IB Diploma · session May 2027

Psychology

Guide first assessed May 2027.

Mocks: in the future, hold tight!

Topic 1

The theory The syllabus content of this unit, explained in order. Read → Worked examples Answers written the way a scheme rewards, with the commentary that explains the marks. Read → Practice test A timed test on this unit, with the marks shown against each part. Read → Mark scheme What earns each mark, point by point, and what is accepted instead. Read →

The course in one page

The course in one page. Standard and higher level, for the guide first assessed May 2027.

Read this first

November 2026 is the last sitting of the 2019 guide. May 2027 is the first sitting of this one. You are in the very first cohort.

That has three practical consequences:

There are no past papers. The specimen paper is the only authentic indication of style.
Almost every book and website is for the old course. Travis Dixon's widely used revision guide, most YouTube series, and every "IB Psychology notes" site predate this guide. Material organised around sociocultural approach: social identity theory, stereotypes, enculturation with options in abnormal, developmental, health and human relationships is the old course.
The internal assessment has changed entirely. It is now a research proposal, not a conducted experiment. You design a study and justify the design; you do not run it and write it up.

What the course is

The systematic study of behaviour and mental processes, examined through three complementary approaches applied to four contexts, with research methods running throughout.

Six concepts thread through everything and are examinable in their own right:

bias · causality · change · measurement · perspective · responsibility

These are not padding. A question may be framed explicitly around a concept, and naming the relevant concept — that a correlational finding cannot establish causality, that a self-report measure raises questions of measurement — is a fast route to demonstrating understanding.

	Topic
1	Biological approach to understanding behaviour
2	Cognitive approach to understanding behaviour
3	Sociocultural approach to understanding behaviour
4	Contexts — health and well-being · human development · human relationships · learning and cognition
5	Research methods

The papers

	Standard level	Higher level
Paper 1: concepts, content and contexts	90 min, 35 marks	90 min, 35 marks
Paper 2: research in context	90 min, 35 marks	90 min, 35 marks
Paper 3: HL extensions	—	105 min, 30 marks

Paper 2 is stimulus-based: you are given a description of a study and asked about its design, its ethics, its limitations and what may be concluded from it. It is the paper where research methods stop being a separate topic and become the whole assessment.

How it is marked

Extended answers use mark bands. Four things move you up them:

Studies are evidence, not the answer. Naming a study earns little. Using it to support a claim — and saying what about its design makes it good or weak evidence for that claim — is the skill.

Evaluate the study, not just report it. Sample size and composition, ecological validity, whether the design permits a causal claim, cultural generalisability, demand characteristics.

Never overclaim causation. A correlational or case-study finding cannot establish cause. Saying so explicitly is often worth a mark, and asserting cause from correlation reliably loses one.

Ethics are examinable. Informed consent, right to withdraw, protection from harm, deception and debriefing, confidentiality. Expect to apply them to an unfamiliar study, not recite them.

Assessment objectives

		Roughly
AO1	Knowledge and comprehension	outline, describe, state
AO2	Application and analysis	apply to a scenario; analyse a study's design
AO3	Synthesis and evaluation	evaluate research, discuss competing explanations

Command terms

Term	What must appear on the page
State / Outline	The answer, briefly.
Describe	An account of the study or process. No evaluation.
Explain	The reason or mechanism.
Distinguish	Differences set against each other.
Contrast	Differences only.
Compare and contrast	Similarities and differences.
Analyse	Break down and show how the parts relate.
Discuss	A balanced review of more than one perspective.
Evaluate	Strengths and limitations, then a judgement.
To what extent	A judgement with a degree attached.

Educerie · written from the published IB Diploma Programme structure for Psychology, first assessment 2027. Original text. Paper durations and mark totals checked against the May 2027 examination schedule. Last reviewed 5 September 2026.