IB Maths November 2026: your last week

Paper 1

1. 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).
2. Answer in the wrong form: asymptotes not as equations, coordinates vs values, unfinished answers. Lines are equations: write y = … or x = …. Give exactly what the question names (a value, a point, an interval). Finish the arithmetic: integers as integers, fractions with integer numerators and denominators in lowest terms.
3. Transformations and inverses: incomplete descriptions and f⁻¹ notation. Name each transformation with its type and value ("vertical stretch, scale factor 3"; "translation by the vector (2, 0)"), in a valid order. Rewrite logs with the laws first. f⁻¹(a) means solve f(x) = a.

Paper 2

1. Doing by hand what the GDC should do on Paper 2, and not writing what you solved. On Paper 2, use the GDC for roots, intersections, statistics, numerical derivatives and integrals. Write the equation or integral you entered in normal notation, then the value. Treat a 2 or 3 mark part as a sign that a quick GDC method is expected.
2. 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.
3. "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.

Paper 1

1. Discrete probability: independence assumed, E(X²) and Var misused. E(X²) = Σ x²P(X = x): square the values, not the probabilities. Var(aX + b) = a²Var(X). Each probability must lie between 0 and 1, which gives inequalities for a parameter.
2. Graphs and transformations: describing a rational function, and graphs of [f(x)]². Write the rational function in the form a + b/(x − c) first; each of a, b, c is one transformation. For [f(x)]², values between −1 and 1 get smaller and zeros become touching points.
3. "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.

Paper 2

1. 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".
2. 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.
3. Trigonometric equations: missing solutions (obtuse, general or divided away). Sketch the function over the whole interval and count intersections before solving. Factorise rather than divide by a trig function (dividing loses the solutions where it is zero).

Paper 3

1. 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.
2. "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.
3. Differential equations: integrating factor and the constant of integration. For dy/dx + P(x)y = Q(x): integrating factor e^(∫P dx), then (IF × y)′ = IF × Q. Add + C at the integration step and use the condition to find C before rearranging.

Paper 1

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. Binomial and normal: recognising the model, the bound, the tail. Binomial: fixed n, two outcomes, constant p, independent trials. Turn the words into a cumulative statement (P(X ≥ 5) = 1 − P(X ≤ 4)). For the normal, sketch and shade the region before using the GDC. An expected value can be a decimal.

Paper 2

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. Basic statistics: range as an interval, frequency tables, outlier fences, Spearman's ranks. Range = largest − smallest (one number). Enter values and frequencies as two lists on the GDC. An outlier is beyond Q₁ − 1.5 × IQR or Q₃ + 1.5 × IQR; compare the actual data with the fence. Spearman's is between the ranks of the two variables.

Paper 1

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. IB notation: AB as a length, vectors in columns, f⁻¹ vs f′, the variables asked for. AB (no arrow) is a length; AB with an arrow is a vector, written as a column. Displacement AB = b − a. f⁻¹ is the inverse, f′ the derivative. Answer in the question's variables.

Paper 2

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Derivatives in context: not differentiating, gradient and angle, rates. Normal: differentiate, evaluate, take −1/m. An angle between two lines: θ = |arctan m₁ − arctan m₂|. Point of inflection: f″ = 0 with a sign change. A derivative value is a rate at an instant, with units.

Paper 3

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Graph algorithms: Prim vs nearest neighbour, no method shown, bounds mixed up. Show the algorithm: list edges in the order chosen, with weights, and say when it stops. Upper bound (nearest neighbour): best = smallest found. Lower bound (deleted vertex): MST of the rest + two shortest edges to the deleted vertex; best = largest found.