Preparing for the IB English Exam

AP & IB Exams

Mar 7

The IB English Exam requires complex analysis and an incisive understanding of rhetorical skills. In this blog, we will provide you with a general overview of the IB English exam and helpful tips for preparation. After all, May is right around the corner. Let’s start, then, with an introduction to the structure of the exam itself.

Structure of the IB English Exam

The IB English Standard Level (SL) exam is 3 hours long, while the IB English Higher Level (HL) exam is 4 hours long. Both consist of two papers, with SL students having approximately 1.5 hours per essay and HL students having about 2 hours per essay. Paper 1 asks candidates to write a literary commentary on one of two presented works—these can be passages of prose, poetry, journal articles, or even comic strips. In paper 2, students are asked to answer one of twelve questions comparing and contrasting two works from their IB English course. There are three questions available to pick from in each of the following genres: drama, poetry, prose fiction, and prose nonfiction.

IB English Exam Strategies

Take notes on all the works assigned to you in class. This goes beyond annotating! Dedicate a notebook to summarizing major plot points, themes, and motifs that you identify in the poetry and prose you read throughout the semester. It’s also useful to make note of significant claims made by your peers or instructor during class discussion. If you haven’t started this process yet, now is the best time to begin! You want to ensure that you have a resource to reference so you don’t have to re-read several entire books before the official exam.
Practice under realistic conditions. We recommend completing at least five timed practice exams in the month or so before the test. You can find official exam questions on the IB website, and the IBO subreddit is a great community for unofficial sample exams and general student discussion.
Build your vocabulary. Performing a nuanced analysis of a text often requires fluency with advanced vocabulary. We recommend that you maintain a notebook with unfamiliar and fun vocabulary words (mine contains oneiric, palimpsest, and chthonic). There are also plenty of online resources for intentionally and unintentionally building your vocabulary: we recommend The New York Times Crossword and Spelling Bee (they have free puzzles, but it’s honestly worth the subscription fee), Knoword, and the hit newcomer to the word game scene Wordle.

We’d be more than happy to support you with one-on-one tutoring as you begin to prepare for the IB English Exam! Reach out to our team to get in touch with one of our expert IB tutors.

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