August 1st, 2023
You’ve decided to do the IB Diploma, but now you need to decide which courses to take. When it comes to choosing the maths courses, it’s not necessarily clear what is involved in each one. In this article, experienced IB Maths teacher and tutor Sallie, shares her tips and insights regarding the different courses and what is involved in each one.
First of all, there is no “easy option”, all of the maths courses are challenging and are designed to push you beyond what you have previously studied. In many schools there is an underlying stigma that one course is easier than another, however it ultimately is more about what your individual strengths and goals are.
*NOTE*: Some universities require certain maths courses for entry. Make sure you check these carefully before settling on a course.
What is the difference between Applications and Interpretations (A&I) and Analysis and Approaches (A&A)?
Both of these courses contain a certain amount of material that is seen in both courses. For example, there is no escaping sequences, trigonometry, calculus or statistics, the question is to what extent each of these is seen. Which course you choose should depend on your future goals as well as your strengths.
| Applications and Interpretations | Analysis and Approaches | |
| Topics | More focus on statisticsMore use of graphs and functionsMore applications of financial mathsVoronoi diagrams (straight line graph application) | More algebraMore trigonometry (it will become more abstract)More calculusProofs |
| Careers | ArtsSocial sciencesBusinessMedicine | EngineeringPhysical/Natural sciencesComputer science/codingMathematics |
| Exams | 1 exam of short style questions1 exam of long style questions1 written essay (20%)HL only: Problem solving examCalculator permitted in all assessments | 1 Non calculator exam1 Calculator exam1 written essay (20%)HL only: Problem solving examPapers 1 and 2 have section A made up for short style questions and section B long style. |
*NOTE*: A&A students will need to complete one non-calculator exam, so if you are not confident with mental arithmetic, you may want to consider choosing A&I or brushing up on these skills before starting the A&A course.
What level?
When it comes to choosing between Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL), there are many things to take into consideration.
Previous achievement:
HL courses are designed to challenge those with top grades – if you don’t regularly achieve top marks (8s and 9s) then this course will likely be a challenge, and may take your focus away from your other IB subjects. Remember, the IB Diploma Programme is about achieving well in all subjects, so if you do not find maths “easy” and something you genuinely enjoy, you may want to choose SL.
Topics covered:
The way these courses were designed is so that the SL course is a subset of the HL course, meaning that all SL topics are seen by HL, but HL students then take these further and also study more topics. HL courses include topics like vectors and complex numbers which are not seen at SL.
Workload:
A general recommendation is that those studying maths at SL should be studying 30 minutes outside of class for every hour of lessons, and HL students should be studying at least 1 hour for every hour of lessons. That said, if you are choosing HL, you should want to study maths and that study time shouldn’t feel like a chore.
Assessments:
When it comes to the SL exams, both courses have 2 exam papers and an Internal Assessment (IA) investigation. The HL course has similar assessments to these (but with some more challenging questions) and also a Paper 3. This exam is a one hour problem solving paper with just two questions. It is challenging and designed to test a student’s deeper understanding of topics and applying them in different scenarios.
Universities:
Some US universities will allow you to skip maths courses if you have a good grade at HL. Similarly, some universities will require HL for certain courses (e.g. mathematics), whereas some will want a particular grade at either SL or HL. For many it is easier to get a 6 at SL than a 4 at HL, so do be aware of these differences and research your top choice universities and courses.
Final Thoughts
Choosing your IB Diploma Maths course can be a challenge, but no matter which option you choose, the Owl Tutors who specialise in the IB Diploma maths courses are able to support you.
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