IB English B Tutoring, SL and HL
IB English B is a language acquisition course, so it rewards control of English used for a purpose rather than knowledge of set texts: students write for a given audience, understand unfamiliar audio and written texts, and speak without a script. Students whose everyday English is fluent can still lose marks on register, text-type conventions and the precise comprehension questions of Paper 2.
Short answer
IB English B is offered online, one-to-one.
A private lesson runs 90 minutes and starts at USD 95 per lesson; lessons are booked singly or in packages.
IB group classes are private groups of three or more friends, who agree the start date with us.
From USD 95 per lesson
Your lessons are taught by Rebecca Clarke, who teaches IB English B.
- SL and HL assessment from the IB’s own subject brief
- Live online lessons of 90 minutes
- From USD 95 per lesson
How IB English B is assessed
External papers set and marked by the IB, and an internal assessment marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB. Standard Level and Higher Level differ in length, weighting and, at HL, in the extra paper or component. Figures are from the IB’s own subject brief, linked below.
International Baccalaureate
IB Diploma Programme · English B · subject brief, first assessment 2020
| Component | SL: weight and length | HL: weight and length | What it involves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (productive skills) | 25% | 25% | One writing task from a choice of three: 250–400 words at SL, 450–600 words at HL. |
| Paper 2 (receptive skills) | 50% | 50% | Comprehension of three audio passages (listening, 25%) and three written texts (reading, 25%) on the five prescribed themes. |
| Individual oral | 25% | 25% | An individual oral assessed by the teacher; at HL it is based on a literary extract. |
Checked on 24 September 2026
Paper names are the IB’s own. Internal assessment time is the teaching time the IB allocates to it, not an exam.
The IB English B syllabus
Topic names are left in English, as they appear on the paper and in the mark scheme.
Prescribed themes
Identities · Experiences · Human ingenuity · Social organization · Sharing the planet
HL
Two literary works studied in English
Where IB English B marks are usually lost
Writing an essay when the task asks for a blog
Paper 1 offers a choice of tasks, each with text types to choose from, such as an email, a blog or a speech, and one criterion rewards an appropriate text type with its conventions and register. The IB guide warns that a response ignoring context, purpose and audience can score nothing on two criteria, however good the English. Reading who is writing, to whom and why comes first.
Understanding the gist but missing the answer
Paper 2 tests listening and reading with precise questions about details, words and references in the texts. Students who grasp the overall meaning still lose marks by answering from their own knowledge rather than the text, copying far more than the question asks for, or missing a negative or a change of speaker in the audio. Regular timed practice with authentic recordings builds that precision.
Reciting the oral from a script
Before the individual oral, students prepare under supervision and may make brief notes, but the IB states that these are not to be read aloud. A student who writes a script and recites it sounds flat, loses the thread when questioned, and struggles in the general conversation that follows, which moves on to other themes. At HL, weaker orals slide into plot summary of the literary extract.
The IB English B internal assessment
The internal assessment is the individual oral. At SL the student speaks about a visual image linked to one of the course themes; at HL the starting point is an extract from one of the two literary works studied. Preparation is supervised and done without dictionaries, and the presentation is followed by a discussion with the teacher and a general conversation on other themes. A tutor helps by practising with unseen images or extracts, building the vocabulary of each theme and staging realistic conversations. The oral cannot be rehearsed word for word, and practice should not try to.
A tutor can explain the criteria, question a draft and point to what is weak. The research, the writing and every decision in it stay the student’s own, as the awarding body’s rules require.
How we teach IB English B
A tutor teaches English B as a skills course organised around the five prescribed themes, so each unit builds vocabulary, reading, listening, writing and speaking on one theme at a time. Writing practice works through the text types the IB uses — emails, blogs, articles, speeches and more — with attention to who is writing to whom and why, and to the conventions each type expects. Listening is practised with authentic audio rather than slowed classroom recordings. Every lesson includes unscripted speaking, from describing an image to defending an opinion, because the oral rewards genuine interaction. HL students also read their two literary works with the tutor and discuss extracts the way the oral will. Since dictionaries are not allowed in the exams, vocabulary is built steadily from the start.
There is no separate diagnostic, because there is no single test that stands in for two years of a school syllabus. The first lesson is the assessment: the tutor works through your recent marked work, past-paper questions from your own specification, and the units your school has already covered, and reads current level, gaps, exam technique and where school work stands. It is a normal paid lesson and it teaches as it assesses.
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IB prices
IB tutoring from USD 95 per 90-minute lesson. Compare lesson packages and included materials.
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