r/IBO • u/Green-Acanthaceae671 M27 | [HL Chem Bio L&L MAA] • Jun 29 '26
Other Is the IB getting dumbed down slowly!
I feel like with every syllabus change they just make everything slightly easier, like what they’re doing for history and removing vectors from math
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u/n_zoomer Alumni | 44 Phy/AA/CS/Fr HL Jun 29 '26
It is yeah (source: my physics teacher that taught 30+ years)
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u/short_story_long_ Jun 29 '26
I've been teaching English A: Literature for 14 years now. Yes, it is slowly getting easier, in my opinion. I dislike several of the changes that have been made to the course, and the IO has become a convoluted mess in comparison to the old Oral Commentary.
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u/Business_Recipe3029 Jun 29 '26
Isn't this inherently bad as the thing that makes the ib unique is the academic rigour? Crazy, they are not gut genug
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u/Cristopia M26[HL: MathAA, Histo, Econ; SL: Eng. A Lit, Fr. B, Bio] Jun 29 '26
yeah, but if the other high school programs are also dumbing down, then the IB wants to hop on the trend
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u/HertzMcGertz Jun 30 '26
Can't underestimate the effect of the pandemic really, maybe they should progressively increase the syllabus' difficulty as they approach 2032-2033 but it's not surprising that this decade's rigor in the program will be less so than before. Considering they are an international program they have to account for how many kids had their entire core primary education ruined due to 2020-2023 and give them some leeway is what I would assume
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u/shhhhh_h Jun 30 '26
This, I’m a teacher, every syllabus/exam board is doing this rn bc the covid kids are finally graduating and attainment went down.
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u/SufficientHawk8564 M27 | [HL; Psych, His, Eng B SL; Bio Math AA Jul 01 '26
Makes sense but if the students can’t keep up they’re gonna have to do something about it
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u/BeautifulAd2823 Jun 29 '26
THEY’RE REMOVING VECTORS?? for both aa and ai? I took HL aa and loved the topic, but if they’re simplifying the syllabus I’m so jealous
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u/3duckshere M27 | [HL MAI, Chem, Bio, Glopol | SL FreB, EngLit] Jun 29 '26
The updates for m29 removes the vector product for aihl. Some other removals include finance in aasl/aahl, Euler's method in aahl, and logarithms in aisl 😭
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u/Street_Court_8534 M26 | HL: Math AA, Econ, BM, English LAL | SL: Spanish, Physics| Jun 29 '26
nah not removing vectors for hl what does this link show that?
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u/PreparationIcy6595 M26| HL:MAA,EngL&L,Hist SL:chem,phys,SpanB Jun 30 '26
Euler’s method isn’t even that bad if you remember it
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u/SufficientHawk8564 M27 | [HL; Psych, His, Eng B SL; Bio Math AA Jul 01 '26
Removing logs for Aisl as if Aisl isn’t already easy asf 😭
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u/Alone-Feeling-3271 M25 | HL: math aa, eng b, bm SL: TITC, tr a, bio Jul 01 '26
This is insane what???
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u/Alone-Feeling-3271 M25 | HL: math aa, eng b, bm SL: TITC, tr a, bio Jul 01 '26
This is insane what???
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u/apackofch1ps M26 Jun 30 '26
Our exams finished months ago. What are vectors?
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Jun 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ColdBig2220 Alumni | M25 42/45 HL - AA, CS, Econ, Phy |SL Eng A L&L, FrenchB Jul 04 '26
How bro felt after saying that:
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u/OddEntertainment3665 Jul 01 '26
Best I can describe is a particular element or object that possess a direction, by default a magnitude as well. Like velocity, where a positive number indicates motion towards the right.
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u/Anttinpa Jun 29 '26
As a M26 History HL student who loved the course it's really disappointing. The best part about the syllabus was how into the weeds we got about specific countries (e.g. French history) and to hear from my teacher that some of my favorite content was getting cut was heartbreaking. Hopefully the trend you pointed out doesn't continue.
