IB Diploma Programme Physics · first assessment 2025
IB Diploma Physics practice papers
One practice paper for each of the five themes of the current IB Diploma Programme Physics course, carrying all three of the formats the real papers use: Paper 1A multiple choice, a Paper 1B data-based question, and Paper 2 short-answer and extended response — with the SL and HL split drawn where the course draws it.
Written by GioPhysics from the published course. These are practice papers in the style of IB Diploma Programme Physics; they are not IB papers, contain no past-paper questions, and the official subject guide and data booklet remain the authority. IB is a trademark of the International Baccalaureate Organization, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse GioPhysics. IB Diploma Programme Physics subject page
- Papers
- 5
- Questions
- 50
- Marks
- 272
- Figures
- 26
How IB examines
Paper 1 has two parts: 1A is multiple choice, and 1B is data-based questions drawn from the experimental work of the course, with no recall in it at all. Paper 2 is short-answer and extended-response across the whole syllabus. HL papers are longer and reach the HL-only sub-topics. The data booklet is provided in every paper, so no question tests whether you can remember an equation.
The command term sets the demand, and the papers are written that way. "State" earns one mark for one line; "explain" is not creditworthy without a mechanism; "discuss" and "evaluate" need both sides weighed before a conclusion is reached. The extended-response part that closes each Paper 2 question is where HL candidates separate from one another, and those parts are pitched there rather than at the level of the calculation before them.
The papers
Kinematics, forces and momentum, work energy and power, and — at HL — rigid body mechanics and Galilean and special relativity.
- Multiple choice
- Data analysis
- Structured
10 questions · 55 marks · 60 minutes
→BThe particulate nature of matterThermal energy transfers, the greenhouse effect, gas laws, current and circuits, and — at HL — thermodynamics.
- Multiple choice
- Data analysis
- Structured
10 questions · 53 marks · 60 minutes
→CWave behaviourSimple harmonic motion, the wave model, wave phenomena including interference and diffraction, standing waves and resonance, and the Doppler effect.
- Multiple choice
- Data analysis
- Structured
10 questions · 55 marks · 60 minutes
→DFieldsGravitational fields, electric and magnetic fields, motion of charges in electromagnetic fields, and — at HL — electromagnetic induction.
- Multiple choice
- Data analysis
- Structured
10 questions · 52 marks · 60 minutes
→ENuclear and quantum physicsStructure of the atom, radioactive decay, fission, fusion and stars, and — at HL — quantum physics.
- Multiple choice
- Data analysis
- Structured
10 questions · 57 marks · 60 minutes
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