IB Chemistry Syllabus Update - First Assessment 2025

The New IB Chemistry Curriculum

The IBDP has an exciting new science curriculum for first teaching in September 2023 and first assessment in May 2025. The four Options that were previously examined in Paper 3 have been scrapped and some of the content has been incorporated in the new curriculum.

The new DP Chemistry course has undergone a radical overhaul in approach and has been constructed to promote concept-based teaching and learning. Read about it in the Chemistry Subject Brief

There are two overarching concepts: structure and reactivity. These are divided into 22 topics and subtopics headed by guiding questions. Linking questions are used to facilitate connections between different parts of the course to promote a highly networked understanding of chemistry.

 The syllabus components are:

IB Chemistry Syllabus Outline from 2023

Study Skills in Chemistry

The skills and techniques students must experience through the course are encompassed within the tools: Experimental Techniques, Technology and Mathematics. These support the application and development of the inquiry process in the delivery of the chemistry course: Exploring & Designing, Collecting & Processing Data, and Concluding & Evaluating

Source: ibo.org

What Will the New IB Chemistry Exams Look Like?

Students will have to take two external exams made up from the following components:

IB Chemistry SL Assessment Components from 2025

IB Chemistry HL Assessment Components from 2025

 Comparing the 2014 syllabus with the 2023 syllabus

• All topics and subtopics are now categorised under the themes of structure and reactivity. There is a conceptual relationship between these 2.

• Essential ideas have been replaced by guiding questions for each subtopic, which frame the learning in each subtopic and provide a broader scope for exploring how we plan and structure the course.

• You'll find linking questions in each subtopic that make reference to skills in the nature of science and understanding from other subtopics

• There has been a considerable reduction in terms of the content in the new course.

• The optional topics have been removed.

• There are a few minor content edits in the 2023 syllabus, for example you won't see the EZ classification of organic compounds anymore and the 'Lewis structures' are now called 'Lewis formulas'.

• There is more of an emphasis on skills in the new course, which are categorised under tools and the inquiry process and you'll find explicit connections to those in the linking questions in each subtopic.

• The course has been designed to provide more flexibility in terms of planning pathways throughout the course, so instead of topics 1 to 21, they are now in the overarching themes we mentioned before, structure and reactivity.

• It is important to build a logical progression of knowledge as you move through the course.

• The 'Internal assessment' is now called 'Scientific Investigation'.

New Materials to Help You Study

We are updating all our resources for the new IB course so that whether you are a student or a teacher, you can depend on them for high quality learning and revision - perfect for acing those exams!

In the meantime, browse our existing IB Chemistry revision resources.