IB Math has a well-earned reputation as one of the hardest high school math courses anywhere in the world. Not only does the content cover topics that would normally only be introduced in the first year of university, but the IB assessments also emphasize reasoning and independent thought to a degree that few other exam boards do.
I'm writing this guide because I know firsthand how confusing the process can be, and I want to share some of the lessons and strategies I’ve learned over the years. I took the IB in 2020, with my higher-level subjects being Physics, Chemistry, Math and Further Math. I did many things right, but I also made plenty of mistakes that taught me important lessons. I went on to study biophysics at Brown University; during that time, I tutored countless IB students in math and physics.
Since graduating in 2024, I spend every day working on perplex.org, a website tailored specifically to help IB Math students succeed. I've analyzed every question on every past paper since 2010. I've also written thousands of exam-style problems and exercises, and the equivalent of hundreds of pages of lessons and notes.
This article distills everything I know about how the IBO thinks, the science of how to learn, and the techniques that will help you beat the exams. Some of this will sound obvious, and you may have heard a lot of this before. But there's a big difference between knowing something and practicing it, so please take what I say seriously.
Get the right mindset
You’re not “bad” at math
The first thing I want you to get right is your mindset. It is deeply important that you see yourself as someone who is capable of improving and performing well in math. Don't view this as a participation trophy. Decades of pedagogical research have made it clear that students who adopt a growth mindset improve more than students who believe that mathematical ability is static.
Brace yourself
You also need to embrace the simple fact that learning math will always feel hard. In fact, if it feels easy, it probably isn't working. The feeling of struggling, of not quite grasping something, isn't failure — it's evidence that your brain is under the cognitive load it needs to form new connections.
Don’t be intellectually lazy
It is exceedingly common to see students move through question banks and practice sheets as if they were trying to cram the questions and the methods for solving them into their heads so that they are ready for anything that could come up on the test. Unless you're extremely lucky, this will not work. The questions that show up on your test or your exam will be at least slightly different from the ones you practiced on. And because you didn't make a genuine effort to force your mind to adjust to difficult concepts, you won't even know how to start, and you’ll make a string of careless mistakes.
You shouldn't think of practice tests, problem sets, readings, or videos as obstacles you need to clear. Instead, think of them as opportunities to wrestle with mathematical ideas. Make no mistake—you will have to wrestle with them eventually. You can do it a little bit every week between now and your exams, try to cram it all into the last month, or get the crap beaten out of you on the day of paper one.
Hold tight to your objective
Because real learning is a struggle, it's especially important that you decide early what your objective is and why you have it. Maybe your first-choice university has certain requirements about how well you have to perform in math, or maybe you just want to challenge yourself. Your reasons are personal, but understand that the outcome you're looking for is determined entirely by your commitment and consistency.
Take care of your health
Get enough sleep
Your brain needs sleep, especially if you want to learn. You should be aiming for seven to eight consistent hours of sleep per night, minimum. Obviously, that can be hard when you're trying to fit in hours of study while also managing the stress that the IB brings with it, so here are some practical tips for prioritizing sleep:
Put your phone away at least an hour before going to bed.
Try to eat dinner earlier.
Avoid caffeine for at least 6, if not 12, hours before bedtime.
Use a proper blue-light filter on all your devices.
Keep a consistent sleep schedule.
Listen to a boring podcast or audiobook (I like The Story of Civilization by Will Durant)
Healthy meals
This shouldn't surprise anyone, but a healthy brain needs healthy foods. Eat well-balanced meals with plenty of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. Please don't skip a meal just to make time for studying.
Exercise
I'm not saying you have to run a marathon every day. Even a little bit will go a long way here. It could just be 20 or 30 minutes of walking a day. Whatever it is, it makes a big difference not just for your physical fitness but also for reducing your stress and helping you sleep better. According to research, it can also help you learn better overall.
Find time for friends and family
Humans are deeply social creatures, and we need time with friends and family in order to thrive. I've seen some students get trapped in a mentality that every hour counts, and that there's really no time to be spent doing anything other than studying. But when it comes to learning, more does not equal better.
Let your parents help
I know that as a teenager or young adult, it can feel like your parents are pushing you too hard or that asking them for help adds more stress. But the truth is they care deeply about you and your success, and if you let them in, they'll almost always respond positively. So take advantage of that now.
Tools and materials
What you MUST bring to exams
Number-two pencils, plus a sharpener and erasers.
At least two pens in blue or black ink (not erasable friction-type pens, which are not allowed on the IB and could cause your handwriting to vanish from heat).
Geometry instruments: at minimum a ruler/set square for measurement and right angles. Ideally, a set square with inset shapes—circles and triangles—so you can quickly draw perfect circles and other shapes when sketching or making diagrams.
A fully charged calculator that is IB-approved.
A silent watch or a timer to keep track of time during the exam.
A clear container for your supplies, such as a zip-top bag or a transparent pencil case.
Organization
I like to use a binder with loose-leaf paper. I find this more flexible than notebooks for several reasons:
You won't run out of space mid-topic.
You can reorganize pages, remove scrap pages, and file handouts, in-class tests, and past exam papers.
It also lets you mix lined and graph paper.
If you have a binder, choose paper with at least some lined and some graph sheets, and make sure the holes match your binder's rings.
You'll also want a few different colors of sticky notes and a pencil case for day-to-day use.
Although it will be provided to you during final exams, I strongly recommend you keep and get comfortable with a printed copy of the formula booklet.
