How many past papers should I complete before the IB Chemistry exam?

There is no official number of past papers that guarantees a particular grade. Completing three papers with detailed correction is usually more valuable than rushing through ten and checking only the scores. Begin with topic-based questions, progress to timed sections, and complete full papers once you can apply the main methods accurately. After each attempt, classify mistakes by content, method, command term, reading, or timing. Reattempt incorrect and uncertain questions without the markscheme before moving to another paper. Because the present course was first assessed in 2025, use current-format specimen and examination papers for final simulations while using older questions selectively for relevant chemistry practice.

Should I show working in IB Chemistry Paper 1A?

Paper 1A is multiple choice, so the selected option is what receives the mark and scratch working does not earn separate method credit. You should nevertheless write brief calculations, equations, oxidation states, or unit conversions because doing everything mentally increases error risk. Keep this working compact so it does not consume time needed for Paper 1B. In Paper 1B and Paper 2 calculations, show the relevant stages clearly because intermediate method marks may be available. Always include an appropriate unit in the final answer when the quantity requires one. The useful rule is that Paper 1A working supports accuracy, while constructed-response working can support both accuracy and credit.

What should I do when I do not know a Paper 1A answer?

First identify what the stem is testing and eliminate options that conflict with units, periodic trends, charge, magnitude, or chemical principles. If calculation is required, estimate the expected order of magnitude before using exact arithmetic. Mark the question for review and continue if it is taking time disproportionate to its one mark. Return after completing more accessible questions because another part of the paper may trigger the relevant idea. The current Chemistry guide states that marks are not deducted for incorrect multiple-choice answers, so do not leave an answer blank. After practice, review the guess even if it was correct, since a lucky answer does not demonstrate secure understanding.

How can I improve my speed without making more chemistry mistakes?

Build speed only after you can solve the question type accurately without severe time pressure. Record how long individual questions take, then compare your method with a concise worked solution to find unnecessary steps or hesitation. Practise short timed sets before attempting complete papers, since this lets you isolate slow skills such as mole ratios, equilibrium calculations, or data interpretation. Memorize recurring foundations, including common equations, definitions, and data-booklet locations, but do not replace understanding with memorized answer scripts. During full papers, move on when a low-value question exceeds its reasonable time allocation and return later. Speed in Chemistry comes mainly from recognizing structures and choosing methods quickly, not from writing less working.

Are old IB Chemistry papers still useful for the current syllabus?

Old papers remain useful when the chemical content overlaps with the current course, particularly for stoichiometry, bonding, energetics, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, redox, and organic chemistry. However, the current course was first assessed in 2025 and uses a different examination structure, including Paper 1A, Paper 1B, and Paper 2. Old full-paper timings and option-topic arrangements should therefore not be treated as models of the current examination. Check each older question against your current subject guide or teacher's syllabus plan before investing time in it. Use official current specimen papers and recent papers for realistic final simulations. Use older material mainly as a bank of individual questions for targeted skill development.

What is the best way to use IB Chemistry video solutions?

Attempt the entire question before starting the video and record how confident you are in the answer. During the walkthrough, pause before each major step and predict the equation, inference, or calculation the solver will use. Identify the first point where your reasoning differs, since later mistakes may simply follow from that initial error. After watching, close the solution and reproduce the answer from a blank page with all required working. Reattempt the same question or a closely related one several days later to test whether the method is now retrievable. RevisionDojo's per-question past-paper video solutions are most effective when used as part of this attempt, compare, reconstruct, and retest cycle.

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IB Chemistry Exam Tips That Move Your Grade

• 5 Aug 2026•15

Join 650k+ students breezing through the IBReady to breeze through the IB?

IB Chemistry Exam Tips That Move Your Grade | RevisionDojo

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IB Chemistry Exam Tips That Move Your Grade

• 5 Aug 2026•15

The IB Chemistry exam tips that move grades most are not unusual revision tricks. They are interpreting command terms accurately, showing complete working, controlling time by marks, and reviewing uncertain answers systematically. These habits convert chemistry knowledge into marks, particularly when you develop them by comparing your attempts with step-by-step worked solutions.

For the course first assessed in 2025, external examinations contribute 80% of the final Chemistry grade. Paper 1 contributes 36%, Paper 2 contributes 44%, and the scientific investigation contributes the remaining 20%. Exam technique therefore matters, but it must be practised alongside accurate chemical understanding rather than treated as a substitute for it.

