MYP Maths: Showing Full Working for Marks

In MYP Maths, marks come from your method, not just your final answer. Examiners award levels against four IB criteria — A, B, C and D — and most descriptors reward clear, logical steps. A correct answer with no working can score lower than a wrong answer with sound reasoning shown throughout.

Because MYP criteria assess your process, not just your final number. Criterion A rewards selecting and applying the right mathematical strategy; Criterion C rewards how clearly you communicate it. A correct answer without visible reasoning gives your teacher nothing to award marks against, so you land in a lower band.

Full working means every step from question to answer is visible and legible: your chosen method, substituted values, intermediate calculations, and — for real-life problems — a sentence linking your answer back to the context. Skipping steps 'in your head' is the single biggest reason students lose Criterion A and C marks.

Two criteria assess your working most directly. Criterion A – Knowing and Understanding rewards selecting and applying the correct mathematical technique with accurate calculations. Criterion C – Communicating rewards using appropriate mathematical language, moving between representations, and presenting a complete, logical line of reasoning from question to conclusion.

Yes. Even when you use a GDC or calculator, MYP Maths still expects you to write down what you entered and why — the equation, the process, or the values used. An unexplained calculator answer with no method shown earns little or no credit under Criterion A, however correct the number is.

It builds the habit examiners expect at Diploma level. According to the IB, DP Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches and Applications and Interpretations papers award method marks for correct working even when the final answer is wrong — a feature that only helps you if you're already used to writing every step out.

Break the problem into stages and write each one down in order: state your method, show every calculation, and finish with a clear concluding statement. Examiners can only reward what's on the page, so treat your working as a running explanation of your thinking, not private scratch notes.

'Calculate' asks you to obtain a numerical answer using given data, showing enough working to justify the method. 'Show that' gives you the answer already and asks you to prove it's correct through a complete logical argument — skipping steps here costs marks even if you clearly know the result is right.

A mix of both. Use equations and calculations for the maths itself, but add short linking sentences — especially for real-life context questions under Criterion D — explaining what each step represents. A page of numbers with no explanation can look like guessing even when your method is sound.

The three I see every year: skipping intermediate steps because they seem 'obvious', crossing out working without replacing it, and abandoning a method halfway through instead of finishing it and stating a conclusion. All three cost marks even when the underlying maths is basically correct.

Because working done on rough paper and copied over as only a final answer isn't visible to whoever marks your formal task or exam. MYP assessment is based on what's submitted; if the reasoning lives on a page that never gets handed in, there's nothing there to award a level against.

Ask to see the steps, not just the final answer, when your child does homework — and ask them to explain out loud what each line means. Teachers can't award marks for reasoning that only exists in a student's head, so writing every step down at home carries straight into assessed tasks and exams.