IB Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, papers and statistics

IB Maths AI assessment

These details are from the IB's AI subject brief for the course first assessed in 2021. The IB says the current AI and AA courses are last examined in November 2028, with a new curriculum taught from 2027 and first assessed in 2029.

IB Maths AI topics

Compared with AA, AI spends more time on statistics and functions and less on algebra, geometry and calculus, and technology is allowed in every paper. AI and AA share 60 hours of common SL content. Our IB Maths AA guide covers the other course.

IB Maths exam dates 2027

The IB's May 2026 schedule says the May 2027 exams will run from Friday 23 April to Wednesday 19 May 2027, with no exams on 1 May, subject to confirmation. Your IB coordinator has the subject-by-subject timetable for your zone.

IB grades and points

Each subject is graded from 1 to 7. Six subjects at up to 7 points each, plus up to 3 points from theory of knowledge and the extended essay, make a maximum of 45. The IB says the diploma needs at least 24 points and that other conditions must also be met. Grade boundaries are set for each subject after every session, so a raw mark from one year doesn't map exactly onto the next. Our IB mocks guide explains how points add up and how predicted grades work.

Worked examples in statistics

Mean and standard deviation

For the data 4, 7, 7, 9, 13, the mean is 40 ÷ 5 = 8. The squared deviations add to 16 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 25 = 44, so the standard deviation (treating the data as the whole population) is √(44 ÷ 5) ≈ 2.97. In the exam your calculator does this for you, but you still need to know what it means.

The normal distribution

Heights are modelled as X ~ N(170, 8²) in cm. The probability that a person is taller than 182 cm is:

The binomial distribution

If X ~ B(10, 0.3), then P(X = 2) = ¹⁰C₂ × 0.3² × 0.7⁸ = 45 × 0.09 × 0.0576 ≈ 0.233.

Interpreting correlation

A Pearson correlation coefficient of r = 0.92 between hours of revision and test score shows a strong positive linear correlation. It does not show that revision causes the higher scores, and the regression line should only be used to predict within the range of the data.

Answer a normal distribution question in our Probability course, then press Mark to check your answer in the course:

Use the daily paper as a short timed mock

Uni-Sine publishes a free daily paper for IB Maths AI: Statistics. Each is a short timed mock: 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, with a suggested 35 to 45 minutes, marked when you finish. It is not a full IB paper, and the questions are original, not past papers.

• What it covers well: data presentation, measures of location and spread, probability, Venn diagrams and conditional probability, the binomial and normal distributions, correlation and regression, sampling and hypothesis testing.
• What it does not cover: the rest of the AI course: number and algebra, functions and modelling, geometry and trigonometry, and calculus. It also misses HL Paper 3 and the exploration, so use it for statistics practice alongside full past papers.

For full papers under exam conditions, use IB past papers from your teacher, and read our IB mocks guide for how mocks feed your predicted grades.

Common mistakes in IB Maths AI

• Writing only the calculator answer. Show the distribution and parameters you used.
• Confusing correlation with causation. Say what the coefficient shows and what it doesn't.
• Extrapolating. Predictions outside the data range are unreliable.
• Rounding too early. Keep full calculator values until the final answer.

Read next

International · IBIB Maths AA SL and HL: Papers, Topics and 2027 ExamsIB Maths AA SL and HL explained: Papers 1, 2 and 3, the exploration, the five topics, AA or AI, the 2029 changes, May 2027 dates and worked examples.