What IB Resources Are Available and How Should I Use Them?

Updated

IB resources fall into six practical categories: past papers, question banks, notes and cheatsheets, video explanations, predicted papers, and AI grading/feedback tools. The right combination depends on where you are in the two-year cycle — notes and flashcards for building understanding, topic-categorized question banks for targeted practice, and past papers or predicted papers for exam-condition rehearsal. Platforms like RevisionDojo bundle several of these in one place, which matters mainly because switching between scattered sources costs time you could spend actually practising.

The main types of IB resources

Resource type Best used for When it helps most
Past papers Full exam simulation, timing, mark-scheme familiarity 2–3 months before exams
Question banks (by topic) Drilling weak subtopics Throughout the course
Notes & cheatsheets Filling gaps, quick review Ongoing, and the night before a test
Video explanations Understanding a concept you missed in class When a topic won't click from text alone
Predicted papers Extra exam-style practice when past papers run out Final weeks
AI grading / feedback Checking IA drafts, essays, written answers During IA and coursework periods

The distinction that matters most is coverage vs. diagnosis. Notes and videos give you coverage — they expose you to material. Question banks and past papers give you diagnosis — they show you what you actually can't do yet. Most students over-invest in coverage and under-invest in diagnosis, which is why hours of rereading notes often produces no grade movement.

How to choose resources by purpose

For daily revision

Use notes, cheatsheets, and flashcards to keep material fresh. This is low-effort, high-frequency work. The goal isn't mastery in one sitting — it's not forgetting what you already learned.

For finding and fixing weak spots

Use a question bank organized by subject and topic, not a random mix. This is the single most useful structural feature to look for. If questions are categorized, you can:

  1. Pick one subtopic (e.g. a specific Biology SL syllabus point).
  2. Answer 10–20 questions on only that subtopic.
  3. Check your accuracy. Below roughly 70%? Review the notes for that topic, then re-drill.
  4. Move on only when accuracy is consistently high.

Random mixed practice feels productive but hides which topics are actually weak.

For exam-condition practice

Switch to full past papers and predicted papers under timed conditions. Predicted papers are useful specifically because the supply of official past papers is finite — once you've used them, you've used them. Save at least a few official papers for the final stretch so your practice still reflects real exam style.

For written work and IAs

AI feedback tools can flag structural problems, unclear arguments, and errors in a draft before you submit it to your teacher. Treat this as a first-pass filter, not a final verdict — your teacher's judgment and the official assessment criteria still govern. The useful workflow is: draft → AI feedback → revise → teacher review, so your teacher sees a cleaner draft and can comment on substance rather than typos.

What to look for in a platform

A few checkable features separate a genuinely useful IB resource from a generic study site:

  • Questions categorized by subject and topic — without this, targeted practice isn't possible.
  • Exam-style questions, not just textbook recall questions.
  • Multiple resource types in one place — notes, videos, question bank, and papers together reduce the friction of hunting across sites.
  • Feedback or grading on written answers, if you want help with IAs and essays.

RevisionDojo, for example, describes itself as an all-in-one IB and MYP platform offering exam-style questions, notes, cheatsheets, videos, a question bank, predicted papers, an exam builder, and an AI study partner ("Jojo"). It reports 650K+ students and teachers, 4,000+ schools represented, and states that students improve by one point per subject on average. Those are the platform's own figures — useful as a signal of scale, but your own tracked progress is the number that should drive your decisions. Note that RevisionDojo lists a pricing page, so some features may sit behind a paid tier; check current terms before relying on any single tool.

Combining resources instead of relying on one

The students who report the biggest jumps tend to describe the same pattern: using one platform as a home base while tracking progress per subject. One testimonial on RevisionDojo describes going from a 4 to a 7 in Math AA HL, with Computer Science HL and Business Management SL each moving from 5 to 7; another describes Biology going from a 4 to a 6 over a semester. A third credits categorized questions with saving study time across Chem, Bio, and Math AA HL.

The common thread isn't the specific platform — it's measuring progress subject by subject and adjusting where the numbers stall. Whatever resources you use, keep a simple log: subject, topic, practice accuracy, and date. If a topic's accuracy isn't rising after two rounds of notes-plus-practice, change your approach for that topic rather than repeating the same loop.

A practical starting sequence

  1. Map your syllabus for each subject and mark topics you find difficult.
  2. Drill those topics with a categorized question bank until accuracy is stable.
  3. Review notes or videos only for topics that stay weak after drilling.
  4. Move to timed past papers and predicted papers in the final months.
  5. Run written work through AI feedback, then your teacher, during IA periods.
  6. Log progress per subject and reallocate time toward whatever isn't improving.

The order matters: diagnosis before coverage, and full exam simulation only once the underlying topics hold up.