Looking for ready-to-use resources that will save you hours of preparation time? Our extensive collection of FREE worksheets covers every Content, Context, and Concept in the course and we’ve even included the Research Methods and Data Analysis and Interpretation topics.
What makes these worksheets special?
Each worksheet is written to provide complete coverage of its topic. Students will find clear definitions, detailed explanations, and thoughtful discussions that build genuine understanding. But we don’t stop at theory, every worksheet includes engaging questions that reinforce learning and encourage critical thinking.
Flexibility for your teaching
Here’s the game-changer: these worksheets are provided as Word documents, not PDFs. This means you can download them and customize them to perfectly suit your teaching style, your students’ needs, and your specific classroom situations. Edit questions, add examples relevant to your students’ experiences, or adjust the difficulty level: the choice is yours. But they’re ready to use without any edits.
Comprehensive coverage
With one (and often two) worksheets available for every topic, you’ll have everything you need to support student learning throughout the course. From Biological to Sociocultural, from Research Design to Statistical Analysis… it’s all here.
Download your FREE worksheets today and spend less time creating materials and more time enjoying yourteaching.
An often-neglected aspect of teaching IBDP Psychology helping students develop fluency with subject-specific terminology. Words like validity, reliability, etiology, synaptic gap, neurotransmitter, and operant conditioning aren’t just vocabulary, they’re the precise tools we use to communicate complex ideas about behavior.
The assessment criteria make this explicit: ‘There is accurate and precise use of psychological terminology’ and ‘Psychological terminology relevant to the research methods is used effectively’. These aren’t minor criteria, they directly affect student grades in all assessment components. When students write about ‘proof’ instead of evidence, or ‘sadness’ instead of depression, they’re not just being imprecise; they’re failing to demonstrate the precise and accurate vocabulary that examiners expect.
Teaching terminology effectively means more than providing definitions. Students must understand when and how to use these terms. Does this theory apply to all cultures or is it ‘culture-bound’? Is this a hormone or a neurotransmitter? Understanding these distinctions demonstrates genuine psychological literacy, not just memorization.
The payoff extends beyond exam scores. Students who master the subject’s vocabulary think more precisely about behavior, communicate more effectively in their internal assessment and extended essays, and develop the academic foundation necessary for university level psychology study.
IB Diploma Psychology – The Glossary of Psychology Vocabulary (by Tom Coster) is an essential companion for every IB Diploma Psychology student, providing a clear and concise collection of key terms and concepts tailored to the IB Psychology syllabus.
Designed to support your journey into the field, this glossary will enhance your understanding of human thought, emotion, and behavior, while helping you master the specialized vocabulary required for academic success and real-world application.
Here’s a question being asked by many IBDP Psychology teachers and students: What do students have to submit for the Class Practical to be assessed?
The answer is surprising many: nothing.
Unlike the Internal Assessment, the Class Practical requires no written report submission. Teachers don’t grade students’ contributions to the Practical itself. Students must participate in some capacity—perhaps planning and conducting the study, serving as participants to experience research from that perspective, or acting as members of an ethics committee reviewing the Practical. The teacher determines each student’s role, but these contributions are not formally assessed.
So where does assessment come in? Paper 2, Section A.
This exam section contains four questions specifically about the Class Practical:
Question 1 (10 minutes): Describe how you used [one of the 4 methods] in your class practical, including its aim and procedure.
Question 2 (10 minutes): Explain the concept of [one of the 6 Concepts] in relation to the [interview or focus group] in your class practical.
Question 3 (15 minutes): Compare and contrast the research methodology used in your class practical with [one of the other 4 methods].
Question 4 (15 minutes): Design [one of the other 3 methods] to investigate the same topic you investigated in your class practical.
For detailed guidance on Class Practicals and to see sample high-scoring responses to these questions, consult Tom Coster’s Textbook and the Ten Mock Examinations book. (Click on the images below to find out more about these books.)