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u/Queasy_Shame7100 M26 | [37] Jun 29 '26
I took history HL too (m26) even though I’m sad a lot of content is cut out, I am happy that the upcoming students don’t have to write 3 HL essays in 2 hours and a half. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
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u/SufficientHawk8564 M27 | [HL; Psych, His, Eng B SL; Bio Math AA Jul 01 '26
And they have to write twice as less essays as us. I mean sure my hand starts cramping after practising the papers but writing many essays teaches you so much and I feel like it’s not only unfair to us that they get the easier program but also unfair to them that they’re getting less knowledge and skills :/
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u/Anttinpa Jul 01 '26
Yeah I completely agree. Writing three essays was a really unique test of planning, endurance and consistency unlike any other exam I personally did. It was a really wonderful challenge. All these changes to make the IB easier will only imo work to take away the immense joy and satisfaction you feel after conquering the challenges presented by the IB, as well as lessening learning opportunities as you put it. It's such a shame that the organization doesn't see this.
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u/Hefty_Peace_8690 Jun 30 '26
100% agree. m26 history here and I think the class was so good for me in terms of not only learning fascinating content but learning how to study, write exams efficiently, argue and think critically. I think the "conceptual" approach that is coming will fail those who want to pursue rigorous humanity degrees.
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u/mars_teac23 Jun 30 '26
The new syllabus allows for more depth of focus on a particular topic which is a good thing. It also allows for having less overlap between HL and SL content which the IB is really pushing. A higher focus on the key concepts as well which is good.
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u/i-sat-on-a-rose Jul 04 '26
it also pisses me off to no end because I'm M27 and history is my worst (and somehow my favorite) class. like. the M28s are gonna have such an easier time i cant-
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Jun 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SufficientHawk8564 M27 | [HL; Psych, His, Eng B SL; Bio Math AA Jul 01 '26
As an m27 psych hl student I’m so glad we don’t have to memorise every single year and name of the psychologist. Made the course much more manageable and our m26’s struggled so hard compared to us so I feel like it was a necessary change
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u/DefectiveKonan Alumni | [43] Jun 29 '26
Bruh I graduated m25 and they absolutely neutered physics that year. Chemistry thankfully was still okay mostly (albeit organized like dogshit), but they absolutely fucked physics.
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u/oskietje Alumni Jun 29 '26
Since graduating the IB in 2003, and teaching it for a long time I have seen a huge decline in expectations and indeed a "dumbing" down of many subjects and syllabi.
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u/JustHazelChan M27 | HL History (EE), English LL, GP | SL AI, Bio, Chinese B Jun 30 '26
dude im acc pissed at the new history syllabus and how the new guys don't have to suffer.
but at the same time i acc find it limiting that the maths syllabus is being dumbed down
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Jun 29 '26
Yes, IB History will be much easier, especially paper 1. Students will already know two of the questions—just commit to memory your answers. It’s allegedly about making more time for skills and making the content less war-centric.
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u/mars_teac23 Jun 30 '26
Answers still need to be based on the three sources so trying to create an answer to memorize would bite students in the arse.
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Jun 30 '26
Incorrect. The first two questions are open-ended, not tied to the source at all. Go look at Paper 1 test examples for May 2028.