Make the most out of class
The bulk of the time you spend thinking about math will be during class time (150 hours in SL, 240 in HL). One of the simplest but most powerful things you can do is just show up to class and make a genuine effort. Try your best to pay attention and engage actively with what happens. Ask questions when you're stuck, and treat class time as a chance to learn directly from the expert who is your teacher.
Notes
If you like to take notes—though you don't have to—try to paraphrase rather than transcribe word for word. Research shows verbatim transcription is poor for long‑term learning; forcing your brain to compress ideas helps you retain them better. Taking notes with pen and paper can often force you to compress information in this way, which is one of the reasons I don’t advise typing your notes unless you have a learning difference.
Discipline
Class is also about discipline. If you know you can't focus when you sit next to certain friends, make the hard call to sit somewhere else. It feels a little lame, but the truth is it makes a real difference in how much you get out of your class time. If you're only 50% focused, you'll end up with at least 75 hours of catch-up work you'll have to do on your own.
Don’t let the dog eat your homework
Finally, take class assignments seriously whether they're graded or not. These can be homework, in-class quizzes, or short tests. They're not just chores — they're opportunities to track your progress and build a record of your work. Keep them organized so you can look back and see where you struggled, how you improved, and even remind yourself of the methods you used.
Studying outside of class
Building a system you can actually stick to
The best predictor of performance in IB Math is how much you study outside of class. Almost every student I've seen who studies just a couple of hours a week on their own ends up with a 6 or a 7. Those who don't still might manage to scrape by, but they'll face a significantly more stressful exam period.
Routines are deeply personal, so I can only give you my recommendation based on what works for me and what I've seen work well for students. Take these as guidelines, not absolute rules. First of all, I don't think you need to — or should — try to study math every single day. I usually suggest between 2 and 4 sessions per week, each 30 to 60 minutes, so that you're totaling at least two hours a week. That's far more effective and easier to sustain than saving it all for one massive Saturday cramming session. You'll remember more, and you'll feel less drained in the long run.
Having a specific schedule of when you're going to study math is a lot easier to stick to than some vague commitment to "two hours per week." So at the start of each semester, sit down and look at your calendar. Your schedule will probably shift as activities and responsibilities change, so you might need to adjust along the way. But ask yourself: where are my open blocks of time? If you have free periods at school, use those. Otherwise, look at your afternoons and evenings, working around extracurriculars, family commitments, or part-time work. I understand that life can be busy, especially at your age, so do your best—and don't beat yourself up if you can't find hours — even a small amount of time goes a long way.
Studying effectively (what science says)
When it comes to studying, quality matters a lot more than quantity. We're going to write a more detailed article, breaking down in detail what research says about the most effective ways to learn math. But for now, here are the essentials.
First and foremost, understand that fluency is not mastery. The feeling of understanding something because it makes sense after you watch a video or reread your notes is a poor predictor of whether you're actually learning. Real understanding in math—or any subject—often feels awkward, if not painful. That discomfort is the point. When you wrestle with ideas, retrieve facts from memory, or correct your errors, you're doing the work that makes ideas stick. If something feels smooth, you're probably recognizing, not learning.
So build your study around what works:
Active recall: close your notes and solve from memory.
Independent problem solving: make a real effort on your own before looking at the solution or asking for help.
Spaced practice: short sessions revisited over several days are more effective.
Try to incorporate interleaving — mixing problem types so you force your brain to learn to choose the right method.
Productive struggle: pick challenges that are still doable.
Error logging: track and target your weak spots.
Past papers or practice tests: do them under timed, closed-book conditions.
End each session by checking in with yourself. What can you now do from memory that you couldn't before? Which things tripped you up, and what do you think you have to revisit next time?
The main thing is to avoid being passive. Rereading notes or watching videos will do little except temporarily unblock your understanding. You can use them briefly, but as quickly as possible you should get back to practicing problems and retrieving facts directly from memory. Think of it as training for an athletic event. You pick an effort slightly beyond your comfort zone, practice consistently, and track your progress. That's how your comfort zone expands.
Optimize for the assessments
Understand the IB’s philosophy
The IBO is an organization that has, whether or not you agree with it, a very clear opinion about what mathematical learning should look like. The people who design the curriculum and write the exams have strong ideas about how you should think, and every assessment is built to reflect those ideas. Once you understand what the IB's objectives for you actually are, you can align your own learning with their philosophy.
The style of the exams
The IB is obsessed with problem solving, especially in situations you haven't seen before. It's not enough to memorize the formulas, repeat the drills, or master every question that's shown up on the past paper. You will need to take what you know and apply it flexibly in problems that could be abstract or rooted in a real-world scenario.
Mastering your calculator
The second part is mastering your calculator as early as possible. The IB views technology not as a crutch, but as a tool for exploration, graphing, modeling, and solving in ways you simply can't with only pen and paper.
What’s the point of the IA?
The purpose of the internal assessment is to give you ownership of the mathematical process. The IB doesn't just want you to know how to solve problems, but how to ask meaningful questions, explore them thoughtfully, and explain your findings in a way that shows both rigor and a personal angle of understanding. The best IAs take math you've learned in the course and integrate it with your own life and interests in a way the IB is unlikely to have seen before.
Understand that the IA is moderated, so even though your teacher will be the first to grade it, there's a good chance an external IB examiner will read your internal assessment and give it a new grade. That's why it's critical that the effort and personality you pour into your IA are obvious in the words you've written, not just in the conversations you've had with your teacher about it.
Start now with Perplex!
So what are you waiting for? Everything you need is right here on perplex:
Comprehensive animated lessons
Concise notes
Hundreds of exam style problems
Thousands of exercises
Practice tests
All the tools you need to stay organized and productive.
See you there!