Know the current IB Chemistry exam structure

Both SL and HL students sit two external examination papers. Paper 1 contains Paper 1A, consisting of multiple-choice questions, and Paper 1B, consisting of data-based and experimental-work questions. Paper 2 contains short-answer and extended-response questions.

Component	SL	HL	Weighting
Paper 1A and 1B	1 hour 30 minutes, 55 marks	2 hours, 75 marks	36%
Paper 2	1 hour 30 minutes, 50 marks	2 hours 30 minutes, 90 marks	44%
Scientific investigation	10 hours, 24 marks	10 hours, 24 marks	20%

Calculators are permitted in the current Chemistry examinations, subject to the IB's calculator regulations. Students also have access to a clean Chemistry data booklet. Check your calculator model and required examination-mode settings with your coordinator before the examination rather than relying on general online advice.

The IB's official Chemistry specimen papers and markschemes are especially useful because they show the format and expected response style for the current course. Older papers remain valuable for testing chemistry, but their structure does not exactly match the present assessment model.

Nail the command term before answering

A command term tells you what intellectual action the examiner expects. Knowing the topic is not sufficient if your response performs the wrong action.

Command term	What the answer must do	Common mistake
State	Give a concise answer without explanation	Adding irrelevant background
Calculate	Obtain a numerical answer and show relevant working	Writing only the calculator result
Determine	Reach the only possible answer from the information	Giving several possibilities
Explain	Give reasons or causes	Describing what happens without saying why
Compare	Refer to both items and identify similarities	Writing separate descriptions with no comparison
Distinguish	Make the differences clear	Giving definitions without an explicit distinction
Suggest	Propose a plausible answer using chemistry and the evidence given	Repeating the data without interpreting it

For example, if a question asks you to explain why magnesium has a higher melting point than sodium, stating that magnesium has a higher melting point merely repeats the observation. A mark-earning answer connects structure to cause: magnesium forms more highly charged cations and contributes more delocalized electrons, producing stronger electrostatic attraction in the metallic lattice.

Before writing, underline the command term and identify the chemical object being discussed. Then use the mark allocation as a rough guide to the number of distinct ideas needed. This is a practical heuristic, not an official rule that every mark always equals one sentence.

Reviewing worked answers is crucial here. Do not ask only, “Was my chemistry correct?” Ask, “Did my response carry out the command term?” The RevisionDojo guide to IB command terms and its guide to structuring mark-earning IB answers can help you compare answer shapes.

Always show working where marks can be awarded

In calculation questions, a bare final answer hides your method. If the final number is wrong, visible working may still demonstrate correct intermediate chemistry and make method marks accessible where the markscheme awards them.

A reliable calculation layout is:

Write the relevant relationship or equation.
Substitute values with units.
Show rearrangement and intermediate quantities.
Give the final answer with an appropriate unit and sensible significant figures.

For a titration calculation, this might mean writing the balanced equation, calculating the amount of the known reactant, applying the mole ratio, and then calculating the unknown concentration. Jumping directly from volume and concentration data to a final result makes ratio errors difficult to detect.

Chemical working is not limited to arithmetic. Display oxidation states in redox problems, show electron movement clearly in mechanisms, label axes and units on graphs, and write balanced equations rather than describing reactions vaguely. If a question asks for reasoning, make the causal chain visible.

Paper 1A is different because only the selected option earns the mark. Scratch working will not receive separate credit, but it still prevents mental arithmetic errors and helps you check units, signs, ratios, and powers of ten. The distinction is important: show working for credit in constructed-response questions, and use working for accuracy in multiple choice.

When reviewing, compare every line of your method with the worked solution. The RevisionDojo Chemistry resources include Questionbank practice and past-paper video walkthroughs, allowing you to see not only the answer but the sequence used to reach it.

Manage timing by marks, not by emotion

Students often spend too long on a difficult question because abandoning it feels uncomfortable. This can sacrifice several accessible marks later in the paper.

