Annotated exemplars
Annotated Maths IA exemplars, marked criterion by criterion
Exemplar written by IB Math Revision for teaching — do not submit or copy (academic misconduct). The data and the student voice are illustrative. Schools check coursework with similarity software such as Turnitin.
Reading good work is the fastest way to understand the criteria. These 7 explorations were written by IB Math Revision specifically for teaching: complete, realistic, and annotated with examiner-style comments on every criterion. One is deliberately mid-band, so you can see exactly what separates a 12 from an 18.
They are not student work, and they are not IB material. Free excerpts and all the marking comments are below; the full explorations open in a protected viewer with the IA package or a Pro plan.
- AA SLIs a hanging chain a parabola? Comparing catenary and quadratic modelsModelling with functions and calculus · 14 pages · 19/20
- AA HLHow long does a skydiver take to reach terminal velocity?Differential equations · 12 pages · 20/20
- AI SLShould I lease or buy my first car?Financial mathematics and exponential models · 12 pages · 17/20
- AI HLHow long does a game of Snakes and Ladders last on my grandmother's board?Markov chains and probability · 12 pages · 18/20
- AI SLDo students who sleep less react more slowly?Statistics: correlation, regression and hypothesis tests · 11 pages · 18/20
- AI SL · mid-bandSleep and reaction time: a mid-band draft, annotated to show how to improveDeliberately mid-band statistics draft · 4 pages · 10/20
- AI SLWhere should our town put its next defibrillator? A Voronoi analysisVoronoi diagrams and geometry · 11 pages · 18/20
How to use an exemplar (without copying it)
- Read the marking table first, so you know what to look for.
- Read one criterion's annotations at a time and find the evidence in the text.
- Close the exemplar. Write your own plan and your own sections.
- Come back only to compare: does my draft show the same qualities — in my own words and with my own mathematics?