Clear explanations built from PsychExcel's own teaching resources, organised around the parts of the course students actually need help with.
A clear walkthrough of the IB Psychology syllabus for first assessment 2027: how concepts, content and contexts fit together, what each paper asks, the IA, and what changes between SL and HL.
Read guideHow the six concepts, the content and the four contexts fit together in the 2027 IB Psychology course, where they meet in each exam, and how to work out which concepts are live in any topic.
Read guideThe three real differences between SL and HL in the new IB Psychology course: the HL extensions, Paper 3, and how much your internal assessment is worth. Plus what that means for how you revise.
Read guideThe 2027 IB Psychology exams hand you unseen material in three of four components, so memorising has a ceiling. What to commit to memory, what to train instead, and the study moves that actually work.
Read guideHow Paper 1 is built for first assessment 2027: the mark split across Sections A, B and C, how long to spend on each, what each section actually tests, and the timing rule that protects your 15-marker.
Read guideWhat separates the lower and upper mark bands in Paper 1 Section A, the two-paragraph structure that helps, all 27 examinable terms, and why a well-explained everyday example can work as well as a study.
Read guideSection B gives you an unseen scenario and 6 marks. Why strong theory knowledge alone scores 3 or 4, the GPS structure that fixes it, and how to practise so your application is explicit.
Read guideEvery Section C question names a context, an Area of Study and a concept. What that architecture means for your revision, why an accurate content essay stalls mid-band, and how to practise the turn.
Read guideAround 32, if each one covers more than one Area of Study. Where the syllabus lets you take one option, where breadth is compulsory, and the three kinds of evidence examiners tell apart.
Read guideThere are 228 possible Section C questions and three components that hand you unseen material. Why memorised essays miss, what to commit to memory instead, and how to use a model answer properly.
Read guideHow Paper 2 works for first assessment 2027: the four Section A questions on your class practicals, the unseen study in Section B, timing, word ranges, and where to spend your last week.
Read guideYour four class practicals carry 20 marks on Paper 2. What they are, the consent and ethics rules specific to them, exactly what to record for each method, and why writing them up on the day matters.
Read guideSection B hands you a study you have never seen. How to diagnose it in two minutes, choose concepts by analytical yield, and write paragraphs that judge the evidence instead of listing strengths and limitations.
Read guidePaper 2 question 1c asks you to compare and contrast two methods. Why two separate descriptions cap your mark, the dimensions that work for any pairing, and worked similarity and difference paragraphs.
Read guideWhat operationalisation actually means, what it looks like in each research method, weak and strong examples side by side, and the five-step move that turns it into a top-band evaluation point.
Read guideThe five sampling techniques, the difference between random sampling and random allocation, and the four-sentence template that turns naming a technique into a mark-earning point.
Read guideHow Paper 3 works: the resource booklet, the four questions, timing, and what question 4 is judged on. Plus the mid-band trap that keeps competent answers at 10 to 12.
Read guideQuestion 1 asks for one limitation, explained properly. What each graph type hides, how to read error bars, the limitations that transfer to any booklet, and what turns a 1-mark answer into a 3-mark one.
Read guidePaper 3 question 2 is about reading numbers and checking conclusions, not calculating. Descriptives, results tables, the gap between findings and conclusions, and how to run claim surgery.
Read guidePaper 3 question 3 asks you to judge qualitative research by qualitative standards. Credibility, transferability and reflexivity, the three sentences that cost marks, and how to match a fix to a flaw.
Read guideWhat p actually means and what it does not, why significance and effect size are separate questions, how to read r honestly, and how to turn "correlation is not causation" into a real point.
Read guideThe three HL extensions are ways of explaining behaviour, not extra topics. The twelve combinations, what Paper 3 assumes you already know, and the four ways your own knowledge earns marks.
Read guideThe new IA is a research proposal you never run. Understand the four criteria, the twelve assessment bullets, the weighting, the word-count rules and what the task is actually asking you to do.
Read guideAim or research question, three weak examples and what is wrong with each, the band descriptors for this bullet, and the two checks that move a competent aim into the top band.
Read guideFive questions every IA topic has to answer before you write a word, which topics are banned outright, what the hypothetical nature of the task lets you propose, and the test that saves three weeks.
Read guideA section-by-section IB Psychology IA structure guide with suggested word budgets, paragraph jobs, writing order and a practical checklist for protecting the discussion.
Read guideThe IA marks your reasoning, not your design. The because test, how to justify method, sample and procedure, and why the ethics bullet is the only one in the rubric that stops at described.
Read guideBias pushes rather than scatters, which is why more data will not fix it. The six places it enters a study, how to name a direction, and why choosing one bias beats listing six.
Read guideCausal claims come in six strengths. Which rung a design reaches, the seven alternatives worth having ready, mediator versus moderator, and why "correlation is not causation" is a retreat.
Read guideChange is four questions, not one. Did it change, did it last, did it matter, and would it have happened anyway. Plus why "effective" can mean five different things.
Read guideMeasurement is a bridge, not a window, and the number is not the thing. The comparison that catches most overclaiming, why reliable is not valid, and what changes when a measure is used on people.
Read guidePerspective is the lens most often missed because it hides inside evaluative words. How to spot it, how it differs from bias, and the point at which a standpoint crosses into one.
Read guideResponsibility is about how psychological knowledge is produced and used, not about whether someone deserves blame. The four links in the chain, the evidential bar, and the question that lifts an answer.
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