IB Internal vs. External Assessment 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student submits their IB Chemistry IA two weeks after the school deadline. What is the most likely consequence?
- The mark is doubled as a penalty
- The student may receive a failing grade or be awarded zero for the component (Correct answer)
- The IA is ignored and the grade is based only on exams
- The IB grants an automatic extension
Correct answer: The student may receive a failing grade or be awarded zero for the component
Missing IA submission deadlines can result in a zero for that component, seriously jeopardizing the student's diploma.
Question 2: Which IB subject uses a 'world literature' piece as part of its internal assessment structure?
- Theory of Knowledge
- Language A: Literature (Correct answer)
- Language B
- Visual Arts
Correct answer: Language A: Literature
IB Language A: Literature includes written tasks and oral assessments connected to world literature texts studied in class.
Question 3: External assessment in the IB is considered more standardized than internal assessment primarily because:
- It is conducted in the student's home
- All students face identical conditions and centralized marking (Correct answer)
- Teachers design the questions
- It allows use of personal notes
Correct answer: All students face identical conditions and centralized marking
External exams use the same questions for all students worldwide and are marked centrally, ensuring uniform standards.
Question 4: In IB Visual Arts, the exhibition that students present at the end of the course is assessed as:
- Entirely external
- Entirely internal with no moderation
- Internal but externally moderated via submitted materials (Correct answer)
- Peer-assessed only
Correct answer: Internal but externally moderated via submitted materials
The Visual Arts exhibition is internally assessed by the teacher but moderated externally by IB using submitted photos and documentation.
Question 5: What does 'criterion-referenced assessment' mean in the context of IB grading?
- Students are ranked against each other and only the top percentage passes
- Each student's work is measured against a fixed set of descriptors, not relative to peers (Correct answer)
- The teacher decides criteria for each individual student
- Grades are set by a national average
Correct answer: Each student's work is measured against a fixed set of descriptors, not relative to peers
Criterion-referenced assessment judges each student's work against defined descriptors, so theoretically all students could score highly.
Question 6: Which of the following best explains why IB requires a sample of internal assessments to be sent to external moderators?
- To allow students to appeal grades
- To verify that teacher marks align with IB standards (Correct answer)
- To give examiners material for setting future papers
- To compare schools' funding levels
Correct answer: To verify that teacher marks align with IB standards
Sending a sample to external moderators ensures that teacher-awarded marks are consistent with IB's global marking standards.
Question 7: Which IB subject group most commonly uses oral assessments as a major internal assessment component?
- Group 4: Sciences
- Group 5: Mathematics
- Group 2: Language Acquisition (Correct answer)
- Group 6: The Arts
Correct answer: Group 2: Language Acquisition
Language Acquisition subjects (Group 2) use oral assessments to evaluate speaking and listening skills that cannot be tested in written exams.
IB Internal vs. External Assessment 4
A student submits their IB Chemistry IA two weeks after the school deadline.
What is the most likely consequence?