The IB History is a very unique course on world history based on comparative and multi-perspective approach to history. It does not follow the mundane route of accepting the knowledge scripted as it is, rather invites contestability of opinions and perspectives. Different perspectives look into the socio-economic-political structure of world history. As an IB student, you need to be open-minded in evaluating the perspectives of looking at the historical concepts and striking a balance of structure and flexibility.
IB History encompasses round global contexts, rather being myopic to view only local contexts. This is where IB History connects with the IB learner profile, making you as open minded balanced inquirers with international-mindedness. The nurture of international-mindedness through the study of IB History helps you to respect other’s cultures, traditions, and ethos with the pride in self-identity. Moreover, the critical exploration of the past makes you more rational in evaluating the present context.
With a critical exploration of the past, the subject opens up logical reasoning for you to evaluate others’ opinions even if there is a difference. It makes you more caring, compassionate, and principled as an IB learner.
IB History falls under the IB course Individuals and societies in group 3.
Facts and figures
The facts and figures shared by the IBO Statistics of 2020 on the key subject demands and their scores show that group 3 is a high demand group with a reasonable mean grade in history of 4.53. In fact, history is the second most demanding subject in IBDP following mathematics. The highest percentage of candidates scored a 4, while there is surely a scope of scoring a 7 with an expert online tutoring.
History has an inspiring career opportunities. History has extensive career opportunities starting from civil service exams, anthropology, archaeology, philosophy, religious studies, paleantology, and global politics.
IB ATL in IB History
The IB ATL in IB History centers round a three-dimensional model encompassing round the three key elements: concepts, content, and skills.
IB History concepts
IB History cocepts are the big powerful ideas which help in building up the intra-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary foundation. These ideas take you up the learning ladder from knowledge to understanding.
IB History content
IB History content is based on facts and evidences. The IB History content form a strong foundation to build up the IB History concepts.
IB History skills
IB History skills concentrate on the nurture of skills aim to develop a solid understanding and real-life application of the concepts within intra-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary areas.
IB History concepts
IB History course is centred round six key IB History concepts: change, continuity, causation, consequence, significance and perspectives.
- Change investigates how people and events bring about a change. Change examines a situation before and after an event.
- Continuity suggests that on one hand change being a fundamental concept in IB History, change should be consistent and slow.
- Causation is all about how the origin of circumstances.
- Consequence understands how the past forces carve out the future of people and societies.
- Significance assesses the relative importance of events, people, and evidence.
- Perspectives draw a comparison between opinions about events with their historical evidences. Students challenge and critique multiple perspectives.
IB History skills
IB History skills are categorized into research, thinking, communication, self-management, and organization skills.
- Research skills focus on the collection and organization of historical evidence from books, articles, websites and audio-visual resources.
- The thinking and research skills are needed to evaluate the historical evidences in terms of their subjective nature, sources of origin, complementary and substitutability nature of the evidences, the contestability of interpretations based on the evidences.
- Communication skills and self-management skills concentrate on recognizing, appreciating the impact of historical processes on human experience, activity, and motivation; synthesizing the usability of material studied across time and space.
- Self-management and organizational skills focus on organizing and expressing information. Starting from hypothesizing, substantiating claims and counter claims with evidences to drawing a balanced evaluative conclusion-all the steps look for your synchronized skills in IB History.
IB History Assessment
IB History assessment has four assessment objectives.
Assessment objective 1: Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate comprehensive, relevant and precise historical knowledge.
- Demonstrate understanding of historical concepts and context.
- Demonstrate understanding of historical sources. (Internal assessment and paper 1)
Assessment objective 2: Application and analysis
- Formulate coherent arguments with clarity
- Use appropriate historical knowledge to effectively analyse
- Analyse and interpret various sources of information. (Internal assessment and paper 1)
Assessment objective 3: Synthesis and evaluation
- Coordinate and unite evidence and analysis to produce a coherent response.
- Assess and evaluate different perspectives on historical issues and events, and integrate this evaluation effectively into a response.
