Live one-on-one IB lessons on Google Meet, in your time zone
IB Diploma
IB MYP
Cambridge IGCSE
Cambridge A Level
SAT and AP
Pearson Edexcel
IB Tutors by Location
IB, IGCSE, GCSE, A Level, SAT and AP, one-on-one on Google Meet
Home › IB Diploma Programme › IB Physics
IB PHYSICS
IB Physics tutor online for HL and SL
IB Physics rewards students who can explain an idea in words, use it in a calculation and then read a graph or a table of data to test it. IB Learning Star offers online tutoring for the IB Diploma Physics course examined from 2025, at Higher Level and Standard Level. One-on-one lessons run live on Google Meet at times that suit your time zone, and your first class is a free trial.
HL and SL
One-on-one on Google Meet
Lessons in your time zone
Free trial class
OUR APPROACH
How we teach IB Physics
The physical picture
STEP 1
The equation in the data booklet
STEP 2
A worked calculation, units written down
STEP 3
Most lost marks in Physics come from three places: choosing the wrong idea for a problem, losing a unit or a power of ten on the way, and not saying what a graph or a calculation shows. We work on all three. Lessons start from the physical picture, then move to the equation in the data booklet, then to a worked calculation with the units written down.
Physics also uses a lot of maths: algebra, trigonometry, logarithms and rates of change. If that is where you slow down, we fix it inside the Physics lesson, with the problem in front of you. Students who want extra practice with the maths itself can also join our Maths AA lessons.
Our tutors are certified IBDP tutors or have completed IBDP training, at least IB Category 2 workshops, and they teach in IB schools.
This page describes the course first examined in 2025. We will update it if the IB publishes a new Physics guide.
COURSE CONTENT
The IB Physics course in five themes
The course is built from five themes. The IB recommends 150 teaching hours at Standard Level and 240 at Higher Level. Those hours include the practical programme and the scientific investigation, so the five themes share 110 hours at SL and 180 at HL.
A
Space, time and motion
27
SL hours
42
HL hours
Kinematics, forces and momentum, work, energy and power. HL adds rigid body mechanics and Galilean and special relativity.
B
The particulate nature of matter
24
SL hours
32
HL hours
Thermal energy transfers, the greenhouse effect, gas laws, current and circuits. HL adds thermodynamics.
C
Wave behaviour
17
SL hours
29
HL hours
Simple harmonic motion, the wave model, wave phenomena, standing waves and resonance, the Doppler effect.
D
Fields
19
SL hours
38
HL hours
Gravitational fields, electric and magnetic fields, motion in electromagnetic fields. HL adds induction.
E
Nuclear and quantum physics
23
SL hours
39
HL hours
The structure of the atom, radioactive decay, fission, fusion and stars. HL adds quantum physics.
HL ONLY
Some topics are for HL students only: rigid body mechanics, special relativity, thermodynamics, induction and quantum physics. Other topics are shared, with extra HL content on top. If you are not sure which parts of a theme your level covers, tell us at the trial class and we will map it for you.
DATA SKILLS
Uncertainties, graphs and units
Data skills run through every paper and the scientific investigation, and they are where many students lose marks they could keep. The IB guide expects you to propagate uncertainties, draw and read uncertainty bars, linearise a graph where that makes sense, draw lines of maximum and minimum gradient, and work out the uncertainty in a gradient or an intercept.
A worked case: finding g from a pendulum
A student times 10 swings of a pendulum of length 0.80 m ± 0.01 m and gets 17.9 s ± 0.2 s. The period is T = 1.79 s ± 0.02 s, which is 1.1% uncertainty. Squaring the period doubles the percentage, so T² = 3.20 s² with 2.2% uncertainty. The relationship T² = (4π²/g) L gives g = 4π²L / T² = 9.9 m s⁻². Its percentage uncertainty is the length’s 1.25% plus the T² figure of 2.2%, about 3.5%, so g = 9.9 ± 0.3 m s⁻². The accepted value, 9.81 m s⁻², lies inside that range.
In a lesson we go one step further. We plot T² against L for several lengths, draw the best-fit line and the steepest and shallowest lines through the uncertainty bars, and read g and its uncertainty from the gradients.
Three common uncertainty mistakes
1
✕
Raising to a power.
Squaring a quantity doubles its percentage uncertainty. Many students leave it unchanged.
2
✕
Too many digits.
