How DP Geography Is Assessed: Revision Notes

Condensed for quick recall of how the course is assessed. For the full subject overview, use the IB DP Geography subject overview, and for a paper-by-paper exam-day plan see the exam preparation guide.

SL vs HL structure

Paper	Covers	SL weight	SL time	HL weight	HL time
Paper 1	Optional themes (2 options at SL, 3 at HL)	35%	1h30	35%	2h15
Paper 2	Core geography topics (all students)	40%	1h15	25%	1h15
Paper 3	Global interactions (HL only, synoptic)	—	—	20%	1h + 5 min reading
Internal assessment	Fieldwork investigation	25%	—	20%	—

Total marks are distributed differently across the two levels because HL simply has more assessed content: SL students’ final grade is built from Papers 1-2 plus the IA (three components), while HL students’ grade adds a fourth component, Paper 3, on top of the same three — which is why Paper 2 (40% to 25%) and the IA (25% to 20%) carry lower percentage weightings at HL, while Paper 1 stays at 35% at both levels.

Optional themes are school-chosen

Paper 1’s optional themes are chosen by your school from the syllabus’s seven options — confirm with your geography department which themes you’re actually being taught, since this determines what you revise for Paper 1. This matters more in geography than in most other DP subjects, where the taught content is fixed by the syllabus itself: two Marlbridge students at different schools could sit entirely different Paper 1 questions, so generic online revision material that assumes a particular set of options may not match what you were actually taught.

Paper 2 covers the compulsory core

Unlike Paper 1, Paper 2’s core geography topics are the same for every student, regardless of school or choice of options — this is the one paper where revision guides and past papers apply uniformly across all DP Geography candidates. Because Paper 2 carries the largest single weighting at SL (40%), it rewards close, structured revision at least as much as the more variable Paper 1.

The fieldwork investigation

• Student-formulated research question, primary data collected during fieldwork.
• Written up with evidence-based conclusions — no two students’ reports address quite the same question, even on a shared theme/location.
• Typically written up as a single report of around 2,500 words, incorporating maps, graphs, photographs and other geographic techniques appropriate to the chosen question.
• Worth more at SL (25%) than HL (20%) as a proportion of the final grade — even though HL students typically have deeper geographic technique to draw on, the IA carries relatively less weight for them because HL’s three written papers already cover more content and more marks overall.
• Assessed on: the quality of the research question itself, appropriate methodology and geographic technique in data collection, accurate analysis of that data, and a conclusion that is genuinely supported by the evidence gathered — not a conclusion the student decided on beforehand.

Why Paper 1’s structure differs by level

Paper 1 keeps the same 35% weighting at both SL and HL, but HL students study one extra option (three instead of two) and are given 45 minutes longer to complete the paper (2h15 versus 1h30). This means the time per option is exactly the same at both levels: 45 minutes (90 minutes for two options at SL, 135 minutes for three at HL) — HL isn’t simply “the same exam with less time,” it’s testing breadth across more themes within a proportionally similar time allowance. Paper 2, by contrast, changes weighting rather than timing: it drops from 40% at SL to 25% at HL, because Paper 3 (HL-only, worth 20%) absorbs some of that assessment weight in the form of more extended, synoptic questions on global interactions.

Exam traps

• Revising options not actually taught by your school — always confirm the specific options first.
• Underestimating Paper 3 (HL only) — it demands more extended, synoptic answers, distinct in style from Papers 1-2.
• Treating the fieldwork IA as generic data collection rather than building it around your own specific research question.

Self-test

1. How many optional themes does Paper 1 cover at SL versus HL, and why does this differ?
2. Which paper is HL-only, and what style of answer does it require?
3. What must the internal assessment be built around?
4. Why should you confirm your school’s options before revising?

Answers: 1. Two at SL, three at HL — the extra option is why HL students are given a longer Paper 1 (2h15 versus 1h30), keeping 45 minutes per option at both levels. 2. Paper 3, requiring more extended, synoptic answers on global interactions. 3. A student-formulated research question and primary data collected through fieldwork. 4. Because the optional themes are chosen by each school from the syllabus’s options, so the specific topics examined in Paper 1 depend on what your school has actually taught.

5. How does the internal assessment’s weighting differ between SL and HL, and why?
6. What four things is the fieldwork investigation assessed on?

Answers (continued): 5. It is worth 25% at SL and 20% at HL — proportionally less at HL because the additional HL-only Paper 3 (20%) takes a share of the total assessment weight. 6. The quality of the research question, appropriate methodology and geographic technique, accurate data analysis, and an evidence-based conclusion.

Official source

International Baccalaureate Organization, Geography subject brief (Diploma Programme), 2017.