IB Diploma Programme Language B

Component-based qualification

Source: official International Baccalaureate specification, verified 2026-09-04. Both tiers modeled in full. The official public subject brief (first assessment 2020) states the assessment outline is identical at Standard Level and Higher Level except for the complexity of language required, so weighting is the same at both tiers. All mark totals and durations are read directly from the official freely public specimen papers, directly fetched and read this session: Paper 1 (one productive-skills writing task, 30 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes at Standard Level, 1 hour 30 minutes at Higher Level); Paper 2, sat as listening comprehension (25 marks, 45 minutes Standard Level, 1 hour Higher Level) followed by reading comprehension (40 marks, 1 hour, both tiers) -- recorded here as two components since they are separately timed and separately instructed sections, though published together as one 'Paper 2'; and the Individual Oral Assessment (30 marks, both tiers, internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB, stimulus is a visual image at Standard Level and an excerpt from a studied literary work at Higher Level).