IB Diploma Programme Chemistry

Component-based qualification

Source: official International Baccalaureate specification, verified 2026-09-04. Higher Level only. The freely public official specimen-paper PDF (for first examinations 2025) was read on 2026-09-04, confirming real printed mark totals for the Higher Level papers – Paper 1 (Section 1A multiple-choice, 40 marks, and Section 1B data-based questions and questions on experimental work, 35 marks, sat together in one 2-hour session, 75 marks combined, 36% of the final grade, calculator and data booklet permitted) and Paper 2 (short-answer and extended-response questions, 2 hours 30 minutes, 90 marks, 44%, calculator and data booklet permitted) – but the same document could not be read in full past the Higher Level Paper 2 markscheme, before reaching the Standard Level papers, which the document's own table of contents confirms it also contains. Standard Level is therefore not included here rather than estimated from the Higher Level figures. The Internal Assessment (an individual scientific investigation reported as a written report, maximum 3,000 words) is marked against four criteria – Research Design, Data Analysis, Conclusion, Evaluation – worth 6 marks each, 24 marks total, 20% of the final grade, internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB; this mark total was independently corroborated against a current, actively maintained third-party IB revision resource rather than read directly from the partially inaccessible primary specimen document. Weighting and duration figures throughout are read directly from the official public subject brief. The official source linked here is the public subject brief, which is what the component marks and weightings were checked against. Marlbridge's IB Chemistry study resources cite the full Chemistry guide instead, since they needed its fuller content; the two citations answer different questions.