Maths IA guide
AI tools, help and academic integrity in the Maths IA
Your IA must be your own work. That does not mean you cannot get help — it means you must understand, write and be able to explain everything in it, and acknowledge any help or tools you used. Here is how that works in practice, and how the tools on this site are designed to coach rather than write.
What the IB says
The IB has said it will not ban AI tools. Its academic integrity policy, with the guidance on artificial intelligence the IB added to it in 2023, treats AI like any other source: you may use it in ways your school allows, anything you take from it must be acknowledged and cited, and submitting AI-generated work as your own is academic misconduct. The exploration still has to show your own mathematical thinking, and your teacher must be able to confirm it is your own work. Academic misconduct findings are handled by the IB's Final Award Committee, and the possible outcomes range from a mark penalty to disqualification from the Diploma — your school's Diploma Programme coordinator can explain exactly how your school handles a suspected case.
The principle
The IA is assessed as evidence of your mathematical thinking. Anything in it that you did not produce yourself — a quotation, a dataset, a graph, an idea, a paragraph suggested by a tool — must be acknowledged, and the mathematics must be work you understand and can explain. Your teacher has to confirm that the exploration is your own; if they cannot, it cannot be submitted.
Your school's academic integrity policy is the rule you must follow. If it is stricter than anything below, it wins.
Usually fine (with acknowledgement where needed)
- Reading guides, exemplars and idea lists to understand the task.
- Discussing your topic with your teacher, classmates or family.
- Using Desmos, GeoGebra, a GDC or a spreadsheet for calculations and graphs — and explaining what they do.
- Getting general feedback that points out problems against the criteria, then fixing them yourself.
- Using an AI tool to explain a concept you then work through yourself — acknowledged.
Not allowed
- Submitting text, calculations or graphs written by someone else or by an AI tool as your own.
- Copying any part of an exemplar or another student's IA, even with small changes.
- Having a tutor, parent or tool correct or rewrite your draft.
- Buying or commissioning an IA, or reusing one from a previous year.
- Inventing or altering data.
How to acknowledge AI use
Keep it simple and specific: which tool, what for, when. Put a short statement in a footnote where the help was used, or in an appendix, and cite any quoted output like any other source. For example:
“I used [tool name] on 12 January 2027 to ask for an explanation of the chi-squared test for independence. I then worked through the method myself using the example in my textbook. No text from the tool appears in this exploration.”
Keep your prompts and the tool's replies in case your teacher asks to see them.
How the tools on this site are designed
- AI feedback comments on your draft against each criterion and quotes your own text as evidence. It points to problems; it does not write replacement paragraphs for your IA.
- The planner helps you organise your own decisions; the models are yours to try.
- Exemplars are original explorations written by IB Math Revision for teaching. They are labelled on every page, shown in a protected viewer, and must never be copied.
- The One-to-one IA Review with Pete is feedback in general terms, like a teacher's draft comments — Pete will not edit or correct your work.
If you use any of them, say so in the same way you would acknowledge any other help.
About exemplars and similarity checks
Schools commonly check coursework with similarity software such as Turnitin, and IB moderators read many explorations on the same topics. Copying or closely paraphrasing an exemplar — including ours, and including our top-band examples written to a full-marks standard — is academic misconduct and is likely to be noticed. That covers the wording, the structure, the data, the figures and the particular question. Read an exemplar to see what a criterion looks like in practice, then close it and write your own.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use ChatGPT or other AI tools for my Maths IA?
The IB's position is that AI tools may be used in some ways, but any text, images or ideas that come from them must be clearly acknowledged, and presenting AI-generated work as your own is academic misconduct. Your school may have stricter rules — follow them.
Is getting feedback on my IA allowed?
Getting general feedback is a normal part of learning, and your teacher gives feedback on one draft. What is not allowed is someone else (a person or a tool) writing, correcting or rewriting your work for you.
Can I copy parts of an exemplar IA?
No. Copying any part of another exploration — including our exemplars — is plagiarism. Schools check IAs with similarity software, and teachers must be able to confirm the work is yours. Use exemplars to understand what the criteria look like, then close them and write your own.
How do I acknowledge AI use in my IA?
State what tool you used, what for, and when, in a footnote or an appendix, and cite any AI output you quote as you would any other source. Keep a record of your prompts in case your teacher asks.
How to write a Maths IA, step by step → · Using Desmos, GeoGebra and Excel (and acknowledging them)
Free: the IA checklist, criterion by criterion
Includes the integrity checks to do before you submit: sources cited, tools acknowledged, nothing you can't explain. Plus one IA tip a week for three weeks in the weekly Math Revision email. Free — no account, no payment.
While you wait for the email: read a free annotated exemplar excerpt →