The overall pace is approximately:

SL Paper 1: 90 minutes for 55 marks, or about 1.6 minutes per mark
HL Paper 1: 120 minutes for 75 marks, or about 1.6 minutes per mark
SL Paper 2: 90 minutes for 50 marks, or about 1.8 minutes per mark
HL Paper 2: 150 minutes for 90 marks, or about 1.7 minutes per mark

These figures are starting points, not rigid rules. Reading data, interpreting an unfamiliar experiment, or setting up a multistep calculation may take longer than recalling a definition. Your aim is to prevent one question from consuming time disproportionate to its value.

Use a three-pass approach:

First pass: Complete questions you can answer efficiently.
Second pass: Return to questions that require longer reasoning.
Final pass: Check flagged answers, units, signs, significant figures, equations, and omitted parts.

For Paper 1, you must also decide how to divide the shared time between 1A and 1B. Establish that split during timed practice because the IB does not prescribe a personal time allocation between the two booklets. In Paper 2, write something chemically relevant before moving on when possible, but do not fill space with unsupported guesses.

Timed practice should progress from short sets to full papers. Use the Chemistry Questionbank for focused drills, then use Chemistry predicted papers or full-paper practice to test stamina and decision-making.

Review guesses instead of merely checking the score

A guessed answer that happens to be correct is not secure knowledge. During practice, mark every answer about which you were uncertain, including correct answers. This separates genuine mastery from fortunate outcomes.

Classify each uncertain or incorrect response:

Error type	Diagnostic question	Corrective action
Knowledge gap	Did I forget a fact, definition, equation, or trend?	Review the exact syllabus point, then retrieve it later without notes
Concept gap	Could I recall facts but not explain the chemistry?	Study a worked explanation and reconstruct it independently
Method gap	Did I know the topic but not the sequence of steps?	Copy the method once, then solve a parallel problem unaided
Reading gap	Did I miss a unit, qualifier, graph feature, or command term?	Annotate future questions before calculating
Time error	Did rushing or overinvestment cause the mistake?	Repeat a similar set under a realistic limit

For multiple choice, explain why the correct option is right and why each distractor is wrong. This reveals misconceptions that a simple tick or cross cannot show. Because incorrect Paper 1A answers are not penalized through negative marking, you should answer every question, but eliminate options logically before making a final guess.

Keep an error log containing the question type, your reasoning, the corrected rule, and a date for retesting. Reattempt the question without looking at the solution, then solve a similar question. RevisionDojo's discussion of common IB Chemistry exam mistakes and Chemistry markschemes can support this process.

Use worked solutions actively

Watching an expert solve chemistry can create an illusion of understanding. A worked solution changes performance only when you compare decisions, not merely answers.

Use this sequence for each substantial question:

Attempt the question without notes.
Record your answer and confidence level.
Watch or read the solution step by step.
Pause before each step and predict what should happen next.
Identify the first point where your reasoning diverged.
Close the solution and reproduce the complete answer.
Reattempt a related question within a few days.

This method links all four high-leverage habits. It shows how the command term shapes the response, which working must appear, how long an efficient solution should take, and why an uncertain choice was right or wrong.

The most relevant next step is to use RevisionDojo's per-question Chemistry past-paper video solutions. Pause each walkthrough before the explanation, attempt the next step yourself, and record any difference between your method and the demonstrated method. Jojo AI can clarify a specific step, but you should still reconstruct the solution independently.

Common approaches that do not reliably move grades

Passive rereading can refresh familiarity without testing whether you can retrieve and apply chemistry. Memorizing markschemes word for word is also fragile because the examination can place familiar principles in unfamiliar contexts.

Avoid these patterns:

Completing many questions without reviewing the reasoning
Checking only the final numerical answer
Practising calculations without units or written stages
Ignoring correct guesses when making an error log
Using old papers without recognizing changes to the current format
Timing full papers before learning how to solve individual question types accurately

Accuracy should come before speed, but speed must eventually be practised. The productive cycle is attempt, inspect the worked solution, diagnose, rewrite, and retest under time pressure.

Conclusion

The most effective IB Chemistry exam tips are practical: obey the command term, make working visible, budget time according to marks, and investigate every guess. Each habit becomes stronger when you study worked solutions and then reproduce the reasoning without assistance.

RevisionDojo can support this process through Chemistry Questionbank practice, timed papers, Jojo AI, and per-question past-paper video solutions. Start with one timed set, review it more carefully than you attempted it, and use the video walkthroughs to correct the exact step where your reasoning failed.

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