Inside the MYP eAssessment: Tasks, Timing and Marks

Before your first MYP eAssessment exam, it helps to know what will happen between opening the examination and submitting your answers. What will you read? Where will you write? How much time will you have? And what do the numbers beside each task actually mean?

The last question deserves particular attention. Classroom criterion levels, examination marks and final IB grades are different measures. Understanding that distinction helps you make sense of both the paper in front of you and the result that follows.

What Counts as an MYP On Screen Examination?

On screen examinations are part of the IB’s external assessment system for the final year of the Middle Years Programme. The wider system, called eAssessment, also includes assessed coursework submitted through ePortfolios.

The IB’s assessment overview explains that external assessment is optional in other programme elements, while the personal project is required in MYP Year 5 and externally validated. Your personal project is therefore a different assessment experience from a timed examination.

On screen responses are marked by trained IB examiners. ePortfolio work, including the personal project, undergoes external moderation of teachers’ marking. Language acquisition combines an on screen examination with an internally assessed speaking component.

Confirm your own entries with your school. Taking an MYP subject does not, by itself, tell you which external assessments you have been registered for.

What You See and Do on the Screen

You work on a laptop or desktop computer with a keyboard, mouse and headphones. According to the IB’s technical guidance, examination software is installed locally, so a continuous internet connection is not required during the exam.

The IB’s description of the examination environment lists several ways to work with material:

• Play, pause and replay videos or animations.
• Interact with simulations and move items through drag and drop.
• Plot graphs and construct drawings.
• Use an on screen calculator where provided.
• Access explanations for selected words through hover text.

The tools available depend on the task. A writing response and a mathematical investigation ask you to communicate in different ways, so practising only typing would leave part of the experience unfamiliar.

For each task, identify the source material, the instruction and the place where your response belongs. Before spending time on a tool, establish what you need it to show. A graph is useful when it communicates the relationship the question asks you to examine.

A Real Example: Language and Literature

The IB’s published language and literature guide gives a concrete blueprint: 120 minutes, 80 marks and three tasks.

Task	What the published blueprint asks you to do	Marks
Task 1: Analysis	Answer shorter questions, then compare an unseen written extract with an unseen multimedia text	10 for shorter responses, plus 20 for comparison
Task 2: Literary writing	Create a literary text using images as a stimulus	20
Task 3: Nonliterary writing	Produce an extended text connected with the session’s global context	30

The first task contains multiple responses. Three tasks therefore does not mean three brief answers.

Notice the changes in what you are being asked to do. You move from interpreting other people’s choices to making choices as a writer yourself. Give each response its own purpose, structure and attention to audience.

These figures describe the published blueprint. The IB allows limited variation in mark distribution, so follow the allocations and instructions in your actual examination.

For focused subject support, the Koncepts Year 5 notes on comparing two texts provide a relevant starting point for comparison work.

How Mathematics Uses the Format

Mathematics shows why one subject’s task structure cannot stand in for every MYP exam.

The IB mathematics subject brief describes three task areas: mathematical knowledge and understanding, investigating patterns, and applying mathematics in practical contexts. Each area has a published allocation of 31 to 35 marks.

Criterion C assesses communication across the three tasks. Its 25 marks are included within those task allocations.

When practising, check whether your working makes the relationship between the question, your method and your conclusion visible. Entering a result is only one part of explaining a mathematical argument.

For work involving grouped data, revisit the Year 5 notes on histograms and frequency polygons. Pay attention to class intervals, axis labels and what the vertical scale represents. Those are content decisions you need to understand before using a plotting tool.

Criterion Levels, Raw Marks and Final Grades

Keep these three numbers separate:

Measure	Scale	Meaning
Classroom criterion achievement level	0 to 8	A teacher’s best fit judgment against achievement descriptors
On screen examination marks	The examination’s mark allocation	Credit awarded using the relevant markscheme
Final IB subject grade	1 to 7	The reported result after the applicable grade boundaries are used

For internal assessment, teachers judge how well your work meets the criterion descriptors. A criterion level is not a percentage. Dividing it by eight does not create a valid percentage score for MYP assessment.

The IB explains the external distinction in MYP: From principles into practice. Examiners award marks through task specific markschemes derived from the subject criteria. The criteria still underpin the assessment, but examiners record marks for the examination responses.

Grade boundaries are set for each discipline and examination session. Do not apply the classroom conversion table out of 32 to an exam’s raw marks, or assume that a fixed percentage always produces the same grade.

The IB’s grading guidance confirms that MYP course results report subject grades from 1 to 7.

How Much Time Do You Have?

The IB’s current assessment overview gives a duration of one hour and 45 minutes to two hours, depending on the examination. Check the duration for your registered subject, including any approved access arrangements.

Use mark allocations to help judge the attention a response needs. Give yourself time to read sources, plan extended writing and review your answers, as well as produce them.

A useful rehearsal is to notice where your time goes during a school practice examination. Are you repeatedly reopening a source because you have not identified the relevant evidence? Are you polishing an early paragraph while a substantial task remains unfinished?

Use those observations to adjust your approach. Equal time for every question rarely matches the different demands of an examination.

Read the Task Before Building the Answer

A practical routine can help you approach unfamiliar material without rushing into the wrong response.

Start with the instruction. Identify the command term and the precise focus. Make sure your answer performs the requested action, whether that involves comparison, explanation or evaluation.

Locate the evidence. Check which extract, image, data set or part of a stimulus the question refers to. Choose material that supports your response, then explain its relevance.

Check the marks and response format. Use these to judge the scope of the task. Avoid treating a mark as a fixed number of sentences. A longer answer earns its place through relevant reasoning and evidence.

Review what you have actually submitted. Check that your answer addresses the whole instruction. For quantitative work, inspect units and labels. For writing, check that the organisation makes your argument or purpose clear.

This routine is a practical recommendation for reading the exam carefully, rather than an IB marking formula.

See the Software Before Exam Day

Start with the IB’s official subject demonstration videos to see how the examinations are presented.

Then ask your teacher for the IB familiarisation activity and relevant specimen examinations. The familiarisation activity introduces tools and response types without the additional demand of subject content. Specimens let you practise the academic and technical requirements together.

RevisionDojo’s English eAssessment registration guide offers a useful reminder:

“Practise reading sources on screen, navigating between materials, typing sustained responses, editing efficiently, and answering the precise command term.”

Ask your teacher about Koncepts MYP past paper resources for further guided practice. Use subject notes to strengthen understanding, and the official examination materials to become comfortable expressing that understanding in the required format.

What to Confirm for MYP eAssessment 2027

If you are preparing for MYP eAssessment 2027, ask your coordinator to confirm your registered subjects, applicable examination guidance, official timetable and approved access arrangements. If you are taking interdisciplinary learning, ask about the preparatory material for your session.

Your next step is to connect a subject you understand with an examination task you can complete confidently. Choose one area to revisit through the Koncepts MYP study hub, then practise showing that understanding in the response format your teacher provides.

Related Blogs

• MYP eAssessment: The Complete Teacher’s Guide, for the school’s perspective on assessment and preparation.
• What Is a Good MYP Score?, for understanding results and considering readiness for the Diploma Programme.