IB Math New Syllabus: What Changes in AA and AI from 2029
By Michael Thompson · Education Specialist; 10 years teaching the IB at Bromsgrove School · Published 4 October 2026 · Updated 6 October 2026
The IB math new syllabus for both Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches (AA) and Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation (AI) is launched in February 2027 for first teaching in August 2027, with first assessment in May 2029. If you are sitting exams in May or November 2027, or in May or November 2028, nothing changes - you stay on the current courses throughout. The revision is a refinement, not a reinvention: content has been reduced and nothing new has been added. This guide covers every confirmed change to topics, paper marks, and the internal assessment, so you know exactly what applies to your cohort.
Key Takeaways
- First assessment is May 2029: Students examined up to and including November 2028 remain on the current AA and AI courses with no changes.
- Content has been cut, not expanded: The IB has removed topics from both AA and AI at SL and HL - financial applications, bivariate data, Euler's method, complex numbers, and more - and added nothing new.
- Paper marks are slightly lower: SL Papers 1 and 2 drop from 80 to 75 marks each; HL Papers 1 and 2 drop from 110 to 100 marks each; HL Paper 3 drops from 55 to 50 marks and will last one hour instead of one hour fifteen minutes.
- The mathematical exploration (IA) stays at 20%: From May 2029, SL and HL share identical IA criteria - four criteria totalling 20 marks - replacing the five criteria used by cohorts examined up to November 2028.
- AA and AI remain distinct courses: AA focuses on analysis using functions and calculus with problem-solving with and without technology; AI focuses on modelling and statistics with technology used throughout all papers.
- Full 2029 subject guides follow at the February 2027 launch: The IB publishes detailed subject guides for teachers on its Programme Resource Centre; the public updates pages and 2029 subject briefs at ibo.org are the sources for every change summarised in this guide.
In This Article
- Which cohort does the IB math new syllabus actually affect?
- What the IB math syllabus change is - and what it isn't
- Topics removed from the IB math AA syllabus (SL and HL)
- Topics removed from the IB math AI syllabus (SL and HL)
- Changes vs what stays the same: a comparison table
- New assessment model: paper marks, weightings, and HL Paper 3
- The mathematical exploration (IA): new criteria for the 2029 syllabus
- Choosing between AA and AI under the new IB math syllabus
- What to do next
1. Which cohort does the IB math new syllabus actually affect?
The IB math new syllabus covers two revised courses: Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches (AA) and Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation (AI). According to the IB, both courses launch in February 2027, begin first teaching in August 2027, and reach first assessment in May 2029. If you are sitting exams in May 2027, November 2027, May 2028, or November 2028, the current syllabus applies to you in full. Nothing changes.
The "2027" in search queries like "IB math new syllabus 2027" refers to when teaching of the new course starts, not when exams change. Students starting their Diploma Programme maths course before August 2027 are not affected. Anyone beginning their DP maths course from August 2027 onwards sits the new papers; the first of those cohorts is examined in May 2029.
One point that catches students out: the February 2027 date is when the IB launches the new course (in practice, when the new guide and supporting materials become available to schools), while August 2027 is when classrooms switch over. The two dates are distinct, and neither triggers any change to current exam preparation.
The practical upshot:
- Sitting exams May or November 2027, or May or November 2028 - current syllabus, current papers, no action needed.
- Starting DP maths from August 2027 - the new AA or AI course applies; it is first examined in May 2029.
2. What the IB math syllabus change is - and what it isn't
The headline fact, confirmed by the IB's updates pages: content has been reduced and nothing new has been added to either course. The two courses, their level options, and the distinction between them all remain exactly as they are now.
The shared framework both courses are built on
Both Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches (AA) and Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation (AI) sit inside the same DP mathematics framework. That framework has two interlocking parts.