Quote the uncertainty to one significant figure, and match the decimal places of the value to it.
3
✕
Bars with no use.
Plotting uncertainty bars but then fitting a single line, with no maximum and minimum gradients, loses the evaluation marks that depend on them.
ASSESSMENT
How the Physics papers work
There are two papers at both levels. There is no Paper 3 and there are no option topics, so older past material that used them does not match this course. Calculators are permitted, and each student gets a clean copy of the IB Physics data booklet.
WEIGHTING OF THE GRADE
Paper 1 (1A + 1B) · 36%
Paper 2 · 44%
Scientific investigation · 20%
The remaining 20% comes from the scientific investigation, which is marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB.
Paper 1: 1A and 1B
SL
1 h 30 · 45 marks
HL
2 h · 60 marks
Weight
36%
Paper 1 has two parts taken together. Paper 1A is multiple choice, and no marks are taken off for a wrong choice. Paper 1B is data-based questions, where you read tables and graphs, find gradients and areas, and handle uncertainties. At SL Paper 1 lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is out of 45 marks (25 for 1A, 20 for 1B). At HL it lasts 2 hours and is out of 60 marks (40 for 1A, 20 for 1B). Paper 1 is worth 36% of your grade at both levels.
Paper 2
SL
1 h 30 · 55 marks
HL
2 h 30 · 90 marks
Weight
44%
Paper 2 has short-answer and extended-response questions. At SL it lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is out of 55 marks, on standard level material only. At HL it lasts 2 hours 30 minutes and is out of 90 marks, on standard level and additional higher level material. Paper 2 is worth 44% of your grade at both levels.
THE IA
Coaching for the Physics scientific investigation (IA)
The scientific investigation is worth 20% of your grade at both levels. You collect and analyse your own quantitative data to answer a research question you form yourself, and you report it in up to 3,000 words. The report is marked out of 24 on four criteria worth 6 marks each: research design, data analysis, conclusion and evaluation.
In lessons we help you choose a question that you can measure well with the equipment you have, plan the method and the range of values, work out the uncertainty you will need to handle, read your draft against the criteria and sharpen the evaluation.
HOW IT WORKS
What a Physics lesson looks like
01
The first lesson is a diagnostic. You show us a recent paper or a topic test and we find where the marks went: a gap in the idea, a slip in the calculation or a missing explanation. After it we agree a plan around your weakest themes and your exam session.
02
Each lesson takes one topic from the physical picture to a full answer in the form the IB markscheme rewards, with the data booklet open and the units written down. You get a short set of problems to try before the next lesson. Closer to the exams we add timed sections of Paper 1B and Paper 2, with written feedback on your working.
Lessons are one-on-one on Google Meet, in your time zone.
Is HL Physics much harder than SL?
+
HL has 90 more teaching hours, longer papers and extra content in every theme, plus five topics taught only at HL. The core ideas are the same, so a steady plan and early help on the topics where you lose marks work at both levels.
Which Physics topics do students find hardest?
+
It varies, but mechanics problems with several forces, energy with losses, circular motion, induction and the uncertainty work in Paper 1B come up most often. Small slips such as mixing radians and degrees, or not checking that an answer is physically sensible, lose marks at every level. We find your weak spots in the first lesson rather than guess.
+
Can I use a calculator in the Physics papers?
Yes, calculators are permitted in Paper 1 and Paper 2. Your school will tell you which models the IB allows.
+
Does the course still have Paper 3?
No. The Physics course first examined in 2025 has two papers and no option topics. Check that any practice material you use matches the current course.
+
Can you help with Paper 1B data questions?
Yes. We practise reading tables and graphs, finding gradients and areas, and stating uncertainties in the form the markscheme expects.
+
Do you help with the scientific investigation?
Yes. We help with choosing a question, planning the method, reading your draft against the criteria and improving the evaluation.
+
Who teaches the lessons?
Your tutor is a certified IBDP tutor or has completed IBDP training, at least IB Category 2 workshops, and teaches in an IB school. We match the tutor to your course and level.
+
Will lessons fit my time zone?
Yes. Lessons are one-on-one on Google Meet and we plan them around your school day, wherever you are.
+
How do I start?
Book a free trial class. We use it to see where you are, then suggest a plan and a lesson schedule.
Start with a trial class for Physics
Tell us your level (SL or HL), your exam year and the themes that worry you most. We will plan the first lesson around them.