Sev7n

“IB Maths AA Students: Stop Losing Marks on These ‘Basic’ Mistakes!

We’ve graded hundreds of IB papers, and yes—examiners ruthlessly deduct marks for these ‘simple’ errors.

Mistake 1:
📉 Misapplying HL formulas in SL papers
Ex: Using integration by parts directly (SL must derive it). Result? −2 marks.

Mistake 2:
📉 Skipping graph/diagram labels
Ex: Sketching y = sin(x) without amplitude/period. Result? −1 mark per missing label.

Mistake 3:
📉 ‘Show your work’ = Literally.
Ex: Writing ‘Hence, x = 2’ without one line of reasoning. Result? −1 mark (even if the answer’s right).

💡 The fix?

HL/SL students: Memorize your formula booklet’s cover page.

Label everything like it’s a kindergarten art project.

Pretend the examiner has zero intuition.

Sound unfair? It is. But knowing these traps = easy marks saved.

👇 DM ‘IB MATH’ for our Free Cheat Sheet (Examiner Pet Peeves Edition).
Or tag a friend who always says ‘I lost marks for silly things!’”