IB Diploma Physics SL and HL: papers, topics, the IA and May 2027 exams

IB Physics assessment

The weightings are the same at SL and HL; HL has longer papers and more content. The scientific investigation is the internal component. The course also includes a collaborative sciences project with students from other science subjects. These details are from the IB's Physics subject brief for first assessment in 2025.

SL or HL?

The IB recommends 150 teaching hours for SL and 240 for HL. For syllabus content alone that is 110 hours at SL and 180 at HL. HL adds whole topics that SL doesn't study, plus extra depth in several shared ones:

• HL only: A.4 Rigid body mechanics, A.5 Galilean and special relativity, B.4 Thermodynamics, D.4 Induction, E.2 Quantum physics.
• Shared, with extra HL content: C.1 Simple harmonic motion, C.3 Wave phenomena, C.5 Doppler effect, D.1 Gravitational fields, D.2 Electric and magnetic fields, E.1 Structure of the atom, E.3 Radioactive decay.

IB Physics topics

IB Physics 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

A.1 Kinematics: a horizontal launch

A ball leaves the top of a 20 m cliff moving horizontally at 12 m s⁻¹. Taking g = 9.8 m s⁻², the time to fall comes from the vertical motion alone:

The horizontal speed stays at 12 m s⁻¹, so the ball lands 12 × 2.02 = 24.2 m from the foot of the cliff.

C.1 Simple harmonic motion

A 0.25 kg mass on a spring with k = 100 N m⁻¹ has period T = 2π√(m/k) = 2π√(0.0025) = 0.314 s.

D.1 Gravitational fields: orbital speed

A satellite orbits at radius 7.0 × 10⁶ m. With GM for the Earth = 3.99 × 10¹⁴ N m² kg⁻¹, its orbital speed is v = √(GM/r) ≈ 7.55 km s⁻¹.

E.2 Quantum physics (HL): the photoelectric effect

Light of wavelength 400 nm has photon energy E = hc/λ = (6.63 × 10⁻³⁴ × 3.00 × 10⁸) ÷ (400 × 10⁻⁹) ≈ 4.97 × 10⁻¹⁹ J, or 3.1 eV. On a metal with work function 2.3 eV, the fastest electrons emitted carry about 0.8 eV of kinetic energy.

Try a projectile problem in our Laws of Motion 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 Physics SL and IB Physics HL. 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: kinematics and projectiles, forces and momentum, work, energy and power, circuits, waves, measurements and uncertainties, the photoelectric effect, simple harmonic motion, gravitational, electric and magnetic fields, induction, thermal physics and gas laws, and nuclear physics.
• What it does not cover: the IB's data-based Paper 1B style and the scientific investigation, plus relativity, rigid body mechanics, thermodynamics, the greenhouse effect and the Doppler effect. It also includes a few topics, such as capacitors and the Young modulus, that are not among the IB syllabus topics.

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 Physics

• Ignoring uncertainties. Data questions often ask you to propagate or comment on them.
• Mixing up the components. In projectile problems, vertical and horizontal motion are separate.
• Too many significant figures. Match the data given in the question.
• Leaving the IA research question vague. A focused question with a clear independent variable makes the analysis far easier.

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