IB Mathematics

Students studying the International Baccalaureate (IB) must take a Mathematics course. There are two courses available to students: The Analysis and Approaches (AA) course and the Applications and Interpretations (AI) course. Both courses are available for students to study at standard level (SL) and higher level (HL).  The Mathematics courses are broken down into five sections:

  1. Number & Algebra

  2. Functions

  3. Geometry & Trigonometry

  4. Statistics & Probability

  5. Calculus

The easiest way to decide which course to choose is to work backward from what you want to do after you leave school. For example, if you want to study at university after you complete your IB and know what course you would like to study and which universities you would like to attend then you can look at their entrance requirements on their websites. If they require an AAHL then you will have to choose that course. 

If you are not sure then there are several ways you can think about the problem. You may want to choose the course that will give you the best overall IB score. You may want to study the course that gives you the greatest challenge. You may choose a course because you like the teaching style of a specific teacher. Most schools will try and persuade you to choose subjects that maximise your overall IB score as this makes the school look good as it is the statistic that is published to the public.


IB Mathematics Courses

IB Mathematics Analysis and Approaches

If you are a student who likes Mathematics and is good, you like being challenged then the AA course may be suitable for you. It is your traditional mathematics course with lots of abstract concepts and a lot of algebra. As a result, a lot of top universities require it for courses that are heavily dependent on a strong mathematical ability such as Mathematics, Physics, Engineering and even Medicine in some cases. If you are not sure what you want to do but want to have access to any University in the world take the AAHL course. It is regarded by most professionals as the most difficult IB Mathematics course so it is suitable for able students. 

In my opinion, there are differences between the AA and the AI HL/SL courses. But the differences in difficulty are marginal for the same level of course. You will need to work hard no matter what!

IB Mathematics Applications and Interpretations

If you like to understand what the numbers you're dealing with mean and perform better when you can relate your work to real-life situations then the AI courses are probably most suited to you. You will be able to use your Graphical Display Calculator (GDC) for the entire AI course (you cannot on the AA course). 

In many schools, weaker mathematics students do the AISL course. It is heavily based on the old Mathematics studies course. It is not an easy course. There are some cool pieces of Mathematics that even students who don’t like Mathematics enjoy. If you want to get the highest grade possible then the AISL course might be for you, however, some universities do not like the course so be careful. Also, if you are a strong student you might find yourself in a class of weaker students. In this instance, teachers may choose to aim the majority of the class at a lower level so the majority of the class can understand. This is not uncommon. 

If I was in this situation, I would complete the IB Mathematics Online Intensive and work through the course at my own pace and use my teacher to support me when I am not sure about something. Speak to your teacher. Most teachers would be fine with this so long as you can maintain a solid score on your examinations in class and you were not disturbing the class ofcourse!