IB Internal vs. External Assessment 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When a student suspects their external exam was marked incorrectly, what is the IB process called?
- Internal review
- Enquiry upon results (EUR) (Correct answer)
- Academic appeal
- Grade moderation
Correct answer: Enquiry upon results (EUR)
Enquiry upon Results (EUR) is the formal IB process where a school requests a re-mark or review of externally assessed work.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of academic malpractice that could invalidate both internal and external assessment scores?
- Taking notes during study hall
- Submitting another student's work as your own (Correct answer)
- Asking a teacher to clarify an IA rubric
- Revising an IA draft after teacher feedback
Correct answer: Submitting another student's work as your own
Submitting another student's work constitutes plagiarism, which is academic malpractice and can result in disqualification from the IB Diploma.
Question 3: The IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) exhibition is assessed:
- Externally by IB examiners only
- Internally by the teacher and externally moderated (Correct answer)
- By a panel of students from another school
- Only by the school principal
Correct answer: Internally by the teacher and externally moderated
The TOK exhibition is marked internally by the teacher and then externally moderated by IB to ensure consistency.
Question 4: Why are IB external examinations held within a narrow window of dates globally?
- To reduce printing costs
- To prevent exam content from leaking across time zones before all students sit the paper (Correct answer)
- To allow teachers to mark all papers simultaneously
- To match university admission cycles
Correct answer: To prevent exam content from leaking across time zones before all students sit the paper
A compressed global exam window minimizes the risk of questions being shared between students in different regions before everyone has sat the paper.
Question 5: In IB Economics, the internal assessment portfolio requires students to analyze real-world articles. This design primarily aims to:
- Replace the need for a textbook
- Connect economic theory to current events and develop analytical skills (Correct answer)
- Test memorization of key definitions
- Evaluate group collaboration
Correct answer: Connect economic theory to current events and develop analytical skills
The Economics IA portfolio links theory to real-world examples, developing students' ability to apply economic concepts to contemporary issues.
Question 6: Which of the following is NOT a feature of external IB assessment?
- Centralized marking by trained examiners
- Identical questions for all candidates in a session
- Ongoing teacher observation throughout the course (Correct answer)
- Standardized time limits
Correct answer: Ongoing teacher observation throughout the course
Ongoing teacher observation throughout the course is a feature of internal assessment, not external exams which are discrete, time-limited events.
Question 7: A school's IA marks are moderated down significantly by IB examiners. What does this most likely indicate?
- The students were exceptionally talented
- The teacher's marking was more lenient than IB's global standard (Correct answer)
- The external examiners made errors
- The IA tasks were too difficult
Correct answer: The teacher's marking was more lenient than IB's global standard
Marks being moderated down indicates the teacher applied standards more generously than IB's global benchmark, a common moderation outcome.
IB Internal vs. External Assessment 5
When a student suspects their external exam was marked incorrectly, what is the IB process called?