The first is the inquiry process, which the IB sets out in four stages:
- Specify the problem (pose and frame mathematical questions)
- Abstract it (choose appropriate methods, tools or data to put the problem into mathematical form, and plan)
- Compute (carry out computations by hand or with technology)
- Evaluate and interpret (evaluate results for accuracy and relevance)
The second is a set of key attributes: reasoning inductively, deductively, abductively and analogically; communicating using shared mathematical conventions; linking ideas through underlying concepts; and bringing identity, agency, purpose, creativity and resilience to mathematical work.
The 2029 subject briefs state that the assessment objectives are based on these four stages, so a question that asks for a calculation and then asks whether the result makes sense in context is drawing on two of them, not one.
How AA and AI differ within that framework
The framework is shared; the emphasis is not.
- AA centres on analysis using functions and calculus. Students solve problems both with and without technology, and Paper 1 remains a non-technology paper at both SL and HL.
- AI centres on mathematical modelling and statistical analysis, with technology used throughout all written papers. There is no non-technology paper in the AI course.
That single structural difference, one course that requires fluency without a calculator and one that does not, has real consequences for course choice, covered in section 8.
3. Topics removed from the IB math AA syllabus (SL and HL)
The IB math AA new syllabus removes content at both levels without adding any new topics. Per the IB updates page, the changes are:
AA Standard Level - removed:
- Financial applications
- Bivariate data
AA Higher Level - removed:
- Financial applications
- Proof by counter example
- Bivariate data
- Euler's method
Proof by counter example is an HL-only removal: it sits in the HL-only part of the current AA syllabus, so SL students are unaffected by that cut.
Full topic lists for the 2029 AA HL and AA SL courses will be in the 2029 subject guides, which the IB publishes for teachers on its Programme Resource Centre when the course launches in February 2027; the 2029 AA subject brief already gives the five topics and the recommended teaching hours (150 at SL, 240 at HL, including 30 hours for the exploration). That resource is behind a login, so ask your teacher or coordinator for the document once it is available.
4. Topics removed from the IB math AI syllabus (SL and HL)
The IB's AI updates page confirms that the 2029 revision trims content rather than adding any.
Removed from AI SL:
- Logarithms
- Approximation of areas using the trapezoidal rule
Removed from AI HL:
- Complex numbers
- Vector product
- Poisson distribution
- Hypothesis tests for the population mean of a normal distribution
- Hypothesis tests for the population mean of a Poisson distribution
- Hypothesis tests for the correlation coefficient
The HL list is the longer of the two. Removing the Poisson distribution and three hypothesis tests takes out a sizeable block of HL inferential statistics, and because no content has been added at SL, those topics are gone rather than moved down a level.
The removals at SL are slim: logarithms and the trapezoidal rule disappear, but the rest of the calculus and modelling content remains, so students should not assume the SL course is substantially lighter.
As with AA, the full topic lists and teaching-hour allocations will be in the 2029 AI subject guide on the IB Programme Resource Centre from the February 2027 launch; the public summary is the IB's AI updates page.
5. Changes vs what stays the same: a comparison table
The table below covers every structural element that changes or stays the same across both courses from May 2029. The mark reductions apply to AA and AI equally, per the IB's updates pages for both courses.
| Feature | Current (up to Nov 2028) | New (from May 2029) |
|---|---|---|
| SL Paper 1 marks | 80 | 75 |
| SL Paper 2 marks | 80 | 75 |
| HL Paper 1 marks | 110 | 100 |
| HL Paper 2 marks | 110 | 100 |
| HL Paper 3 marks | 55 | 50 |
| HL Paper 3 duration | 1 hr 15 min | 1 hr |
| SL external weighting | 40% (P1) / 40% (P2) | Unchanged |
| HL external weighting | 30% (P1) / 30% (P2) / 20% (P3) | Unchanged |
| IA weighting | 20% | Unchanged |
| Technology rules | AA: P1 no tech, P2+P3 tech; AI: all papers tech | Unchanged |
| Course structure | SL and HL, two courses (AA and AI) | Unchanged |
| IA criteria count | 5 criteria, 20 marks | 4 criteria, 20 marks |
| IA criteria (named) | Presentation 4, Mathematical communication 4, Personal engagement 3, Reflection 3, Use of mathematics 6 | A: Problem specification 4, B: Abstraction 6, C: Computation 4, D: Interpretation 6 |
| SL/HL IA criteria | Same five criteria, with level-specific expectations in Use of mathematics | Identical at SL and HL |
The IA total stays at 20 marks and its weighting stays at 20%; what changes is how those marks are earned, with Personal engagement and Reflection disappearing as standalone criteria. The 2029 subject brief for AA confirms the four new criteria are the same at SL and HL, whereas the current five criteria share their names but carry level-specific descriptors for Use of mathematics.
