the core manipulations without the GDC: product and chain rules, brackets, log laws, exponentiating both sides, exact quadratic solutions. Then use the GDC to check.
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. AI explorations often use real data: choose data you can collect or find honestly, use mathematics at your course level properly, and say what your results mean and where your model breaks down.
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 AI 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.
Your next step
Find out where you are now: sit one paper under exam timing, then mark it with the markscheme.
Sit a free AI mock paper under exam timing
Taking HL? Use the AI HL mock exam.
Common questions
What percentage do you need for a 7 in IB Maths AI?
There is no fixed percentage. The IB sets the grade boundaries for each paper after every exam session and gives them to schools, so they change from session to session. We don't quote numbers we can't check: ask your teacher for the latest ones, and aim to lose as few marks as possible on accuracy and working.
How much is the IA worth in IB Maths AI?
The internal assessment (the mathematical exploration) is 20% of the grade, at SL and at HL.
Can you use a calculator in every IB Maths AI paper?
Yes. Every AI paper, at SL and HL, uses a graphic display calculator (GDC). Show what you entered, not just the result.
Is a 7 harder to get at HL than at SL?
HL has more content and a third paper, and its grade boundaries are set separately from SL's. What gets you a 7 is the same at both levels: accuracy, clear working, conclusions in context and timed practice.
When are the May 2027 IB Maths exams?
Paper 1 is on 13 May 2027, Paper 2 on 14 May 2027 and HL Paper 3 on 18 May 2027, from the IB's final May 2027 schedule. Your school confirms the times for your zone.
Sources
- IB Mathematics: applications and interpretation guide (current course, PDF)
- IB November 2026 examination schedule (PDF)
- IB subject reports for IB Maths AI SL and HL (May 2024 to November 2025), available to schools on the IB's Programme Resource Centre: see IB Maths AI SL and HL for the full list.
- IB May 2027 examination schedule (final), for the exam dates.
Taking AA instead? Read how to get a 7 in IB Maths AA. Still choosing? AI or AA: which to take. Independent revision resource. Not produced or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization.