IB Biology Exam Breakdown
Exam Papers, Formats, Timings and Weightings
Paper 1: Multiple Choice – SL & HL 20%
This exam paper tests all of your core syllabus knowledge through multiple choice questions. Each question has 4 answer options (A/B/C/D). Questions can take any form including diagrams, images and tables.
You are not allowed a calculator or data booklet.
Standard Level
Total marks: 30
- 30 multiple choice questions
- 4 answer options (A/B/C/D)
Timing: 45 minutes
- 1.5 minutes per mark
Higher Level
Total marks: 40
- 40 multiple choice questions
- 4 answer options (A/B/C/D)
- 1.5 minutes per mark
Paper 2: Written Response – SL 40%, HL 36%
This exam paper tests all of your core syllabus knowledge through two sections. Section A contains shorter answer questions, where each question has multiple parts (I/ii/iii). Section B contains a choice of 3 extended response sets, where each set is made of 3 longer questions (often 2,6,8 marks). Candidates choose which extended response set(s) to answer.
You are allowed a calculator and a data booklet.
Standard Level
Total marks: 50
- Section A: 4-6 multi-part (i/ii/iii) short answer questions
- Section B: 1 extended response set, consisting of 3 long-answer questions (2,6,8marks)
- 1.8 minutes per mark
Higher Level
- Section A: 4-6 multi-part (i/ii/iii) short answer questions
- Section B: 2 extended response sets, each consisting of 3 long-answer questions (2,6,8 marks)
- 1.8 minutes per mark
Paper 3: Data Analysis – SL 20%, HL 24%
This exam paper tests your experimental skills and all of your option topic knowledge, through two sections. Section A contains shorter answer questions on experiments or data (using examples from the core syllabus), where each question has multiple parts (I/ii/iii). Section B contains shorter answer questions on the option topics, where each question also has multiple parts (I/ii/iii). Candidates choose which option topic to answer based on their class curriculum.
You are allowed a calculator and a data booklet.
Standard Level
- Section A: 2-3 multi-part (i/ii/iii) short answer questions on experiments or data
- Section B: 4-5 multi-part (i/ii/iii) short answer questions on the option topic
- 1.7 minutes per mark
Higher Level
- Section A: 2-3 multi-part (i/ii/iii) short answer questions on experiments or data
- Section B: 4-5 multi-part (i/ii/iii) short answer questions on the option topic
- 1.6 minutes per mark
