Quick answer
You can read 10,980 IB Diploma documents on MarkScheme: question papers and mark schemes for 28 subjects, May and November sittings from 1983 to 2026. Open a subject, a paper number, or a year, and the mark scheme sits beside the question paper. Start at the [IB past-paper archive](/ib/past-papers).
What is actually on the site
For the IB Diploma Programme, the count is documents, not "papers" in the loose sense. A sitting is one question paper plus its mark scheme, and many sittings also split by timezone.
| Count | |
|---|---|
| Documents | 10,980 |
| Question papers | 5,658 |
| Mark schemes | 5,322 |
| Subjects | 28 |
| Years | 1983 to 2026 |
The largest sets, counted in October 2026:
| Subject | Documents | Years on the site |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | 848 | 1983-2024 |
| Physics | 825 | 1999-2026 |
| History | 802 | 1999-2026 |
| Chemistry | 785 | 1999-2025 |
| Economics | 563 | 1999-2026 |
| Psychology | 370 | 2000-2024 |
| Computer science | 360 | 2000-2025 |
| Maths AI | 114 | 2021-2024 |
| Maths AA | 36 | 2021-2022, HL |
Maths AA is the honest gap. The current Analysis course is not as deep in this archive as Biology or Physics. Use the HL papers that are there for method, and do not expect every recent AA session.
Timezone variants are kept as separate sittings, so a May Paper 2 TZ1 and TZ2 are not the same file. History topic papers and Language B language papers stay in the path for the same reason.
How to find the paper you mean
For the IB Diploma Programme, students search three ways, and each has its own page.
- By subject. Biology HL, Chemistry HL, Physics HL, Economics HL, Maths AA HL.
- By paper number. Biology HL Paper 2 lists that paper across years. The same pattern works for Paper 1 and Paper 3.
- By year or session. Biology HL 2024 and Biology HL May 2024. For subjects that reach 2025, open Physics HL 2025 or Chemistry HL 2025. Which subjects stop earlier is in IB 2025 past papers by subject.
The first sitting you open stays available without an account. Opening a second, different sitting asks you to sign in. Papers stay on the page. There is no download button, because the useful thing is reading the question paper and the mark scheme together.
A way to use them that changes a grade
Subject workflows live in the [IB Diploma past papers guide](/blog/ib-diploma-past-papers-guide). Biology's written paper has its own method in [IB Biology Paper 2](/blog/ib-biology-paper-2-guide).
- Pick the paper you sit next. If that exam is in the November 2026 session, follow the November 2026 past paper plan.
- Sit it to the real duration.
- Open the mark scheme and mark only what you wrote.
- Log three losses, then repair those before the next sitting.
Frequently asked questions
They are the question papers and mark schemes for those sittings, stored so you can read them on MarkScheme. Your school coordinator is still the person who confirms which paper you are entered for, and the IB publishes the timetable.
Are these the official IB papers?
Do I need an account?
The first sitting is open. A different second sitting asks you to sign in, so the library stays a reading room rather than a file dump.
Which year should I start with?
The newest year that subject actually has. For Biology that is 2024. Physics includes 2025 and 2026. Chemistry includes 2025. Older papers are for drilling a topic once you know what you lose marks on.