Why Good IB Answers Lose Marks: Inside an IB Examiner’s Lens
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This article explains why good IB answers lose marks, drawing directly from patterns seen while evaluating real IB exam scripts.
What separates high-scoring IB scripts from average ones
As an IB examiner, I read hundreds of scripts every examination session.
Many of them belong to students who clearly know the syllabus. The concepts are familiar.
The terminology is mostly correct. The effort is obvious.
And yet, a large number of these scripts fall short of the marks students expect.
From the student’s side, the result feels unfair.From the examiner’s side, the pattern is consistent.
The gap is rarely knowledge.It is almost always alignment.
Why “knowing the content” is not enough in IB
One of the most common misconceptions students have is that understanding the topic guarantees marks.
In the IB, it doesn’t.
IB assessments are not designed to reward what a student knows in general. They are designed to reward how precisely a student demonstrates that knowledge within the structure of the question, the comman
d term, and the markscheme.
As examiners, we are not asking:
“Does this student understand the topic?”
We are asking:
“Has this student demonstrated the specific evidence required to award these marks?”
That difference matters more than most students realise.
What examiners are actually trained to look for
When examiners are trained, the focus is not on spotting effort or intention. It is on consistency, evidence, and standardisation.
We are trained to look for:
Clear alignment to the command term
Responses that address exactly what is being asked — no more, no less
Explicit reasoning, not implied understanding
Use of terminology that reflects conceptual clarity
Structure that makes evaluation unambiguous
An answer can be factually correct and still not meet the criteria for full marks if it does not make its reasoning visible.
Patterns I repeatedly see in average scripts
There are certain patterns that appear again and again in scripts that fall in the middle bands.
Some of the most common ones are:
Correct ideas, but explained too vaguely
Long responses that don’t directly answer the question
Key steps skipped because the student assumes they are “obvious”
Overwriting sections that carry fewer marks
Underdeveloping responses to high-value questions
From a student’s perspective, these answers feel close.From an examiner’s perspective, they are incomplete.
Marks are awarded for what can be evaluated — not for what might be inferred.
What high-scoring scripts do differently
High-scoring scripts are not always more complex or more detailed.
They are more intentional.
What distinguishes them is not brilliance, but clarity:
Each part of the response serves a purpose
Reasoning is stated explicitly
Depth appears where the marks are
Language reflects the command term
The examiner never has to guess what the student means
These scripts make the examiner’s job easy — and that is not accidental.
Why studying harder often doesn’t fix the problem
When students receive disappointing results, the most common reaction is to increase effort.
More hours.More notes.More questions.
As an examiner, what I often see instead is the same mistake repeated more thoroughly.
Without understanding how responses are evaluated, additional practice simply reinforces existing habits. Effort increases, but marks don’t move proportionally.
This is why some students feel stuck despite working harder each term.
How understanding the examiner’s lens changes preparation
When students begin to understand how examiners read scripts, preparation changes noticeably.
Study becomes more selective.Practice becomes more focused.Feedback becomes easier to interpret.
Instead of asking:
“Did I study enough?”
Students start asking:
“Did I demonstrate what the examiner needed to see?”
That shift is subtle, but it is often the difference between stagnation and improvement.
A final thought
Understanding the examiner’s perspective does not replace hard work.
It ensures that hard work is applied in ways that actually earn marks.
Most students don’t need to study more.They need clearer alignment between what they
write and how it is evaluated.
That alignment is what examiners look for — every time.
About the Author
Prity Pramanik is an IBDP Examiner and Lead IB Math & Chemistry Educator at Riforma.
She works with students globally, helping them align their preparation with examiner expectations through diagnostic-led academic support.
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