Confirmation bias is our tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs/opinions while overlooking contradictory evidence. It’s one of the most pervasive cognitive shortcuts (heuristics) affecting most people’s daily decisions.
Confirmation bias has deep evolutionary roots. Our ancestors didn’t have time to carefully weigh every piece of evidence; quick decisions often meant survival. The brain evolved to use heuristics that conserve cognitive energy and calories. Because processing information requires significant mental effort, our minds developed efficient strategies: stick with what you already “know” works, and filter out conflicting information. This usually generates “good enough” decisions quickly, which helped us navigate dangers and opportunities without ‘analysis paralysis’.
Imagine you’re convinced that a particular route to work is fastest. One morning, you hit unexpected traffic and arrive late. Instead of reconsidering your route choice, you think, ‘This is unusual, there must have been an accident’. The next day, you arrive on time and think, ‘See, this route really is the best’. You remember the smooth commutes vividly while dismissing the delays as anomalies. Meanwhile, you’ve never actually tested alternative routes because you’re already ‘certain’ yours is quickest.
We follow news sources that align with our politics, interpret ambiguous feedback from our boss based on our existing opinion of them, and notice evidence supporting our favourite sports team’s superiority while forgetting their losses.
Understanding confirmation bias doesn’t eliminate it, but recognizing when we might be cherry-picking evidence can help us make more balanced decisions, even if it costs us a few extra mental calories and a few extra seconds.
Here’s a powerpoint to help teach this topic to your IB Diploma Psychology class…
In IB Psychology, mastering subject-specific vocabulary isn’t just about definitions, descriptions and explanations, it’s about communicating with precision. The assessment criteria highlight this directly: examiners will be looking for accurate and consistent use of the language of psychology. Using the correct terminology makes students’ exam answers clearer, more credible, and much more likely to score in the higher markbands.
And how to learn vocabulary? Copy it, copy it’s meaning, and then use it in your writing at every possible opportunity.
Take, for example, the difference between saying “the study was good” and “the study had high internal validity because confounding variables were controlled.” The second statement not only shows that you know the correct term but also demonstrates deeper conceptual understanding. Words like validity, reliability, quasi-experiment, overt, covert, mean, median, determinism and many others allow students to describe research and arguments with the level of precision that examiners expect.
But the importance of vocabulary extends beyond exams. In class discussions, using appropriate and relevant terminology sharpens students’ arguments and makes their reasoning clearer to others. Even beyond the classroom, being able to apply psychological language helps students engage in more nuanced conversations about behaviour, mental health, and social issues.
So how do students achieve this? The glossary at the back of the Subject Guide is a solid starting point, but it’s very limited. That’s why we’ve compiled a resource with nearly 1,000 psychology words and phrases, organised into three sections: Concepts, Content, and Contexts. Available both in print (perfect for highlighting and making margin notes) and as an eBook (ideal for quick reference on the phone), this book gives students the tools to expand their psychological vocabulary and, with it, their confidence in exams.
As DP Coordinators and teachers pore over this year’s IB Diploma results, now is the time to think not just about content delivery, but on how your students are learning. The key to improving your school’s performance probably isn’t more revision sessions, tougher mock exam marking, greater intensity with internal assessments or even more teacher training…, the key to success in school is much more likely to be a shift in student mindset, habits, and engagement.
IB Diploma Psychology – Success at high school or college, written by a teacher with 30+ years of experience, offers exactly that: a practical, common-sense guide to helping students become more disciplined, proactive, and resilient—qualities that consistently lead to stronger academic outcomes in school and beyond.
Unlike quick-fix test strategies, this book provides a blueprint for long-term success: attending every class, managing time effectively, building positive relationships with teachers, and understanding how learning actually works. It’s simple, clear, and designed to be implemented now—not in theory, but in everyday student life. This book is practical – and it’s written for and to your students.
If you’re serious about lifting your students’ IB Diploma results in 2026 and beyond, make this book part of your school’s toolkit. It may be the most powerful change you make this year.
