Mock Exams
⇒ go to sample mock exams
There are five full sets (A, B, C, D & E) of original Paper 1 and Paper 2 mock exams (SL & HL) - with Paper 1 mocks for Set F now posted (21 Nov 2024) - and five original HL Paper 3 mock exams - 25 total exams - are available on the Sample Mock Exams page.
** Please do not share mock exams from this site with anyone outside of your school's mathematics department. Thank you.
* Updates *
21 Nov 2024: new SL & HL Paper 1 mock exams posted with worked solutions.
28 Feb 2024: HL Paper 3 mock posted: MockE_AA_HL_P3_2024 with worked solutions.
6 Feb 2024: SL Paper 1 exam posted: MockE_AA_SL_P1_2024 with worked solutions
26 Jan 2024: HL Paper 1 exam posted: MockE_AA_HL_P1_2024 with worked solutions
10 Jan 2024: SL Paper 2 exam posted: MockE_AA_SL_P2_2024 with worked solutions
4 Jan 2024: HL Paper 2 exam posted: MockE_AA_HL_P2_2024 with worked solutions
7 Dec 2023: HL Paper 3 mock posted: MockD_AA_HL_P3_2023 with worked solutions.
26 July 2023: correction to instructions at start of exam for MockD HL P1 exam and MockD SL P1 exam. Corrected versions of each posted.
27 April 2023: correction to answer for Q.1(b)(iv) on MockC HL P3 exam - corrected version MockC_AA_HL_P3_2023_SOL_KEY_v2 posted
4 April 2023: posted markscheme for MockC HL P2 exam
10 March 2023: corrected (version 2) of question paper and worked solutions for MockD SL Paper 1 mock
5 March 2023: worked solutions for SL Paper 2 mock posted: MockD_AA_SL_P2_2023_SOL_KEY_v1
28 Feb 2023: worked solutions for SL Paper 1 mock posted: MockD_AA_SL_P1_2023_SOL_KEY_v1
23 Feb 2023: HL Paper 3 mock posted: MockC_AA_HL_P3_2023
20 Feb 2023: SL Paper 1 & 2 mocks posted: MockD_AA_SL_P1_2023 and MockD_AA_SL_P2_2023
11 Jan 2023: HL Paper 1 & 2 mocks posted with worked solutions: MockD_AA_HL_P1_2023 and MockD_AA_HL_P2_2023
30 Nov 2022: posted markschemes for MockA HL P1 exam, MockA SL P2 exam & MockA HL P2 exam
28 Aug 2022: SL Paper 2 exam posted including worked solutions - MockC_AA_SL_P2_2022 with worked solutions
23 Aug 2022: HL Paper 2 exam posted including worked solutions - MockC_AA_HL_P2_2022 with worked solutions
21 July 2022: posted markscheme for MockA SL P1 exam: MockA_AA_SL_P1_2020_MARKSCHEME_v1
16 April 2022: P1 exams, SL & HL, with worked solutions - MockC_AA_SL_P1_2022 and MockC_AA_HL_P1_2022
18 Jan 2022: correction to Q.11 part (e) on MockB_AA_HL_P2_2022
10 Jan 2022: HL Paper 2 exam posted including worked solutions - MockB_AA_HL_P2_2022
29 Dec 2021: worked solutions posted for MockB_AA_SL_P2_2021
17 Dev 2021: SL Paper 2 exam posted - MockB_AA_SL_P2_2021
12 Oct 2021: HL Paper 1 (mock B) exam corrected - new version MockB_AA_HL_P1_2021_v2 and worked solutions posted
24 Sept 2021: HL Paper 1 exam posted - MockB_AA_HL_P1_2021
17 Sept 2021: worked solutions posted for MockB_AA_SL_P1_2021
30 Aug 2021: SL Paper 1 exam posted - MockB_AA_SL_P1_2021
The most important assessments for students - other than their IB exams taken in May or November - are the mock exams ('practice' exams) that students take 2 to 4 months before their IB exams.
There are basically three ways for a teacher to 'make' a mock exam. In order of difficulty from least difficult to most difficult, in my opinion, are:
1. Use a full IB past exam.
2. Choose a selection of IB questions from different past exams.
3. Write your own.
[or some combination of these approaches]
A subscription to this site offers a 4th option which may be the best option - and that is using a sample mock exam written by me. It might be 'best' ... not because I have good skills and experience in contributing toward the writing of IB exams (which I do), but because there are significant weaknesses in the other three options listed above.
The biggest danger nowadays in using a full past IB exam question is that students have easy access over the internet to past IB exams going back many years. Thus, you may choose a past exam (one that you did not use with your students) as your mock exam without knowing that some, or all, of your students had obtained their own access to it (and the markscheme).
The same danger also applies to constructing a mock exam from a selection of past exam questions from different years. It is sometimes difficult to remember precisely which past exams you used with your students. It is also very difficult to organize questions from different years and get them to 'fit' together in a way which makes a good exam. It is not easy to get the right balance in terms of covering the breadth of the syllabus and arranging the questions in a suitable order from 'accessible' (i.e. easier) to 'discriminating' (i.e. harder) questions.
Writing your own mock exam can be a very worthwhile process. However, this is something rarely done by teachers because of the time and effort required. It also demands a certain depth of experience in teaching the course - and it would also be very beneficial to have had experience as a member of an IB exam writing team. And that's the last reason why it's very difficult to write a mock exam on your own - it's much better done by a team of people.
I have written five sets of original mock exams (including worked solutions) for subscribers to this site. Although not a genuine 'team' effort, I did share these mock exams with other experienced IB maths teachers for proofreading.