Welcome to the IB Questionbank. To get started we recommend to read these instructions or click on one of the questions below. If you can’t find the information you are looking for please contact us.

How to activate licences for the online Questionbank

How to set up teacher logins

How to get started with the Questionbank as a teacher

How to create and organize a test

How to add IB questions to a test

How to add your own questions to a test

Customizing, downloading and printing tests

Where to find case studies and markbands

Special instructions for Mathematics Questionbanks

Special instructions for Computer Science Questionbank

Special instructions for Digital Society Questionbank

 

How to activate licences for the online Questionbank

Once your purchase is successfully completed, you will receive an automated email (shown above) with instructions and the licence key you purchased.

If you bulk purchased licences for multiple schools, please forward the instructions and licenses to the person who will manage the Questionbank for each school. This could be the Diploma Programme coordinator, a teacher or another school staff member.

To activate the licence for your school, follow the link in the email to the page where you can activate your Questionbank licence.

If you don’t have an account with the online Questionbank yet, create a new account by entering your name, email and a password into the form on the right side of the page.

If you already have an account, you can sign in using the form on the left.

Once signed in, select the “Activate licence” button on the home page. On the next screen, enter the licence key from the email. Select “Activate licence”.

 

How to set up teacher logins

After you have activated the licence, you will be shown the licence details. To set up teacher logins, select the “Manage logins” button at the top right of the screen.

On the next screen, you can add teacher logins for your school. You can also remove teacher logins on the same form by choosing the “Remove” box next to the teacher’s name. Each licence provides you with a maximum of 10 logins per school. All users on a licence must be affiliated with the same school. If you are purchasing for multiple schools, you must purchase multiple licences.

Select “Update licence” to save your changes.

Once you set up a new teacher login, the app will send an automated email to the teacher with instructions on how to get started.

 

 

How to get started with the Questionbank as a teacher

Activation email

In order to use the online Questionbank, activate your account.

Once your coordinator sets up a login for you, you will receive an automated email (shown below) with instructions for signing into the online Questionbank for the first time.

Just follow the link and sign in with the email and password provided.

The app will ask you to accept the IB Online terms of service, and you can review your personal information. Select “Update” to proceed.

Now you can start using the online Questionbank.

Changing user account information

In order to change basic account information such as your full name, email address, password and time zone click on your name which appears in the top right corner.

In the screen that appears you will be able to edit and change your user information.

User interface overview

The image above shows the main screen of the Questionbank. In the blue bar across the top of the screen:

• the “Home” link takes you to the Questionbank start page, where you can activate licences or sign in.
• the next link takes you to the Questionbank you just purchased. If you have a license for one Questionbank, the name of that Questionbank will be displayed here. If you have licences for multiple Questionbanks, they will all be listed here.
• select the “Help” link to access video walkthroughs for the online Questionbanks.
• when you select your name, you can edit your personal information, such as your email and password.
• please use the “Sign out” link when you are done working with the online Questionbank.

Below the title of the Questionbank, there are four tabs, labelled: “Questions”, “Your tests”, “Syllabus” and “Instructions”. Click on the “Questions” tab.

Find a question

The search options and filters allow you to sort through past examination questions and find relevant questions to add to your test.

There are a variety of search filters available including:

• year
• month
• paper
• level
• time zone
• question type
• exam date
• marks available
• command term.

It is also possible to filter by questions authored by the IB or questions that you have created.

When you search by the command term the filter will return questions that include that command term as well as questions that are similar in nature.

To filter by syllabus section, use the “Filter by syllabus section” link below the filters. To expand the syllabus sections, click the “+” sign to the left of each topic. To collapse the sections, click the “-” sign. Select the check box(es) next to the syllabus section(s) and click the blue “Update questions” button. To show all syllabus sections, click the “Expand” button. To hide the syllabus sections, click the “Collapse” button.

