If you are searching for the best resources to help your child with IB, start with a small, balanced toolkit rather than buying every available textbook and subscription. Most students need official guidance, reliable explanations, active-recall materials, exam-style practice, and feedback when they become stuck.
The right combination depends on the student's programme, subjects, level, learning gaps, and stage of the academic year. This IB parent resource list explains what free and paid options are useful, what each resource should accomplish, and how parents can help without taking control of the work.
Start with the school and official IB resources
Before purchasing anything, ask teachers or the IB coordinator what the school already provides. Schools may supply textbooks, formula booklets, assessment materials, specimen papers, digital platforms, exemplars, and teacher-created revision packs.
The official IB Diploma Programme guide for parents introduces the programme's structure and purpose. The IB also explains how Diploma Programme assessment and examinations combine final examinations with internally assessed work.
Ask the school to clarify:
- The current subject information for each course
- The correct data or formula booklet
- Assessment components and deadlines
- Requirements for internal assessments, TOK, the Extended Essay, and CAS
- Legitimately supplied past papers and markschemes
- Teacher-recommended textbooks and platforms
- Available academic, pastoral, and tutoring support
Some full subject guides and assessment materials are distributed through school IB systems rather than publicly. The coordinator is therefore the best source for programme-specific rules, examination arrangements, and internal deadlines.
A practical IB parent resource list
Every resource should have a defined job. If two subscriptions perform the same function, your child probably does not need both.
| Resource category | Best use | Parent's role |
|---|---|---|
| Official and school materials | Confirming content, criteria, deadlines, and paper structure | Help locate the correct documents |
| Study notes | Relearning or clarifying difficult topics | Check that notes match the current course |
| Flashcards | Memorising vocabulary, formulas, and examples | Offer to quiz the student if invited |
| Questionbanks | Applying knowledge and identifying weaknesses | Encourage analysis of mistakes |
| Mock exams | Developing timing, stamina, and paper strategy | Provide an uninterrupted practice period |
| Textbooks | Detailed explanations and structured coverage | Buy only the recommended edition |
| Coursework support | Understanding criteria and receiving feedback | Support planning without editing the work |
| Tutoring | Diagnosing persistent gaps | Choose targeted help with measurable goals |
| Wellbeing support | Addressing anxiety, burnout, or sleep disruption | Treat persistent distress as more than a study problem |
Best all-subject IB study platforms
An all-subject platform can reduce the time spent moving between unrelated websites. The strongest platforms connect content review with retrieval, practice, feedback, and timed rehearsal.
RevisionDojo's support for IB parents and families brings together Study Notes, Flashcards, the Questionbank, Mock Exams, Predicted Papers, coursework resources, Jojo AI, and Tutors. This can suit students who need one consistent system across several subjects.
A productive study cycle is:
- Read a short section of Study Notes.
- Close the notes and explain the concept from memory.
- Review relevant Flashcards.
- Complete a targeted Questionbank set.
- Classify errors as content, interpretation, method, communication, or timing.
- Ask Jojo AI for an explanation if the correction remains unclear.
- Reattempt similar questions after a delay.
In RevisionDojo's 2026 State of Learning Survey of 2,975 students and teachers, students most frequently selected the Questionbank at 40.7%, Study Notes at 40.4%, and Jojo AI chat at 35.7% among the platform's most impactful features. These self-reported findings are observational, not proof that the tools caused improvement, but they support combining explanations with active practice. The methodology appears in the State of Learning Survey.
Families can begin with free IB revision resources. Consider paying only when a feature addresses a specific weakness, such as insufficient question practice, limited feedback, or a need for realistic timed papers.
Best free resources by subject and skill
Khan Academy offers free lessons and practice in mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, statistics, and foundational topics. It is helpful when a student has missed an underlying concept, although it is not organised around IB command terms or paper formats.
BioNinja provides concise IB Biology explanations, diagrams, and topic-based materials. Students should still compare its coverage with their current course documents and practise IB-style questions elsewhere.
Teacher-created science videos can clarify calculations and abstract concepts, but older videos may use outdated syllabus numbering or assessment details. In languages and humanities, resources should develop assessed skills rather than merely summarise content. Students need to practise analysis, argument, evidence selection, evaluation, diagrams, case studies, and precise responses to command terms.
