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📝 IB Maths IA: How to Choose a Topic and Plan Your Exploration
The IB Maths internal assessment (IA) is a written exploration of a maths question you choose. It is marked by your teacher, checked by the IB, and counts for 20% of your final grade, so it is worth planning well.
The five criteria
| Criterion | Marks | What it rewards |
|---|---|---|
| A: Presentation | 4 | A clear aim, logical structure and a conclusion |
| B: Mathematical communication | 4 | Correct notation, labelled graphs, defined variables |
| C: Personal engagement | 3 | Your own question, choices and thinking |
| D: Reflection | 3 | Critical comments on results and limitations |
| E: Use of mathematics | 6 | Relevant maths at your course level, used correctly |
The guide suggests about 12–20 pages. Criterion E carries the most marks, but engagement and reflection are where many students lose easy points.
Choosing a strong topic
- Start from something you care about: sport, music, games, money, travel.
- Make it a question the maths can answer: “What shape of can uses the least metal?”, not “Cylinders”.
- Check the maths fits your course. Simple maths explained deeply beats advanced maths you cannot explain.
- Avoid copied classics unless you add something genuinely your own.
A step-by-step plan
- Write your aim as one question.
- Collect or create your data, noting how and why.
- Build the mathematics step by step, explaining each step.
- After each result, reflect: does it make sense, and what are the limits?
- Write it up with an introduction, body, conclusion and bibliography.
- Check your draft against the five criteria before handing it in.
Common mistakes
- A topic that is really a report, with no question to answer.
- Undefined variables and unlabelled graphs, which cost criterion B marks.
- Reflection only in the last paragraph, instead of throughout.
- Maths that is too easy for the course, or too hard to explain.
This follows the IB Mathematics guide for first assessment in 2021. Always use your school’s IB coordinator and the current IB documents as the final word.
The IB Internal Assessment guide in the BeadBop app has the criteria checklist, topic ideas, and practice for the calculus, statistics and vectors your IA might use.
Quick answers
How much is the IB Maths IA worth?
It counts for 20% of the final grade in both Analysis & Approaches and Applications & Interpretation, at Standard and Higher Level.
How long should an IB Maths IA be?
The IB guide suggests about 12 to 20 pages. Quality and clarity matter more than length.
What makes a good IB Maths IA topic?
A specific question you genuinely care about, which uses maths at the level of your course that you can explain fully, with room for your own choices and reflection.