You can also search the Questionbank by typing a search term into the search box and hitting enter or clicking the blue "Update questions" button. You will see a search spinner while the Questionbank is loading the search results and the search term will be highlighted in the results.

To view the full question, markscheme, examiners report, and related material such as graphs and images, click on the question. A pop up window allows you to view the full question contents.

Questions display with all parts grouped together and when a question is added to a test it will include all question parts.

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How to create and organize a test

Creating a test

Select the “Your tests” tab.

In the top right corner is a green button labelled “New test”. Click it to create a new test.

Enter a title in the “Name” field and, if desired, a description of the test in the text box. Then click the blue “Create test” button at the bottom of the page.

Adding content to a test

Once you create a new test, you can add content by clicking the green buttons at the top left of the screen.

To add a question from a past examination, click the first green button labelled “IB question”. This will take you to the “Questions” tab, where you can filter and search for questions. It is also possible to edit an “IB question”. Click on the question that you would like to edit, then click the green edit button in the left corner.

Note: In the Mathematics Questionbank you are able to change formulas in order to substitute different numbers into equations. It is important to maintain the formula and not delete any parenthesis ()[] or \\ otherwise the formula will not display correctly.

To add a new question, click the second green button, labelled “Your own question”. Then, follow the instructions in the “Creating a question” section above.

To add text such as instructions to students, section labels or any other desired text, click the third green button, labelled “Text”. Enter text into the text field. When you have finished entering the text, click the blue “Update block” button at the bottom of the screen.

To add a note for your reference, click the final green button, labelled “Teacher note”. Enter text into the text field, and click the blue “Update block” button at the bottom of the screen.

 

How to add your own questions to a test

Click on the “Questions” tab. In the top right corner, there is a green box labelled “New question”. Click this box.

Add command terms from the drop-down menu that appears when you click inside the text box under “Command terms”. Add marks available for this question in the next box to the right. Note: These are optional fields.

Type the new question into the first text field labelled “Question”. Type the markscheme into the text field below this, labelled “Markscheme”. You can add images, create tables, format text and more, to both the question and markscheme, using the buttons at the top of the text box.

Note:In the Mathematics Questionbank it is possible to add a formula to a question. In order to add an in-line formula, which adds a formula on the same line as text, use this format: \(formula\) . In order to add a display formula, which inserts a formula centered on a separate line use this format: \[formula\]

To save this question and markscheme, click the blue box at the bottom of the screen labelled “Create question”.

 

How to add IB questions to a test

Questions can also be added to a test directly from the “Questions” tab.

First, select the questions you would like to add by ticking the checkbox(es) on the left of the question(s). You can select multiple checkboxes or click the checkbox at the top of the question list next to "Reference code" to select all questions displaying in the filter list. You can use the filters and search features to select criteria and then select all questions matching this criteria to a test using this checkbox.

To add the questions to a test locate the bar beneath the "Filter by syllabus section" area and above the question list. In this bar there is a drop down menu of existing tests as well as the option to select "[New test]" and create a new test directly from this field. Select the test you would like to add the selected question to then click the "Add selected questions" button to the left of the test drop down list. When the questions are successfully added this bar will flash yellow and green text will appear stating that the update was successful and listing the number of questions added to a test.

Adding student space to a test

You can add space for student's responses and work after each question in a test. To do select a test, enter the test and then click on the pencil icon which appears on the right side of each question.

Once you have clicked on the pencil icon you will be taken to the question editor screen. Above the question text there is a bar labeled "Space for student answers". Click in this bar and you will see a drop down menu with several different options for student responses.

You can choose from three different sized lines for student work or three different sized blank spaces for student work. You can select multiple options. Once you select the type(s) of student response space you would like click the blue "Update" button below the markscheme space to save your selections.

Organizing a test

In order to change the order in which questions appear in a test go to the “Your tests” tab. Click on the test that you would like to reorder. In the column labelled “Actions” at the top of the screen click “Re-order contents”.