6. New assessment model: paper marks, weightings, and HL Paper 3
The external structure you already know largely holds. What changes from May 2029 is the mark totals on each paper, and a shorter HL Paper 3.
SL: two papers, equal weight
Both AA and AI at SL follow the same pattern, per the AA subject brief and the AI updates page:
| Paper | Duration | Technology | Weighting | Marks (from 2029) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 1 hr 30 min | No (AA) / Yes (AI) | 40% | 75 (was 80) |
| Paper 2 | 1 hr 30 min | Yes | 40% | 75 (was 80) |
| IA (exploration) | - | - | 20% | 20 |
HL: three papers, adjusted marks
| Paper | Duration | Technology | Weighting | Marks (from 2029) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 2 hours | No (AA) / Yes (AI) | 30% | 100 (was 110) |
| Paper 2 | 2 hours | Yes | 30% | 100 (was 110) |
| Paper 3 | 1 hour | Yes | 20% | 50 (was 55) |
| IA (exploration) | - | - | 20% | 20 |
HL Paper 3 loses both time and marks. It drops from one hour 15 minutes to one hour, and from 55 marks to 50, per the AA updates page and AI updates page. That is 15 minutes less for a paper of two compulsory extended-response questions. HL students planning their exam pacing should note the change early; the current paper is covered in our AA HL Paper 3 guide.
Everyone sitting exams up to and including November 2028 is assessed on the current mark totals. The figures above apply only to May 2029 candidates and later.
7. The mathematical exploration (IA): new criteria for the 2029 syllabus
The mathematical exploration stays in place for both SL and HL, worth 20% of the final grade, with 30 hours of teaching time allocated. What changes from May 2029 is how it is marked.
The five current criteria are replaced by four new ones. If you are sitting exams up to and including November 2028, the criteria that apply to you are: Presentation (4 marks), Mathematical communication (4 marks), Personal engagement (3 marks), Reflection (3 marks), and Use of mathematics (6 marks); our AA IA criteria and AI IA criteria guides cover them in detail. Those criteria do not apply to the 2029 cohort, and the new ones do not apply before it.
From May 2029, SL and HL share identical criteria, per the IB subject brief and the Mathematics: analysis and approaches updates page:
| Criterion | Focus | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| A - Problem specification | Set out a problem in context; state the desired outcomes | 4 |
| B - Abstraction | Set out assumptions; select techniques and tools; translate the problem into mathematical form | 6 |
| C - Computation | Execute calculations; communicate the mathematics clearly | 4 |
| D - Interpretation | Interpret the results; evaluate them against the desired outcomes; refine the approach | 6 |
| Total | 20 |
The four criteria follow the four stages of the mathematical inquiry process that runs through the 2029 framework: specify, abstract, compute, interpret.
Abstraction and Interpretation together carry 12 of the 20 marks. An exploration that is strong on calculation (criterion C, 4 marks) but thin on translating the problem into mathematical form (criterion B) or on interpreting and evaluating the results (criterion D) forgoes marks in the two highest-weighted criteria. The mark allocation puts more weight on the set-up and the interpretation than on the computation in the middle.
