50 days. That might sound like a lot, or it might feel like nothing at all.
Here’s the truth: 50 days is plenty of time to make a real difference to your IB Physics grade. I’ve seen students turn a 4 into a 7 in less time than that. But it only works if you stop doing random revision and start following a system.
This is the GradePod 3-step method. It’s what I use with every student I work with, and it works.
50 days is enough. You just need to use them well.
Step 1: Watch the concept video (but not all of it)
The GradePod concept tutorials are free right here on this website! There’s one for every topic in the current IB Physics syllabus (first examined 2025). But here’s the thing: you don’t need to watch the whole video.
Most students waste hours re-watching content they already understand. Don’t do that.
Instead, go to the topic page on the GradePod website. Below every video you’ll find the interactive checklist of learning objectives for that topic. Go through the checklist first. Tick off the ones you’re confident with. Then, for the ones you’re still shaky on, go to the video and fast-forward directly to that section.
Why this matters with 50 days left
You don’t have time to treat every topic equally. The checklist tells you exactly where your gaps are. You’re not re-watching things you already know. Every minute goes towards marks.
If you’d find it easier to see the complete checklist for the whole syllabus in one place, I’ve pulled it all together in this post: Every IB Physics learning objective for SL and HL. It’s a useful reference to have open while you work through each topic.
Step 2: Do past paper questions by topic
This is the step most students skip, and it’s the reason most students underperform.
Doing past paper questions topic by topic is completely different from doing full past papers. When you work through, say, all the A.1 Kinematics questions from past papers in one go, something clicks. You start to see the patterns. You learn how the examiners word things. You notice the tricks they use again and again. You stop being surprised.
Full past papers are important too (more on that in Step 3), but at this stage, topic-by-topic practice is where the real learning happens.
Which topics to prioritise first
Not all topics are examined equally. With 50 days left, you want to start with the topics that are most likely to come up and carry the most marks. These are the ones that have the most teaching time allocated in the official IB guide:
- A.1 Kinematics
- A.2 Forces and Momentum
- D.1 Gravitational Fields
- E.3 Radioactive Decay
These topics are heavily weighted in the final exam. Getting really solid on them first is the highest-leverage thing you can do right now. Work through every other topic too, but start here.
Don’t do random revision. Do topic-by-topic past paper questions, starting with the most examined topics first.
Step 3: Use the Exam Pack to pull it all together
Here’s the problem with Steps 1 and 2 if you try to do them without the right resources: you’ll spend half your study time finding things.
Where do I find past paper questions for A.2 Forces and Momentum? Are these the right mark schemes? Is this question from the current syllabus or the old one?
The GradePod Exam Pack solves all of that. Everything is sorted, organised, and ready to go. You open it, you know exactly what to do, and you get on with it.
What’s in the Exam Pack
The Exam Pack contains everything you need for the final stretch:
- Past paper questions sorted by topic, so you can go straight to the topic you’re working on
- Full mark schemes for every question
- Revision note templates to build your own notes as you go
- Knowledge questions to test your understanding before you do past papers
- A complete mock exam, so you can simulate exam conditions at home
- The annotated data booklet
The mock exam matters more than you think
You’ve done a mock exam at school. But I want you to do another one at home.
Here’s why: in school, there are other people around, a set time, a teacher. At home, it’s just you. That’s a completely different kind of pressure, and it’s much closer to how you’ll feel in the real exam room. Doing the mock at home tells you exactly where you stand and exactly where to focus in the final days.
The annotated data booklet
The data booklet goes in with you to every exam. Most students barely look at it until the night before. Annotating it yourself, section by section, is actually one of the most valuable revision tasks you can do (I’ve written a full guide on how to annotate the IB Physics data booklet if you want to do it properly). If you’d rather have it done and ready to use straight away, my fully annotated version is inside the Exam Pack. It’s one of the quickest wins in the whole pack.
The numbers that should make you feel better
You need around 68% in Higher Level or 65% in Standard Level to achieve a 7 in IB Physics.
And here’s what a lot of students forget: your Internal Assessment is worth 20% of your final grade, and that work is already done. You’re not starting from zero. The 7 you’re aiming for is built partly on work you’ve already submitted.
So the question isn’t “can I get a 7 from scratch in 50 days?” The question is “how much do I need to gain in the written exams to get over the line?” For most students who are putting in the work, the answer is: less than you think.
Around 68% at HL or 65% at SL. With your IA already in, a 7 is within reach.
The plan in three lines
- Find your gaps using the checklist. Watch only what you need in the concept videos.
- Do past paper questions topic by topic. Start with the most heavily examined topics.
- Use the Exam Pack so you’re never wasting time finding resources.
50 days. A clear system. You can do this.
Get the GradePod Exam Pack for £39 →
I’m Sally Weatherly, Fellow of the Institute of Physics, author of 4 IB Physics books (two hit #1 on Amazon), and founder of GradePod. I’ve helped 30,000+ students prepare for IB Physics since 2020.