IB Internal Assessments Rubric | Marking Criteria

The IB IA might seem intimidating to some students. But you must understand that with the right approach to things, you can definitely ace it. The idea is to understand that the IB IA grading rubric is there to guide you through the entire process. Before you begin, it is best that you go through the IA rubric thoroughly so that you have an idea about what is required from you, and then you can work in that direction only to do justice to your work.

Remember that there are very specific things that the examiner requires from you. Once you understand what those IA marking criteria are, you can work in that direction to help you get a decent score.

In this guide, you will get a better understanding of the IB internal assessment marking scheme so that your efforts don’t go to waste, and you can work in the best possible way to achieve the best results. So let’s delve deeper into this. 

Understanding the IB Internal Assessment Rubric 

Naturally, every subject has a different rubric that clearly lays out the different mark bands, ranging from 0 to 6. You have to work in that direction, knowing what exactly is required for you to score the highest mark.

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Remember that you should ideally only be aiming for the highest mark there is. When you do that, that is when you will be giving your hundred percent to what you are doing. 

Who grades the IA in IB?

When it comes to grading the IAs in the IB program, the task falls on the capable shoulders of the students’ subject teachers. Armed with the criteria and guidelines provided by the IB, they carefully evaluate and grade each IA, seeking to recognize the unique strengths and accomplishments of each student.

But it doesn’t end there: these grades are then reviewed and moderated by external IB examiners in IBO, ensuring that the same high standards are upheld across schools and regions, and that each student receives the recognition and rewards they truly deserve.

Grading Rubric for Different IAs Following 2023/2024 Updates

In this part, I’ll try to guide you through the grading criteria of IB IAs in connection to internal assessment types (subjects). So, let’s begin.

Math IA Rubric

For the IB math IA, you are graded based on several factors:

• the way you communicate;
• your mathematical presentation;
• personal engagement;
• reflection;
• and the use of mathematics.

For communication, the highest you can score is 4. To score a 4, you need to explore coherently, and your explanation needs to be organized very well, and it also has to be concisely put forward.

For the mathematical presentation, you can score 3 as the highest mark. For this, you have to make sure that the presentation is appropriate throughout.

Similarly, for personal engagement, you can score 4 as the highest, where you abundantly show how you were personally involved in this entire process.

For the reflection part, you can score 3 as the highest mark, where you critically evaluate the information given.

For the use of mathematics, the highest you can go is 6. To score this, you have to correctly explore every topic that you touch upon.

Not only these factors, but you need to demonstrate a very clear understanding of whatever you do, with the idea being to show the examiner that you know exactly what you are talking about. So with an understanding of this grading scheme, you can surely score decently here. 

In our future articles, I’ll cover each grading rubric in detail, so you can make sure to follow each of the criteria.

Meanwhile, you can check other related articles about IB assignments marking schemes.

• IB IA Word Count
• TOK essay rubric
• Extended essay rubric
• TOK exhibition rubric

Biology IA Rubric

For the biology IA, you are evaluated based on:

• personal engagement;
• exploration;
• analysis;
• evaluation;
• and communication.

For personal engagement, the highest you can reach is 2. You need to show how and why you are personally engaged in what you do and how does that make you a valuable contributor.

For exploration, you can go 5-6 as the highest, where you must talk about the topic under investigation and background investigation. You also have to talk about the methodology.

For the analysis as well, the highest you can score is 5-6, where you talk about how you have come to valuable conclusions here. You also have to talk about the accuracy and the consistency of the data.

For evaluation as well, the highest you can go is 5-6, where you talk about the description and the justification of the topic.

Then you also talk about different realistic and relevant suggestions here. Then for communication, the highest you can go is 3-4. Here, you have to talk about the investigation as it is extremely clear.

Then, you also try to eliminate any errors. You also have to use very specific terminology and have to correctly analyze it all. 

Psychology IA Rubric

For this one, you are graded based on the

• introduction you give;
• the method;
• the participants;
• the whole procedure;
• the results;
• and the discussion.

For the introduction, the highest you can score is 4-5. Here, you have to write the basics of what you are doing, and you also have to briefly touch upon the theories that you are working on.

For the method and the results, the highest you can go is 2. This means you have to add as much detail as possible. This does not mean that you add any irrelevant information.

It only means that whatever you do has to be extremely detailed so that your examiner can understand what you are talking about fully well. 

