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IB Design Technology SL Drilling Guide: Paper 1 and Paper 2 Order, Plus a 12-Week Plan
TUTORZONE EXAM DRILL GUIDE · IB DESIGN TECHNOLOGY SL
Built on the IBO design technology subject brief (first assessment 2027): at SL only Paper 1, multiple choice, 1 hour (20%) and Paper 2, short answer and extended response, 1 h 30 (40%) are examined, plus a 50-hour design project (40%). Paper 3 and the optional topics are gone. Method only: how to organise the concepts, the drill order, a 12-week timetable, pacing and the error log.
How is IB Design Technology SL assessed, and what does each part carry?
Paper 1 (multiple choice): Officially 1 hour; 10 questions (20 marks) in this paper (20%); Paper 2 (short answer and extended response): Officially 1 h 30; 5 questions (30 marks) in this paper (40%); Design project (internal assessment): Individual design project, report up to 3,500 words (33 marks) (40%)
Assessment at a glance (2027)
| Component | Content | Weighting | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (multiple choice) | Officially 1 hour; 10 questions (20 marks) in this paper | 20% | 1 h |
| Paper 2 (short answer and extended response) | Officially 1 h 30; 5 questions (30 marks) in this paper | 40% | 1 h 30 min |
| Design project (internal assessment) | Individual design project, report up to 3,500 words (33 marks) | 40% | 50 h |
Time is where SL candidates lose most: ten multiple-choice items in an hour (about two minutes each) and a written paper finished inside 1 h 30. Take the calculation items first, then the concept items, and put the judgement sentence in the first paragraph of every extended answer.
What each paper is actually testing
| Paper | Drill focus | How marks are lost |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (multiple choice) | concept recognition: ergonomics, materials, life cycle | Answering multiple choice on impression with ergonomics, materials and life cycle mixed together; picking an option before reading the axes and units on a graph |
| Paper 2 (short answer and extended response) | analysis and argument built around one product | Short answers state a conclusion without the reasoning, the extended response never anchors on one product, and uneven pacing leaves minutes for the last question |
| Design project (internal assessment) | five criteria starting from the redesign of an existing product | The design project is started in the last two months, evidence for the five criteria cannot be located in the report, and 3,500 words turn into a product description |
What is each IB Design Technology SL paper really testing, and what should you drill?
Paper 1 (multiple choice): concept recognition: ergonomics, materials, life cycle; Paper 2 (short answer and extended response): analysis and argument built around one product; Design project (internal assessment): five criteria starting from the redesign of an existing product
Drill order: by topic, then by year, then the mark scheme
| Step | What you do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. By topic | Work through each topic, starting with the paper that allows least help (no calculator / closed book) | Exposes what is genuinely not understood |
| 2. By year | Whole papers to time, one or two a week | Trains pace, stamina and question selection |
| 3. Mark scheme | Go through the marking scheme question by question and log the scoring steps you missed | Most lost marks are written wrong, not thought wrong |
Should drilling go by topic first or by year?
By topic first, then whole papers by year, then the mark scheme. The first third of the time goes topic by topic (8-10 years of the same topic back to back), the middle switches to timed whole papers, and the last fortnight only redoes the recurring errors from your log.
A 12-week drilling timetable
| Week | Phase | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-3 | By topic: foundation | Topic by topic, starting with the easiest marks, building habits and recall |
| Weeks 4-6 | By topic: core | 8-10 years of the same topic back to back, errors classified by topic |
| Weeks 7-8 | By topic: advanced and electives | Elective and higher-order topics, now under time pressure |
| Weeks 9-10 | By year: timed papers | One full paper a week, timed, no reference materials |
| Week 11 | Mark scheme work | Question by question against the marking scheme; list the scoring steps you omitted |
| Week 12 | Plug holes and simulate | Only the recurring errors from your log, then one full exam simulation |
Subject-specific weighting for this timetable: Twelve weeks running both papers in parallel: weeks 1-3 organise concepts only (one cluster a week – ergonomics, materials and manufacture, life cycle – as a one-page diagram, untimed), weeks 4-6 drill Paper 1 (20 questions in 40 minutes, then name the concept behind each error), weeks 7-9 drill Paper 2 (two questions in 45 minutes, one short answer and one extended response), weeks 10-11 sit both papers timed on the same day, and the final week redoes only the recurring concepts and checks that every one of the five project criteria has evidence in the report. Stage the project from week 1, never from week 10.
