The International Baccalaureate undertakes a dynamic approach to the development of their curriculum, incorporating new trends and data to better facilitate and improve their programme. In this light, the IBDP introduced new changes to syllabi from Group 4 – Sciences subjects. This article will talk about the changes made to the IB Biology Syllabus, for first assessment in 2025.
(Please note: Batches till November 2024 will be studying the old syllabus with first assessment in 2016. This will be implemented May 2025 onwards)
First and foremost, here are the assessment objectives for the curriculum:
| AO1 | Demonstrate knowledge of:a. terminology, facts and concepts b. skills, techniques and methodologies. | This criteria requires students to be familiar with the various specific terminologies of biological processes, the facts and concepts about them. Moreover, IB Biology has sections of required skills in terms of practical work, techniques and methodologies required to conduct them. |
| AO2 | 2. Understand and apply knowledge of:a. terminology and concepts b. skills, techniques and methodologies. | Here, this requires students to have accurately understood the aforementioned factors and use that understanding to apply the knowledge in questions based on experiments or any critical thinking based questions, which would ask for application of the needed concepts. |
| AO3 | 3. Analyse, evaluate, and synthesise: a. experimental procedures b. primary and secondary datac. trends, patterns and predictions. | Analyse– critical thinking through inquiry Evaluate- demerits or merits of a particular concept |
| AO4 | 4. Demonstrate the application of skills necessary to carry out insightful and ethical investigations | Develop experimental methodologies and create investigative research questions using the topics learnt and application of them in development of plans. |
The new syllabus has also introduced a profoundly new approach aimed at showing the interrelationships between different concepts. Previously, the syllabus consisted of six standard units of learning ranging from cells, molecules, genetics, ecology, evolution and human physiology and topics categorized under it for standard level, and additional HL content which essentially be extensions of what was learnt in the SL syllabus, compromising of a total of 12 units for HL. In the new syllabus, instead of having the standard core units and option chapters, the IBO has now introduced themes which are essentially “lenses” to understand the subject through. To summarize, there are four levels of organization: molecules, cells, organisms and ecosystems, which would be studied through the lens of the following themes:
- A: Unity and Diversity
- B: Form and Function
- C: Interaction and Interdependence
- D: Continuity and Change
To visually explain, here is a matrix with the levels of organization and themes.
Let’s assume ‘node’ is a specific topic. This topic is under the concept of “organisms”, and will be studied in the context of interaction and interdependence. Here is a link to the complete syllabus matrix with topics categorized under this new system.
Assessments
The assessments also have major developments. Here is a detailed and organised explanation of the assessments in this revised curriculum:
| Assessment Component | Type | Old Syllabus | New Syllabus | Weightage | Assessment objectives met |
| Internal Assessment | Scientific investigation and report | Students choose their own topic related to biology and investigate, formulating their own research question and writing a report. Word limit: 3000 max. | Same as the old one.Students choose their own topic related to biology and investigate, formulating their own research question and writing a report. Word limit: 3000 max. | SL & HL: 24 marks SL & HL weightage: 20% | AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4 |
| External Assessment | Paper 1A | Paper 1 only consists of MCQ based questions, 30 for SL and 40 for HL. | SL: 30 multiple-choice questions HL: 40 multiple-choice questions | SL: 30 marksHL: 40 marksSL & HL weightage: 36% for overall Paper 1 | AO1, AO2 AO3, |
| Paper 1B | SL & HL: Four data-based questions related to experimental work and the syllabus | SL: 25 marksHL: 35 marksSL & HL weightage: 36% for overall paper 1 | AO1, AO2, AO3 | ||
| Paper 2 | SL: Section A—34 marks • Data-based question.• Short-answer questions on standard level material. Section B—16 marks •Extended-response questions on standard level material. One of two extended-response questions to be attempted by candidates. | Same as the old one.SL: Section A—34 marks • Data-based question.• Short-answer questions on standard level material. Section B—16 marks •Extended-response questions on standard level material. One of two extended-response questions to be attempted by candidates. | Marks: 50Weightage: 44% | AO1, AO2, AO3 | |
| HL:Section A—48 marks • Data-based question.• Short-answer questions on standard level and additional higher level material. Section B—32 marks •Extended-response questions on standard level and additional higher level material. Two of three extended-response questions to be attempted by candidates. | HL:Section A—48 marks • Data-based question.• Short-answer questions on standard level and additional higher level material. Section B—32 marks •Extended-response questions on standard level and additional higher level material. Two of three extended-response questions to be attempted by candidates. | Weightage: 44% Marks: 80 | AO1, AO2, AO3 |
Herein attached is the link for the sample biology exam papers from the IBO.
Additionally, here is the link for the subject guide for the revised curriculum.
That is the complete overview of the syllabus revision for IB Biology. As someone who is studying Biology SL to sit for the May 2024 exams, I am honestly a little jealous of you all who get to study this *haha*. But in all seriousness, this revision takes an interesting approach to studying biology through dissolving “boundaries” that we draw to divide topics in order to gain a true picture of the natural world in that everything is interrelated.
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