- Evaluate sources as historical evidence, recognizing and critiquing their value and limitations. (Internal assessment and paper 1)
- Synthesize information from a selection of relevant sources. (Internal assessment and paper 1)
Assessment objective 4: Use and application of appropriate skills
- Structure and develop focused essays that respond effectively to the demands of a question.
- Reflect on the methods used by and challenges encountered by the historian. (Internal assessment)
- Formulate an appropriate, focused question to guide a historical inquiry. (Internal assessment)
- Demonstrate evidence of research skills, organization, referencing and choice of exact relevant
sources. (Internal assessment)
IB command terms
Command term | Assessment objective level | Definition |
Analyse | AO2 | Break down concepts into essential bits |
Compare | AO3 | Mention similarities between two or more items/concepts/situations discussed throughout the document |
Contrast | AO3 | Mention dissimilarities between two or more items/concepts/situations discussed throughout the document |
Compare and Contrast | AO3 | Mention similarities and dissimilarities between two or more items/concepts/situations discussed throughout the document |
Discuss | AO3 | Validate arguments, factors, hypotheses with claims and counter claims and use a balanced approach to draw conclusion |
Evaluate | AO3 | Weigh the strengths and limitations with your rationale |
Examine | AO3 | Create or map an argument based on assumptions and interrelationships |
To what extent | AO3 | Opinions andconclusions are drawn after a thorough evaluation of the strengths and limitations of an argument |
IB History SL
The choice of one prescribed subject, two world history topics, and a historical investigation is what students cover in IB History SL. SL Paper 1 is a source-based paper on set prescribed subjects. SL Paper 2 is based on world history topics. IB History IA SLfocuses on historical investigation.
IB History HL
The choice of one prescribed subject, two world history topics, the study of regional option, and a historical investigation is what students cover in IB History HL. HL Paper 1 is a source-based paper on set prescribed subjects. HL Paper 2 is based on world history topics. Paper 3 is based on regional options. IB History IA HL focuses on historical investigation.
What is the difference between HL and SL in IB History?
IB History syllabus
The study of prescribed subjects in IB History syllabus HL and SL involves 40 teaching hours for each level with the same 5 topics covered like Military leaders, Conquest and its impact, The move to global war, Rights and protest, Conflict and intervention.
In IB History HL/SL there are same 12 World history topics covered for 90 instruction hours in each level. The topics are World history topics are : Society and economy (750–1400), Causes and effects of medieval wars (750–1500), Dynasties and rulers (750–1500), Societies in transition (1400–1700), Early Modern states (1450–1789), Causes and effects of Early Modern wars (1500–1750), Origins, development and impact of industrialization (1750–2005), Independence movements (1800–2000), Evolution and development of democratic states (1848–2000), Authoritarian states (20th century), Causes and effects of 20th-century wars, The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries (20th century).
HL differs from SL when it comes to the Depth studies in the HL options with 4 options like History of Africa and the Middle East, History of the Americas, History of Asia and Oceania, and History of Europe. The HL options require 90 teaching hours.
For both HL and SL, the IA focuses on Historical investigation
While HL requires 240 teaching hours, SL counts for 150 teaching hours.
