Can I improve my grade?

[Norman]

Currently 4 for IB HL maths and I need a 6. I’m in my last year, is it possible, what is it that I need to do? I’m willing to put in my all but I’m a little worried.

[kw0573]

Here is what you need to secure a 6 in AA HL or AI HL

1) Access to 10+ years of Math HL past papers and their solution manual. For AI HL you need 6+ years of Further HL and 6+ years of Studies or HL past papers. (in high school teacher gave us access to nearly 20 years). QuestionBanks highly reccommended as you can sort questions by category.
2) A minimum of 1.5 hour a day of homework time without distractions dedicated to math, for at least 6 days a week. (i spent on average 1.5-2 hours a night for a 7 in Math HL over 2 years)

You should first identify your weaknesses and strengths, including checking over your work, mental calculations, word problems, speed, pre-IB concepts, and thinking/challenging problems (AA HL only). 

There are several key skills that you should practice before tackling IB questions, including solving systems of 2 equations, finding equation of a line from 2 points,  factoring, using quadratic formula, expansion of quadratics (FOIL), and algebraic manipulation. Most of these you can practice on khan academy or wolfram alpha https://www.wolframalpha.com/problem-generator/. For algebraic manipulation (rearranging formulas) you should look for worksheets online http://engineering.armstrong.edu/cameron/rearranging formulae worksheet.pdf. Most of these skills should take no more than 20-30 seconds each time. Systems of equations may get particularly hairy so up to 30-45 s. Obviously math is not a spectator sport so the more you practice the faster and more efficient you become. 

The next stage involves figuring out exactly what questions you get wrong and how. If it's a question of not knowing the content thoroughly, eg mixing up equations, using the wrong formula, then you should practice repetitive questions where you just plug in numbers to the formula. Nearly all AI HL questions are of these type but AA HL questions are a lot more complex.  A textbook should do, IB or not. The goal is to keep practice these questions until you can comfortbly do it without a notebook with high efficiency. Do this for every new topic you learn and the previous topics in which you struggle. 

When you are familiar with the building blocks, this is when you can start doing IB questions. Past papers and QuestionBanks are highly recommended. In general give yourself at least 5 minutes before even looking at the solution manual. Be sure to check your work after each question. The more question types you see, the more you'll be prepared. Put a star (*) for questions types you see often and write down how you'd solve it, for memory. If you are not able to solve 60-70% or more of the questions without time constraints, it's probably a good idea to go back and take a look at the building blocks and non-IB questions. IB questions, even at 10 years * 3 sessions a year are still a scarcity so don't power through them if you can't do the questions. It's helpful to refer to both the 2021 AA guides or AI guides and the 2014 Math HL guides and Further Math HL guides to see the difference between syllbi. AA HL hasn't had much changes but there a couple of never seen before topics in AI HL that you need to find questions for outside of IB. 

The final stage, starting in April ish, is to do past papers in timed conditions. generally speaking it's 1 mark/minute. So while Math HL is good practice for Math AA HL, for AI HL you can give yourself however number of minutes as the number of marks, as you scrap together Studies, HL, and Further HL questions.

Good luck, you can do it!