In the re-order content screen you can drag and drop questions, text, teacher notes and other content into the desired order. Once you are finished re-ordering the test click “<< I am done re-ordering” which appears at both the top and bottom of the screen.

Viewing tests

To view tests that you have created, click the “Your tests” tab. A list of the tests you created will appear. You can search your tests using either the search field or the filters to the right of the search box.

To add questions to a given test, click on the link to the right of the test within the list displayed on the screen. You will be redirected to the “Questions” tab, where you can search and select questions to add to your tests.

To create a mark entry sheet, click the blue link on the far right of the test. This will create a downloadable mark entry sheet, which can be saved and printed.

 

Customizing, downloading and printing tests

Click on the “Your tests” tab. Select a test. Three columns will appear under the test name. The first is labelled “Add content”. Instructions for this section can be found in the instructions section “Adding content to a test”.

The second column is labelled “Actions”. Here you can edit the test name and description; reorder the questions, text, and teacher notes; create a mark entry sheet; download a PDF of the test; or download a DOCX test which can be opened in a word processor (such as Microsoft Word) and edited; and print the test.

The third column is labelled “View options”. Here you can select features to view or hide in a test. If you would like to view only questions and resources, you can select those features and unselect all other features. Only the features selected in “View options” can be downloaded and printed.

 

Where to find case studies and markbands

Supplemental materials such as case studies and markbands can be found under Your tests>Supplemental materials.

 

Special instructions for Mathematics Questionbanks

What are "Example" questions?

There are two types of “Example" questions:

1. Questions that are not from a live IB exam.
These questions have been written to provide practice for syllabus topics with limited or no coverage in previous live exams. They have been checked for accuracy but have not been through the rigorous level of review conducted on live exam questions.

2. Questions from exams for a much older syllabus cycle.
These questions from pre-2007 exams have been included for select topics which have limited or no relevant questions in recent exams. They have been identified by subject matter experts as suitable to use as practice, although they may contain some differences in marking or structure.

What do the codes for each question mean?

The codes indicate the source exam paper and question number:
[year and month of original exam].[paper number].[level].[time zone].[original Maths course and question number]

The letter appearing before the question number indicates the original Maths course in which the exam question appeared:
F = Further Maths
H = Maths HL
S = Maths SL
T = Maths Studies

Examples:
19M.1.SL.TZ1.S_10 is from 2019 May Paper 1 time zone 1, Maths SL, question 10
16M.2.SL.TZ2.T_5a is from 2016 May Paper 2 time zone 2, Maths Studies, question 5a

Maths HL questions include an additional code to identify the Paper 3 Option:
ca: calculus
dm: discrete mathematics
srg: sets, relations and groups
sp: statistics and probability

Examples:
19M.3.AHL.TZ0.Hca_1a is from 2019 May Paper 3 Maths Higher Level (calculus), question 1a
15N.3.AHL.TZ0.Hsp_3 is from 2015 November Paper 3 Maths Higher Level (statistics and probability), question 3

 

Special instructions for Computer Science Questionbank

How can I use past Paper 3 questions to develop new content for students?

HL Paper 3 and the associated Case Study was developed as “an opportunity to keep the course abreast of current technology by introducing new technical concepts or issues requiring a more in-depth investigation than that required in the rest of the course” (Guide, page 73). This accounts for the absence of syllabus tags that relate to the topics in the Computer Science Guide. The questions for HL Paper 3 have been provided so that teachers can look for common themes. For example: Which questions can be explicitly linked to the additional terminology at the end of the Case Study? Which command terms are used for Question 1 or Question 3? Do all question 4s follow an identical format?

 

Special instructions for Digital Society Questionbank

How can the Digital Society Questionbank help me prepare to teach the new course?

Guidance on using the Questionbank is provided in the document “General guidance and markbands,” which can be found under the “Your tests” tab > Supplemental materials.

Where can I find pre-release statements for Paper 3 and markbands?

These can be found under the “Your tests” tab > Supplemental materials.