DP Mathematics
Academic honesty in DP mathematics
The IB takes academic honesty seriously. This page summarises what students need to know for DP mathematics assessments, with particular attention to the Internal Assessment exploration.
The IB Academic Integrity Policy
The IB defines academic misconduct as behaviour that gives a candidate an unfair advantage, or that affects the results of another candidate. This includes plagiarism, collusion, cheating, duplication of work, and misconduct during an examination.
For DP mathematics, the three main areas of risk are: the Internal Assessment exploration, the use of AI tools, and behaviour during written papers. Each is addressed below.
The Internal Assessment exploration
The exploration is a 12–20 page individual mathematical investigation on a topic of the student's own choice. It is assessed against five IB criteria: Presentation, Mathematical Communication, Personal Engagement, Reflection, and Use of Mathematics.
Originality requirement. The exploration must be the student's own work. Students may discuss their topic with their teacher and seek feedback during the development process (this is normal and encouraged), but the writing, mathematical development, and conclusions must be the student's own.
Sources. All sources — books, websites, datasets, tools — must be cited in a bibliography. Using someone else's mathematical work without attribution is plagiarism and will result in a mark of zero for the exploration with possible further consequences.
The IB Coordinator's responsibility. Your school's IB Coordinator signs an academic honesty declaration confirming that all work submitted is authentic. If a coordinator has doubts, they may refer the work to the IB for investigation before it is submitted.
Artificial intelligence and the exploration
The IB's position on AI tools (as of the current Subject Guide) is that students may use AI tools to support their work — for example, to check calculations, explore datasets or generate visualisations — but the mathematical thinking, development and writing must be the student's own.
Using AI to write your exploration is not permitted. An exploration in which the prose, mathematical development or conclusions are generated by an AI tool and submitted as the student's own work constitutes academic misconduct.
Using AI as a tool is permitted with disclosure. If you use a tool such as Wolfram Alpha, GeoGebra or a statistical package to perform calculations or generate graphs, this should be referenced in the same way as any other tool. If you use an AI language model during your research process, disclose this and explain how.
When in doubt, ask your teacher. The expectation is transparency, not prohibition.
Behaviour during written papers
- Only approved GDC models are permitted. Ensure your calculator has been cleared of all stored programs that are not permitted. Check with your teacher or coordinator which models and programs are permitted for your sitting.
- Communication during the examination — including via electronic device — constitutes collusion and is a breach of IB regulations.
- Candidates may not remove examination materials from the room unless specifically instructed to do so by the invigilator.