Chemistry IA Rubric

For this one, your IA will be marked according to:

• personal engagement;
• exploration;
• analysis;
• evaluation;
• and communication.

You can score 2 as the highest for personal engagement.

For exploration, analysis, and evaluation, the highest band is 5-6, where you add in as much detail as you possibly can.

For communication, the highest you can go is 3-4, where you clearly explain what you are talking about with the main aim of getting your point through in the best possible way that you can. 

Physics IA Rubric

This rubric is exactly the same as the chemistry rubric. o I will not repeat all the same information in this block about Physics IB IA grading criteria.

Economics IA Rubric

For economics IA, the criteria you are evaluated on are:

• diagrams;
• terminology;
• application;
• analysis;
• and evaluation.

For the diagrams, the highest you can go is 3, where you clearly label the diagrams and then also work toward fully explaining what you have written.

For the terminology, the highest you can go is 2, where you use the right terms to explain your point of view in the best way possible.

When it comes to the application, the highest you can go is 2 where you explain the right economic concepts and theories in the best possible way.

For the analysis, the highest you can go is 3, where you talk about effective economic analysis relating to the article.

For the evaluation part, you can reach 4 as the highest score, where your judgments are supported by effective and balanced reasoning. 

Tips for Meeting the Grading Criteria

There are some valuable tips that can help you meet the grading criteria. If you follow these well, then you can understand what is required from you, and then you can work toward it that way. 

Understand the Grading Criteria 

The first and most important thing you have to be mindful of is that you have to understand the grading criteria. Most of us think that we really understand it, but the truth is that you can only work toward it in the right way when you have ample understanding of what is required of you. To understand it well, you first need to read through the whole thing and then see what is required from you.

If there are any issues you have in understanding, then you can ask your teacher to guide you through it. With the right understanding of it, you can work toward it in the right way. 

Start Early 

Remember that the worst mistake you can make is to start too late. When you do that, and you have very limited time to work on your IA, then you won’t even get to study the rubric well, let alone follow it. It is always best that you start off well before time.

It is best that you start early so that you get enough time to plan out your IA and then you also get to chalk out an outline. Once you have an outline ready, you can understand the rubric and see how your outline fits well with the rubric. When you do that, it will become so much easier for you to work your way through things. 

Plan Things 

Remember that when you plan things in terms of having an outline of what you are going to write, then it makes the entire process a whole lot easier for you. All you have to do is draft an outline and plan accordingly so that you know what you are going to write and how that will help. Once you have a solid understanding of the rubric, you can write the outline in a way that helps you plan what you want to go with.

With this understanding of things, it surely becomes much easier for you to work through what you want. All you have to do is know where to put what information. When you have all that sorted out, it becomes much easier for you to plan things accordingly. 

Recheck and Edit 

Once you are done with the entire assignment, you should go over and it to check for any errors. When writing something, you don’t realize how far you have gone or what you have missed out on. So it is advised that once you have completed all of it, you review it to see how well you have done.

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When you do this, you will better understand things in the best way possible, allowing you to make corrections as and when needed. Additionally, also check to see if there are any places where you are missing out on important information. When you do this, it becomes easier for you to see how well you have followed all that you had to. 

With these tips in mind on following the rubric well, you can definitely do a great job with this. 

The Role of the Rubric in the Overall IB Score 

So as you can see through this, the rubric plays a very important role in your overall IB score. You can only score well on the IA when you take into account what the rubric says and then work accordingly. When you follow the rubric well, that is when you can truly understand things in the right way.

The examiner wants to see how well you understand what is required of you and how you can rightly achieve that if you have the right mindset to go about things. It is all about achieving the high score that you want. So you need to be very apt with your understanding and follow all things just as you want. 

Final Thoughts on IA Marking Criteria

So now that you have read through this article, you probably have an idea about how there are different grading requirements for each subject based on what you are working on and the different things that you are required to do in each. Not only that, but you also have to work on following all of the requirements that have been laid down so that you can work toward what you had in mind. 

To be able to score well, the first and most important thing is for you to understand what the rubric is all about. You can only score well when you truly understand what the examiner needs from you. They want you to fully well understand what is required of you before you can work on the given task.

So if you are an IB student who needs to give the IA, the most important thing is to understand how you will be graded on that. With the important points in mind, you can do justice to the work that you have been given and can work your way to scoring a decent grade on it. 

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