How to get a 7 in

IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

This cheat sheet is a summary of my recently released book, 7 Simple

Steps to Achieving a 7 in IB Physics.

I thought a cheat sheet would be useful for IB

Physics students to get an idea of the revision
strategies that I've taught to thousands of
students across the world to organise their
study, producing maximum results (with
minimum effort!).

You can do it!

"I've been teaching physics for 15 years and
these are the exact 7 super quick steps I've
taught thousands of students worldwide,
both online and in class. The IB Physics
exam does not have to be hard! You simply
have to strategise your revision and
overcome overwhelm.
I can help you. Let's do this!"
- SALLY WEATHERLY, CEO GRADEPOD

LET'S WALK THROUGH THOSE 7 STEPS

 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 1: NOT ALL TOPICS ARE EXAMINED EQUALLY

I get it.... you don't want to spend too much time studying physics. To help you, I've
worked through the last 14 years of past papers and I spotted an important pattern.
The same topics feature heavily every year in the exams.

The graphs below show the average percentage that each topic makes up of your
final IB Physics (including internal assessment and option topic). Make sure you
prioritise the following most heavily examined topics in your revision:

STANDARD LEVEL

MOST HEAVILY EXAMINED TOPICS

Topic 2: Mechanics
Topic 4: Waves
Topic 5: Electricity and Magnetism
Topic 1: Measurements and Uncertainties
(not May 21)

HIGHER LEVEL

MOST HEAVILY EXAMINED TOPICS

Topic 2: Mechanics
Topic 4 & 9: Waves
Topic 5 & 11: Electricity and
Electromagnetism
Topic 1: Measurements and Uncertainties
(not May 21)

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Put Topic 3 and Topic 6 to the bottom of your priority list!
Your option topic is worth 11.4% (SL) and 16% (HL) of your final mark (not May 21)

gradepod.com
 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 2: WRITE YOUR REVISION NOTES (FROM DAY 1!)

I get it.... you don't want to spend too much time writing revision notes. However, it is
important that you have the whole of the IB physics course summarised into
condensed revision notes. Effective revision notes highlight the facts you need to
memorise in a form that can be easily referenced when you move to the next phase
of your revision (exciting, right?)

To help you, I've devised a revision note template that will allow you to summarise
each IB Physics topic into three sides of A4 paper. You can see below that each topic
can be separated into 6 different sections. The whole process will only take 15
minutes per topic.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE TEMPLATE

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Download our free revision note template and watch the video tutorial here
Find a set of learning objectives for each topic - specific to the IB Physics
specification
When you have finished learning a new topic in class, complete the revision note
template.

gradepod.com
 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 3: THE POWER OF YOUR MINDSET

When you strip back all the scary content of physics, it is actually really simple.
Physics is a problem-solving subject and you will thrive within any physics curriculum
if you have the right mindset. The awesome thing about your mindset is that you
have an element of control over it.

I personally believe that you need to welcome the following three mindsets to be an
amazing physics student:

PROBLEM-SOLVER

Don’t think of physics as scary, impossible, or difficult. In fact, don’t

think of it in negative terms at all. Just think of it as straightforward
problem solving. You cannot pass any physics exam by just
learning facts from a flashcard - you need to be able to solve
problems. Ideally that would be an enjoyable experience for you!

RESILIENT

In Physics, if you become more resilient about failing, you can use
the process to learn and avoid making similar mistakes in
exams.It’s time to become more resilient and make failure your
friend. Embrace your mistakes. Be proud of your
mistakes. Learn from your mistakes.

INDEPENDENT LEARNER

It is not your teacher’s responsibility to spoon-feed the entire IB

Physics course into your brain. It is your responsibility to take the
resources you have to acquire the skills you need to achieve highly
in the IB Physics exam.
You have to be an independent learner - sorry!

gradepod.com
 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 4: IMPROVE QUICKLY USING PAST PAPERS

If you make mistakes when completing past paper questions, it is really important
that you learn from those mistakes. It’s not enough just to chalk up your marks and
hope that you’ll do better in the next paper.

