IB Physics

Physics is one of the Group 4 natural sciences subjects that the International Baccaleaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) offers to students in Grades 11 and 12. Students may choose to take the subject at either Standard Level (SL) or Higher Level (HL). The main differences between both levels can be summarised as follows:

Both levels share eight common core topics but HL includes additional higher level topics (AHL). IB Physics also includes a supplementary list of topics called options which may be chosen by either the student or the teacher depending on the international school. Students must complete practical lab work assigned by the teacher, an individual Internal Assessment (IA) of the student's choosing, and a Group 4 project. These last three must be the students' own work without any external help.

At the end of the two-year programme, both SL and HL physics students will have to sit a multiple choice Paper 1, a free-response Paper 2, and a Paper 3 which contains a Section A of data-based questions, and a Section B for the options topics previously mentioned. Though some questions may overlap in both SL and HL, each course has its respective exams.

For further information, please visit: https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/sciences/physics/

How can TutorInc help?

There is no formal prerequisite for IB Physics: Any student may enroll, regardless of her or his choice of IB mathematics. Both SL and HL IB Physics are taught exclusively as algebra-based courses rather than calculus-based, as the latter is usually covered at university level. Therefore, it is imperative that students have a solid foundation of algebra in order to succeed. IB Physics teachers usually have just enough time to cover the required syllabus, so they might not be able to go over the maths foundations. TutorInc can fill in any gaps that may exist in students' knowledge, whether they be maths- or physics-related.

TutorInc also has many resources available to offer plenty of additional practise and preparation for each students' individual examinations.

We must stress that TutorInc may not and will not help in students' individual work, such as the Internal Assessment or the Group 4 Project, as it goes against the nature of the assignment. We recommend students reach out to their teachers regularly for this purpose.

TutorInc is happy to support students either in-person or online.