MYP to IB DP maths: what changes and how to get ready
DP maths is a two-year course with exams at the end. Here's what changes from MYP, how to choose a course, and which topics to secure first.
What changes
- GradesMost of your DP grade comes from exams at the end of the course, plus one written maths exploration. No more criteria marked through the year.
- ChoiceYou pick Analysis and approaches (AA) or Applications and interpretation (AI), at SL or HL.
- PaceThe MYP algebra is assumed from the first weeks, so gaps show quickly.
Which course?
- AA HLTake extended mathematics in MYP 4-5. Surds, indices and logarithms, quadratics with the discriminant, functions (composite, inverse, transformations) and the sine and cosine rules are used from the first weeks of AA HL.
- AA SLExtended mathematics is strongly advised; a standard student should close the algebra gaps (logs, completing the square, function notation) over the summer.
- AI HLExtended is advised for the algebra behind matrices, exponential and logarithmic models and calculus; a strong standard student can bridge.
- AI SLStandard mathematics is usually enough. Strength in statistics, financial maths and using technology matters more than algebraic manipulation.
Our advice, not a rule: your school sets its own entry requirements. More on the choice: AA or AI?
Secure these first
Every DP course builds on these. Tap one to practise it.
- Powers, roots and standard form
- Estimation, rounding and bounds
- Financial mathematics: interest and depreciation
- Expressions, expanding and factorising
- Linear equations, inequalities and formulae
- Simultaneous equations
More topics to secure
- Sequences and general rules
- Functions: notation, graphs, domain and range
- Perimeter, area, surface area and volume
- Pythagoras' theorem
- Coordinate geometry of straight lines
- Right-angled trigonometry
- Arcs and sectors
- Averages and spread
- Scatter graphs, correlation and regression
- Probability of single and combined events
- Systematic counting
Taking AA, or AI HL? Add these extended topics too.
- Surds and fractional indices
- Quadratic formula, completing the square and the discriminant
- Transformations, composite and inverse functions
- Exponential and logarithmic functions
- Rational expressions and equations
- Quadratic inequalities
- Sine rule, cosine rule and area of a triangle
- Trigonometric functions and the unit circle
- Conditional probability and independence
- Standard deviation
- Networks and graphs
Next step
Use the summer before DP: the PreIB course bridges MYP to your DP course, one topic at a time. Starting the DP in August 2027? You start the new syllabus.
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MYP practice written and checked by us. It is not IB material, and IB Math Revision is not affiliated with or endorsed by the IB.