Use it properly: this is not a checklist to finish. Every week must keep time for redoing errors, or from week 9 you will be repeating the same batch.
Pacing
| Paper | Time | Suggested split |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (multiple choice) | 1 h | about 2 min per question, calculations first |
| Paper 2 (short answer and extended response) | 1 h 30 min | 45 min short answer, 45 min extended response |
| Design project (internal assessment) | 50 h | staged across the two years, never left to the last two months |
How should the time be split inside each IB Design Technology SL paper?
Paper 1 (multiple choice): about 2 min per question, calculations first; Paper 2 (short answer and extended response): 45 min short answer, 45 min extended response; Design project (internal assessment): staged across the two years, never left to the last two months
The drilling mistakes that cost the most marks
| Mistake | What it looks like | What actually happens | Instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixing up the SL and HL weightings | Quoting SL 20/40/40 as HL 25/45/30 | Study time is allocated to the wrong component and the design project is underweighted | Write your own level’s three numbers down first: SL 20/40/40, HL 25/45/30 |
| Terms memorised but not applied | Knowing what a life cycle analysis is, never having seen one run on real data | Paper 2 is built on a product; a bare definition earns nothing | Attach one real product and one set of numbers to every concept |
| Extended answers that only describe | Listing a product’s faults with no comparison, judgement or reason | The judgement marks in the extended items are all lost | Every paragraph needs a because and a closing conclusion |
| Calculations with no units or steps | Writing 40.9 with no mA, skipping the formula and substitution | Method and unit marks go together | Formula, substitution, units, then the answer |
The error log and the mark scheme
Three columns, never a copied question: concept (ergonomics, materials or life cycle), reasoning (does the short answer show the because-therefore pair), time (minutes spent against the paper average). Three entries in one column in a week means drill only that column; if the extended response twice fails to anchor on one product, spend the next session on the first three sentences only.
How many years should you drill?
Design technology is first assessed in 2027, so there are no past papers to drill by year; Paper 3 and the optional topics no longer exist, and older-course papers are a poor match. Work the sample questions in the official subject brief and teacher support material, then use original mocks for volume: Paper 1 for speed of concept recognition, Paper 2 for three ways of asking about one product (analyse, evaluate, redesign). Drilling by concept cluster, not by year, is the only order that works here.
How many years of past papers is enough?
Design technology is first assessed in 2027, so there are no past papers to drill by year; Paper 3 and the optional topics no longer exist, and older-course papers are a poor match. Work the sample questions in the official subject brief and teacher support material, then use original mocks for volume: Paper 1 for speed of concept recognition, Paper 2 for three ways of asking about one product (analyse, evaluate, redesign). Drilling by concept cluster, not by year, is the only order that works here.
Frequently asked questions
Is this page a mock paper or a drilling guide?
This is the IB Design Technology SL drilling guide: assessment structure, drill order, a 12-week timetable, pacing, common mark losses and the error-log method. For questions with answers, use the IB Design Technology SL mock papers linked under Related.
By topic or by year first?
By topic. Eight to ten years of the same topic back to back is what exposes repeating errors; going straight to whole papers just repeats the same batch under time pressure.
How should the error log be written?
Do not copy out questions. Per error record four things: question reference, which step failed (concept, wording, calculation), what the mark scheme requires, and the correct action next time.
The design project is 40% – how should drill time be split?
The two papers are 60% and the project 40%, so keep drilling under roughly 60% of weekly study time. The project is staged, so a fixed two hours a week beats a perfect drill record with an empty report: each of the five criteria needs its own section and evidence, and no amount of paper practice buys that back.
Paper 1 is only one hour – should I memorise definitions?
Recognise them, do not recite them. Multiple choice tests recognition and application: the stem gives a scenario and asks which concept fits. One diagram per cluster (definition, typical examples, the neighbouring concept it is confused with) beats a vocabulary list and doubles as preparation for the Paper 2 definitions.
Official references
| Resource | What to use it for |
|---|---|
| IBO design technology subject brief (first assessment 2027) | Check the paper times, weightings and the five design-project criteria |
| IB design technology course updates (IBO) | Confirm that Paper 3 is gone, that the criteria are common to SL and HL, and the word limit |
Related: IB Design Technology SL mock (Paper 1 and Paper 2, with answers)
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