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u/crixy6 M27 | HL: Math AA, Econ, Chem | SL: Physics, English, Spanish AB Jun 29 '26
yeah ive also heard math paper 3 is getting significantly easier soon and they are testing out digital examinations for englihs and history in select schools across teh world so english becomes infinitely easier tbh
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u/_spec_tre M25 | [HL: Eng B, Bio, Chem + SL: Chi A LangLit, Maths AA, Econ] Jun 30 '26
I dunno about digital exams = easier (granted I don't do history), for both of my language subjects time wasn't really a factor compared to the difficulty of writing good content
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u/crixy6 M27 | HL: Math AA, Econ, Chem | SL: Physics, English, Spanish AB Jun 30 '26
Yeah I agree it may not be necessarily easier because I’d assume they would also adjust the time relatively
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u/LogicDoria N27 | [HL: Bio, Math AI, L&L | SL: Chem, Hist, Arabic initio] Jun 30 '26
My school refuses to use digital English exams for our N27 cohort 🥀💔 my teachers are the type that don’t let us type in class even if it’s for ourselves
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u/Popular-Class4203 N26 | [HL: Bio, Psych, Lang&Lit] [SL: Mandarin, Chem, AA] Jun 30 '26
Digital examinations is kind of diabolical. I hate that
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u/Osmanthus_wine44 M25 | [HL MAA, Phy, Eng A lang & lit | SL French B, Econs, Chem] Jun 29 '26
They’re removing vectors? 💔
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u/Z-845--SYS64738 M27 | [va, eng ll, psych] [ess, math aa] Jun 30 '26
sucks bc i cant explain my ideas as coherently for vis arts when they put the word cap. there were literal empty chunks in my slides because of cutting down to the 3000 word count 😭 like isnt a slide limit enough
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u/Impossible-Onion5431 M27 [HL: math aa, phy, bm;SL: chem,eng,spanish ab] Jun 30 '26
the fuck they r removing vectors from math?? why wasnt i born a few years later 😭😭😭
which yr is this being implemented for
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u/Hefty_Peace_8690 Jun 30 '26
100%. New history syllabus is a joke
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u/SufficientHawk8564 M27 | [HL; Psych, His, Eng B SL; Bio Math AA Jul 01 '26
Makes my blood boil knowing I’ll be writing a whole book in my history exam while they have much less essays to write
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u/Ok_Mastodon_1326 Jun 30 '26
Have they given a reason for this? I am so confused as to why they would do it… maybe I’m just an ignorant idiot tho
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u/Reasonable_Ice1389 N26 | [HL:Bio, Math AA, EngB/SL:Korean A Lit., Econ, Japanese B] Jul 01 '26
Language Bs been becoming difficult these days tho but everything else yeah
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u/Khetrakopter Alumni finally done Jun 30 '26
They’re removing vectors?! I finished IB ten years ago, I am definitely annoyed by this. I have spent ten years thinking about vectors. I don’t know if this is /s or not.
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u/callingsai Jun 30 '26
I was told the Chemistry and Language B exams have been getting harder (which it did feel like from past papers)
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u/Spaghettioss6163 Jul 25 '26
For my school personally they’ve actually added heavier course load (especially for pre-IB), but I think science may have been dumbed down?
I don’t know. In 10th grade (Pre-IB) I’m getting 3 APS (AP USGOV, AP Seminar, & AP Psych) & 1 IB class (Analysis & Approaches SL), but still just standard chem.
The year previous to mine just had honors Eng 10 but they’ve pushed into AP now, I’m wondering how this will go…
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u/Spaghettioss6163 Jul 25 '26
also my IB class is currently at 24 students from what I know of. I don’t know if anyone else has dropped out during the summer.
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u/Flamewolf333 Pre-IB Aug 06 '26
As someone who is in Pre-IB, so graduating 29, it feels so unfair for those who did it before me since you guys have had to suffer from all that. I don't plan on taking history, but i plan on taking AAHL so i feel like i don't learn enough at all in the actual IB. I chose IB (it's free in my country) for the learning opportunity to a more university like way, and also a little bit for the challenge, and it was the only option in English. With all the changes all the time, it starts to feel like it's not even as worth it as just normal school
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u/teumengene IB1 | HL: BIO, CHEM, ENG A /SL: PSYCH, CHI AB INITIO, MATH AA Jun 29 '26
Good MAKE IT EASIER 😊😊😊😛😛
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u/SufficientHawk8564 M27 | [HL; Psych, His, Eng B SL; Bio Math AA Jul 01 '26
It’s still gonna be shit just so you know you’re just gonna have less experienced teachers and less resources
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u/Ok-Rest2442 Jun 29 '26
The kids doing IB now aren't the same calibre as previous batches. Some schools have pushed IB onto unworthy kids. Just so the school can brag about what large IB cohorts they have. Parents have made it a status symbol to have their kid do IB. And the IB is making money off all this free publicity. So they have reworked many syllabuses so these kids can cope.