For language acquisition, vocabulary flashcards, podcasts, news sites, library materials, and regular conversation can all help. Frequent exposure is generally more useful than occasional long sessions.
When an IB textbook is worth buying
A good textbook provides depth and continuity that short notes cannot always offer. However, parents should not buy a book simply because its cover says "IB."
Before ordering, confirm:
- The exact subject and SL or HL coverage
- The syllabus or first-assessment year
- The edition and ISBN recommended by the school
- Whether digital access expires
- Whether the school already supplies it
- Whether the student learns effectively from textbooks
The IB explains official and co-published materials on its educational resources and publishing page. Major publishers include Oxford University Press IB resources and Pearson International Baccalaureate resources. Follow the school's recommendation because teachers often organise lessons and assignments around a particular edition.
Resources for exams and coursework
Content knowledge alone does not guarantee strong examination performance. Students must interpret command terms, choose relevant methods or evidence, manage time, and communicate answers in the expected format.
An exam toolkit should include:
- Topic-based questions for diagnosis
- Mixed questions requiring independent method selection
- Markschemes or worked solutions
- Short timed sections and complete mock papers
- An error log recording repeated problems
Official past papers should be obtained legitimately through the school or authorised sources. Unofficial archives may distribute copyrighted files or mix current and outdated syllabuses.
Coursework resources should help students interpret criteria and improve their own thinking, never produce submission-ready work. Useful support includes official criteria, teacher guidance, planning templates, appropriately shared exemplars, research databases, citation guidance, and criterion-based feedback.
RevisionDojo's guide to IA support explains how students can combine guidance, exemplars, Jojo AI, feedback tools, and human support while retaining ownership. Parents may discuss deadlines or arrange library access, but they should not choose evidence, rewrite paragraphs, conduct analysis, or make methodological decisions. The IB digital toolkit also contains general materials on citation, examinations, and wellbeing.
When to consider an IB tutor
Tutoring works best when it addresses a defined problem. "Improve Chemistry" is vague, while "correct recurring errors in equilibrium calculations and Paper 2 explanations" gives the tutor a useful target.
Consider tutoring when a student has persistent gaps despite teacher support, repeatedly misunderstands one question type, needs individual feedback, or must close a gap after changing schools or levels. Ask about current syllabus familiarity, experience with the exact subject and level, feedback methods, safeguarding, and how progress will be measured.
The RevisionDojo parent guide to subject struggles recommends identifying whether the main issue is content, exam technique, workload, or confidence before buying additional support. A strong tutor should gradually make the student more independent.
Choosing resources without taking over
Start with a two-week trial focused on one measurable need. For a calculus weakness, combine the school textbook, one explanatory lesson, and a small set of IB-style questions. Then assess changes in accuracy, confidence, and speed.
Paid support is most defensible when it adds extensive syllabus-aligned questions, reliable feedback, progress analytics, timed simulations, current coursework guidance, or individual instruction. Avoid oversized resource libraries because duplicated notes and conflicting terminology make it harder to choose what to study.
Parents can provide a quiet workspace, predictable routines, access to materials, and short weekly check-ins about deadlines and difficulties. Students must retain ownership of researching, writing, calculating, revising, and making academic decisions. RevisionDojo's guide to supporting your child without doing their work explains this boundary in more detail.
Persistent anxiety, withdrawal, serious sleep disruption, or an inability to function normally should be raised with the school's pastoral team or an appropriate health professional. These concerns should not be treated simply as revision problems.
Conclusion
The best IB resource collection is not the largest. Start with school and official IB materials, add dependable explanations and active recall, practise exam-style questions, and seek targeted feedback when progress stalls. RevisionDojo can provide a connected base through Study Notes, Flashcards, the Questionbank, Jojo AI, Mock Exams, coursework support, and Tutors, but introduce only the tools your child will use consistently.
Sources and referenced URLs
- IB Diploma Programme guide for parents
- IB assessment and examinations
- IB educational resources and publishing
- IB digital toolkit
- Oxford University Press IB resources
- Pearson IB resources
- Khan Academy
- BioNinja
- RevisionDojo support for parents
- Meet Jojo AI
- State of Learning Survey
- Free IB revision resources
- RevisionDojo IA help
- Parent guide to subject struggles
- Supporting your child without doing the work