At this stage of the two-year IB Diploma course, many teachers are wondering about their students’ final grades, perhaps trying to reconcile what they considered a near-perfect mock exam result and a near-perfect Internal Assessment result with the middley grade that the student eventually received following the actual exam session. Some teachers question their ability to interpret the Subject Guide and the assessment criteria descriptors, but they shouldn’t, especially if they’ve put time and effort into reading and understanding the Guide, attending training workshops and engaging with their MyIB subject community.
During the exam session, the students’ exam scripts are sent to the markers via a scanning centre. The students’ answer papers are scanned and uploaded to the online marking database. Markers, who have received mark schemes and undergone training then access the database and read/mark the exam scripts. They do this quickly to meet deadlines and quotas.
About every 10th exam script is called a ‘seed’; it has already been marked, and the marker’s marks are compared with the existing marks. If the marker’s marks are within an acceptable tolerance range, the marker continues to access the database of exam scripts. If the marker’s marks are too different from the seed’s marks, the marker is diverted for more training, and may return to the database of scripts if/when their marking becomes more accurate/aligned with those of the chief marker (sounds Orwellian, right?)
Each marker is assigned to mark only Paper 1, 2 or 3.
Now the computer takes over. The marker’s marks are moderated to be consistent with the chief marker’s marks. This is an attempt to standardise the marker’s marks through the whole marking session.
A combination of people and computers confirm the mark boundaries. People will pull out papers on the boundaries, read answers and ask if this set of answers is consistent with the Grade 7, 6, 5, etc. descriptors. The computer then adjusts grades to ensure a certain percentage of students achieve a 7, 6, 5… This is called scaling. It can be controversial, especially when assessment is supposedly done with respect to assessment criteria descriptors which are objective and in theory are either achieved or not achieved. Scaling though protects against grade inflation, which can occur when teachers and students learn what is required to achieve a 7 as each set of results occurs, a greater % students achieving the higher grades.
The internal assessment is marked by teachers and the grades for each of the 4 criteria are entered into IBIS. IBIS then selects a sample of high, middle and low scoring IAs and the DPC uploads the digital copy of the selected sample which are then check marked by an experienced and trained/supported moderator. This moderator enters a grade for each criterion and the computer software then adjusts the teacher’s full set of results (not just the sample IAs’ results)… for exam Criterion A marks may be moderated up by a small percentage and Criterion C grades might be moderated downwards by a lot and Criteria B and D may not change. These moderations are applied to a school’s full cohort, pro rata, i.e. taking into account the unmoderated marks awarded by the teacher. It’s an odd procedure based on dubious logic. (It’s really odd when a moderator’s own students’ IA marks are moderated by a different moderator and the marks go down by a lot.)
These moderated marks are then scaled to match an expected % of grades. And yes, that’s also contrary to the philosophy of criteria-based assessment.
There’s a lot to like about this assessment system. Human markers’ grades are checked frequently to ensure they match the chief marker’s standard for each component (Papers 1, 2, 3, and the IA). The papers at the grade boundaries are checked against the grade descriptors. IA moderators’ marks are moderated by senior moderators…, and then the computer applies grade boundary checks and scales marks to meet grade distribution expectations.
And when grades are received students can submit an EUR – an enquiry upon results at several levels… check the component marks were correctly calculated, a re-mark of papers or even the IA which is problematic to understand because a student excluded from the sample may have to find and then submit their IA even if it was not one of the uploaded sample of IAs selected for moderation. That doesn’t bear thinking about for too long though. If the student’s grade (not mark) changes after an EUR the (hefty) fee is refunded, but if not, not, so… that doesn’t bear thinking about for too long either.
The big question that many teachers ask is, ‘Why are the actual grades not as good as the grades I think their students should get?’
We tend to mark our students higher than real examiners because we tend to give our students ‘benefit of the doubt’ marks.
Markers are less patient with difficult-to-read handwriting, while teachers come to learn the students’ handwriting.