I am about to introduce you to a tool that will help you learn from your mistakes in
the most effective and efficient way:

Here’s what you do:

1. You complete the exam-style
questions to the best of your ability
2. You use the marking scheme to
correct the questions
3. You get a clean copy of the marking
grid and place a cross in the box
that identifies where you lost your
marks.

You can then get a clear trend of what areas your exam technique is lacking and you
can focus on improving these areas.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR MARKING GRID

EXAMPLE

You can see from this example the

student needs to work on the
following areas:
Practice answering “explain”
questions
Familiarise themselves with the
data booklet to help work out which
formula to use
Practice diagrams

gradepod.com
 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 5: LEARN FROM OTHERS MISTAKES

The same mistakes are made year after year in IB Physics exams. I know... I have
studied the last 14 years worth of examiner reports in detail!

I've listed below some of the most common mistakes highlighted by the examiner
that are made by other students.

BLANK ANSWERS

NEVER leave a multiple choice question blank! Paper 1 is made

up of multiple choice questions ONLY and is worth 20% of your
final mark. Only allocate between 1-1.5 minutes to complete each
question. Try to develop strategies for spotting the correct answer
– rather than working it out as you would in Paper 2 or 3

EXAM COMMAND WORDS

The examiners are sending you a help signal by using specific exam
command words. Ensure you know the meaning of each command
words (e.g. define, derive, calculate, draw, explain, etc) at the start
of the course. Also learn the specific strategies for answering them.

BE REASONABLE

After completing a calculation, conduct a quick 'reasonableness

check' to determine whether the answer is reasonable or not. For
example, if you calculate the refractive index of glass to be 10.45 -
that's not reasonable! The range of refractive index lies roughly
between: 1<n>2.5

gradepod.com
 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 6: EASILY ADD 9-11% TO YOUR FINAL GRADE

There is huge potential to increase your grade with limited effort by simply learning
your definitions.

Learning precise definitions are a key part of your revision and you should find a
method that best suits your style of learning. The three methods that I have found to
be most effective are:

FLASHCARDS

Labour-intensive but allows friends and family members to help

with revision.

Requires purchase of paper flashcards.

QUIZLET

Online, fun and free! Learn definitions through gaming.

Just be aware that the pre-existing flashcards may not be exactly

correct....

SMARTPHONE VOICE RECORDINGS

Method that requires the least effort and makes learning ‘on the
go’ incredibly easy.

Requires a smartphone.

A good IB Physics online revision course (like GradePod's!) will give you a full list of
definitions that you need to learn - in addition to teaching you the course. If you'd
like to know more about my online revision course for IB Physics - click here.

gradepod.com
 How to get a 7 in IB Physics
CHEAT SHEET

STEP 7: WHERE TO GET FURTHER HELP

IB Physics is a daunting course. This guide has taught you invaluable tips on how to
maximise your marks in exams through use of an effective revision strategy. What if
you need help with the actual physics?

IB PHYSICS TEACHER

You should be able to expect further help from your physics

teacher, but remember that the relationship between student and
teacher is built on respect. Be respectful of their time and prepare
specific questions in advance.

IB PHYSICS TUTOR

Properly qualified tutors are often very expensive and difficult to

find. If you'd like a face-to-face tutor, make sure they have taught
IB Physics before and are fully aware of the intricacies of the IB
Physics specification. Be prepared to pay £50+ per hour....

IB PHYSICS ONLINE COURSE

A high-quality online revision course will offer a series of simple,

short tutorials that help you to quickly master IB Physics, guide
revision and achieve top marks. It will lead you step-by-step
through all the concepts you need to maximise your marks in your
IB Physics exams. An excellent online revision course, will offer
direct access to to the most highly respected professionals in the IB
Physics space.

I believe online revision courses

are the modern way to learn. It
will come as no surprise to find
out that I have an online revision
course for IB Physics...!

LEARN MORE