The Applications and Interpretation updates page confirms that these criteria apply identically across both AA and AI, at both SL and HL.
8. Choosing between AA and AI under the new IB math syllabus
The two courses are genuinely different in character, not just in content. Picking the right one matters more than picking the "harder" one.
Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches (AA) (our AA guide) centres on analysis using functions and calculus, with an expectation that students can problem-solve both with and without technology. The defining structural feature is Paper 1, which is always calculator-free at both SL and HL. AA suits students drawn to pure mathematical reasoning, formal proof, and the kind of abstraction that feeds into mathematics, physics, or engineering degrees.
Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation (AI) (our AI guide) focuses on mathematical modelling and statistical analysis. Technology is required across all written papers, per the 2029 AI subject brief. The course suits students who plan to use mathematics as a tool in sciences, social sciences, business, or design, rather than study it for its own sake.
Both courses offer SL and HL. At HL, students in either course sit a third paper worth 20% of the final grade, per the 2029 subject briefs.
Some university courses in subjects such as mathematics, physics, engineering or economics may ask for AA HL specifically and not accept AI HL in its place. Check entry requirements directly with each university you are considering before you choose a course, not after.
The choice should follow your mathematical interests and your intended university pathway, not which course loses fewer topics in the 2029 update.
9. What to do next
The most useful thing you can do this week is confirm which cohort you are in. Ask your school directly: if you start DP Mathematics in August 2027 or later, you are on the new syllabus, which is first examined in May 2029. If you started before August 2027, you sit the current course and nothing about your materials, papers, or IA criteria changes.
If you are starting in August 2027, read the 2029 subject brief for your course, AA or AI. The IB states that its assessment objectives are based on the four stages of the inquiry process (problem specification, abstraction, computation, interpretation) and that these set the level of challenge in the written papers as well as shaping the IA criteria, so it is worth understanding that structure from the start.
FAQ
When does the IB math new syllabus start?
The new AA and AI courses launch in February 2027, with first teaching from August 2027 and first assessment in May 2029; everyone sitting exams up to and including November 2028 stays on the current syllabus.
Does the IB math new syllabus affect students sitting exams in 2027 or 2028?
No - students examined in May or November 2027, and May or November 2028, remain on the current courses throughout with no changes to their topics, papers or IA criteria.
What topics have been removed from IB math AA and AI?
AA loses financial applications and bivariate data at both levels, plus Euler's method and proof by counter example at HL; AI loses logarithms and the trapezoidal rule at SL, and complex numbers, vector product, Poisson distribution and three hypothesis tests at HL.
How does the new IB math IA (exploration) work from 2029?
The mathematical exploration stays at 20% of the final grade with 30 hours allocated; from May 2029, SL and HL share identical criteria - A Problem specification (4 marks), B Abstraction (6 marks), C Computation (4 marks), D Interpretation (6 marks) - totalling 20 marks.
What is the difference between IB math AA and AI in the new syllabus?
AA focuses on analysis using functions and calculus with problem-solving with and without technology (Paper 1 is calculator-free), while AI focuses on mathematical modelling and statistics with technology required in all written papers.
Have the IB math paper marks changed for 2029?
Yes: SL Papers 1 and 2 drop from 80 to 75 marks each; HL Papers 1 and 2 drop from 110 to 100 marks each; HL Paper 3 drops from 55 to 50 marks and is shortened to one hour from one hour and fifteen minutes.
References
- Mathematics: analysis and approaches updates - International Baccalaureate - https://www.ibo.org/university-admission/latest-curriculum-updates/dp-mathematics-analysis-and-approaches-updates/
- Diploma Programme Subject Brief - Mathematics: analysis and approaches, first assessment 2029 (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2026) - https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/programmes/dp/pdfs/sb_maths_analysis_en.pdf
- Mathematics: applications and interpretation updates - International Baccalaureate - https://www.ibo.org/university-admission/latest-curriculum-updates/dp-mathematics-applications-and-interpretation-updates/