Markschemes tend to be written with more detail than the subject guide’s assessment descriptors.
Teachers sometimes base marking on ‘knowledge’ gathered from unofficial, for-profit subscription-based sites and really unofficial sources such as Facebook groups. Psychology has one FB group that is well known for distributing incorrect information – and now you’ve now been warned!
Scaling. It’s quite likely that experienced teachers’ marks are similar to the actual marks, but after papers and IAs have been marked/moderated, the marks are scaled so that the grades are distributed as per IB’s grade distribution ‘formula’ for each subject. The difference (and the cause of so much angst) is likely due to the scaling factor.
In the end though, the grades are just one pillar of what students, teachers and schools achieve. In many ways, that final grade can be distorted, for example, which subjects were chosen to construct the student’s Diploma, which subjects were done at HL and SL, was Language B really a student’s second language or a second first language, how much support was given with the IAs, EE, TOK assessments, how much time went into CAS, etc. What we do know is that most IB Diploma students develop critical thinking skills, they develop an appreciation for internationalism and they appreciate the value of creativity, activity and service. And they all develop in alignment worth the Learner Profile to some extent – becoming better communicators, more open-minded, more thoughtful, more caring… and the IB doesn’t scale these (probably). So… don’t stress too much about the number on the results page. Our students and the teachers’ efforts will always be more than that Diploma score.
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We’ve just added a new free worksheet designed to support DP Psychology HL students as they prepare for Paper 3, particularly Question 4 on the role of technology in the health and wellbeing context.
Based on a recent Guardian article exploring how young people are taking control of their smartphone use to manage mental health, the worksheet guides students through a critical reading and reflection process. It encourages them to consider how media shapes public understanding of digital wellbeing.
A key feature of this activity is a close look at the reference to the Netflix series Adolescence—a dramatized portrayal of online misogyny. The worksheet prompts students to explore the Responsibility of including fictionalised content within an otherwise fact-based article. Is it appropriate? Does it blur the line between evidence and entertainment? What are the ethical considerations?
The aim is to help students build their own informed responses, drawing on both media literacy and psychological concepts relevant to wellbeing in the digital age.
We’re excited to share a new (and free) resource created to support teachers and students in the new IB Diploma Psychology course: “How to answer exam questions.”
This document will demystify the exam requirements across Papers 1, 2, and 3. It provides clear, structured guidance on how to approach every question.
Step-by-step structures for each question
Tips for content selection and writing focus
The document is provided in Word format so you can copy and edit it to suit your purposes or share it directly with your students. A suggested use: Give a copy to students when they are doing practice exams so they can see exactly how to structure their responses.
We hope this document helps make exam preparation a little smoother for everyone. Feel free to share it with colleagues.
If you’re looking for even more comprehensive support, check out our book IB Diploma Psychology – Ten Mock Examinations with Model Answers. It includes TEN full mock exams (Papers 1, 2, and 3) complete with high-scoring sample responses for every question. Use it to plan your mocks, guide student revision, and sharpen your understanding of exactly what to teach for exam success.
As teachers, all we really want to know is: Did they learn what I think I’ve taught them? The challenge is finding a simple, fast way to answer that question.
Oral checks at the end of class are great — but with 20 students, I’d need another lesson just to ask them all. Exams have their place, but in IB Diploma Psychology, written exams often only test a small slice of the syllabus. We know Social Identity Theory might not even show up. So how do I know if my students truly understand it?
Over the years, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with multiple choice tests. They take time to write, but once they’re built, they become one of the most efficient formative tools we have. Students actually like them — they can focus purely on content without the pressure of writing structure, command terms, or phrasing. I simply get a clear snapshot: do they know it or not?
That’s why I created a book of 70 multiple choice tests for the new IB Psychology syllabus. No, MCQs aren’t part of the official exam. But as quick, focused checks of cumulative knowledge, they’re one of the best tools I’ve found to guide my teaching.
Tom Coster - Psychology 