IB Sports Science Paper 2 Drill Guide: Reading Data, Explaining Mechanisms

Read the data first

Paper 2 has two parts: Section A data questions and Section B, one extended response from three. SL gives an hour and a quarter for fifty marks, thirty-five per cent of the course (HL ninety marks). Paper 1 is forty-five minutes of multiple choice, thirty questions, twenty per cent; Paper 3 an hour, forty marks, twenty-five per cent. Section A marks are lost by calculating without interpreting – a standard deviation, a p-value or a correlation coefficient has to become a sentence saying whether the difference is significant and what it means for training. In Section B pick the option whose mechanism you can explain: cardiovascular response and drift, muscle fibre types and fatigue, or energy system contribution, each point carrying mechanism plus data and closing on performance.

IB Sports Science Paper 2 drilling technique: data questions must quote figures, state the trend and compare magnitudes, using overlapping standard deviations to judge significance; p < 0.05 means rejecting the null hypothesis; physiology answers should quote the equation and substitute (cardiac output = HR x SV); extended responses need both sides, specific factors and why they affect validity. Bring a calculator.

Subject-specific weighting for this timetable: Weeks 1-3: Section A only, twelve minutes per data set, every calculation followed by one sentence on what it means for training. Weeks 4-6: one paragraph of extended response at a time in a mechanism-data-performance shape, writing three different options for one question in a week to see which flows. Weeks 7-9: full papers in an hour and a quarter – twenty-five minutes on Section A, forty-five on Section B, five checking units and significance wording. Weeks 10-12: three papers across endurance, strength and skill, sketching the mechanism diagram from memory before writing.

Three columns: which part and question; whether the loss was calculation, interpretation, mechanism or timing; and the repair, naming the sentence or diagram to add. Three losses of a kind means five data questions of that type in one week.

The current SEHS course has used this paper shape since first assessment in 2016, so past papers are directly usable. Where the guide has updated content, follow the current guide and treat older papers as rhythm practice.

Is this page a mock paper or a drilling guide?
This is the IB Sports Science Paper 2 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 Sports Science Paper 2 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.

Which Section B option should I take?
Take the one whose mechanism you can run in three steps and support with one concrete figure. If both are familiar, take the one with easier evidence.

How much detail do data questions need?
Show the working and give units; one sentence of interpretation suffices if it names direction and size, not just ‘it increased’.

Related: IB Sports Science Paper 1 multiple-choice mock · practice area