External assessment for IB History
IB History Paper 1
Duration | 1 hour |
Max marks | 24 |
Weightage | 30% SL, 20% HL |
Content | Paper 1 is a source-based examination paper based on the prescribed subjects. Each prescribed subject consists of two specified case studies, and in each examination session the paper will focus on one of the two case studies specified for each prescribed subject. Each prescribed subject is based on four sources-exclusively primary or a blend of primary and secondary sources or written or pictorial or diagrammatic. |
Question pattern | Each prescribed subject has four questions for which you have to answer all four outofyour chosen prescribed subject. Some questions are answered exclusively based on the evidenctial sources, whereas others can be answered only with the use of own constructed knowledge and the evidence support. |
Level descriptor | Highest mark band is 7-9. When you are focused on the research question (RQ), know and use the evidences appropriately, demonstrate accurate and relevant knowledge, and effectively synthesize own constructed knowledge with the evidence. |
IB History Paper 2
Duration | 1 hour 30 mins |
Max marks | 30 |
Weightage | 45% SL, 25% HL |
Content | Paper 2, an essay-paper, is based out of 12 world history topics. |
Question pattern | 12 questions come out of the 12 topics. You are required to answer 2 questions, each from a different topic. |
Level descriptor | Highest mark band is 13-15: When you are focused on the research question (RQ) with high degree of awareness, know and use the resources as apt evidence for the world history topics, analyse the perspectives with clarity and coherence towards reaching out to a consistent conclusion. |
IB History Paper 3 (HL only)
Duration | 2 hours 30 mins |
Max marks | 45 |
Weightage | 35% |
Content | Each of the 4 HL regional options has a separate exam paper, out of which students are registered for one of these papers. |
Question pattern | Each regional option has 36 questions- two essay questions on each of the 18 sections specified for the regional option. You are required to answer 3 questions. Questions which have a reference to specific countries, events or people have a specific restriction as per outlined in the syllabus. |
Level descriptor | Highest mark band is 13-15: When you are focused on the research question (RQ) with high degree of awareness, know and use the resources as apt evidence for the historical contexts, frame your arguments with clarity and coherence, evaluate the integrated perspectives effectively towards reaching out to a consistent conclusion. |
IB History IA
The IB students are supposed to do an individual investigation in IB History IA on a topic of your choice, which might not be from the IB History syllabus but of the student’s discretion. Keeping the historical essence in mind, it cannot be a topic on an event which happened in the last ten years. From identification and evaluation of sources in relevant investigation of an appropriate historical topic for IB History IA, the students need to reflect on the methods of research and the challenges faced in the process of investigation.
There are three sections in IB History IA. They are Identification and evaluation of sources, Investigation, and Reflection. Identification and evaluation of sources have 500 words worth of 6 marks which focus on clearly stating an appropriate research question. Investigation is of 1300 words worth of 15 marks which assesses how to identify and select appropriate relevant sources. Reflection is of 1400 words worth of 4 marks which has to explain why the sources are relevant for the explanation.
With a total of 25 marks for a maximum of 2200 words, IB History IA is one of the key assessment components in your IB History course. Scoring a perfect 7 is well within your control.
Common study mistakes for IB History IA HL/SL
You should avoid certain common mistakes for IB History IA.
- Choice of an inappropriate topic which is not contestable. Remember, you should always choose topics which have an immense prospect of inviting debates through claims and counter claims by historians.
- Remember this is not merely a research paper but involves a historical investigation, which means exploring the research question through relevant sources.
- Never miss out on exploring minimum of two sources of investigation by drawing reference to their origin, purpose, and content. Try to use a comprehensive set of sources to validate the arguments. Analyse the sources of investigation by citing their values and limitations.
- Critically analyse your research question by establishing a strong premise of claims and counter claims.
- Evaluate your perspectives than just simply mentioning them.
- The methods of investigation play a very big role in the complete process of investigation. Remember to explain the limitations and challenges of the investigation.
- Establish a connection between investigation and reflection.
How to get a perfect 7 in IB History IA?
It is quite evident that grabbing a perfect 7 is attainable with your score ranging between 20 and 25.
Grade | Mark range |
1 | 0-2 |
2 | 3-5 |
3 | 6-8 |
4 | 9-12 |
5 | 13-15 |
6 | 16-19 |
7 | 20-25 |
However, the secret is getting a perfect sense of direction by the IB examiners and getting your IA proofread.
IB History and Extended Essay (EE)
It’s quite exciting and might be intriguing as well to realize that the IBO statistic shows the highest demand for IB History to be chosen as the most demanding subject for EE.
The data clearly evinces that gone are the days when History was considered as a rote learning subject with rigorous cram up. Rather, IB has given a new dimension and outlook of studying History with an explorative critical mind set. To get further exciting secrets and tips to score a perfect 7, follow our upcoming blog on the subject.
