The IB's move to on-screen assessment changes what exam preparation means. Knowing the content is still essential, but it's no longer enough. Students also need to be comfortable reading sources on screen, highlighting, making notes and writing extended answers in an exam interface, under time pressure.
Those are skills, and skills need practice. The schools that handle eAssessment well tend to build that practice into everyday teaching, rather than leaving it to a single rehearsal in the final term. This guide covers what students will meet on screen and how to prepare them for it.
What Changes for Students in an On-Screen Exam
On-screen exams ask students to work in a different way from paper. Four changes catch students out most often.
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Reading sources on screen. Students work with a source on one side of the screen and their response on the other. Moving between the two takes practice, especially with long texts.
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Annotating without a pen. Instead of underlining on paper, students use an on-screen highlighter and notepad. Those who haven't used them tend to skip annotation altogether, and their planning suffers.
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Typing extended answers. Writing a long response on screen under time pressure is a different skill from handwriting one. Typing speed, structuring and editing all matter.
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Using on-screen tools. Calculators, graphing tools and equation editors behave differently from the ones students keep in their bags. Fumbling with them costs time.
None of these are hard to learn. They just need to be familiar before exam day, so students can focus on the questions rather than the interface.
Seven Ways to Prepare Students for IB eAssessment
1. Start Early, Not in the Final Term
The biggest mistake is treating on-screen practice as a last-minute rehearsal. Introduce the exam interface in the first year of the programme. Short, regular exposure builds familiarity far better than one intensive session before exams.
2. Use On-Screen Tools in Everyday Assessment
Run some unit tests and formative checks on screen, in conditions that mirror eAssessment. If students use the split-screen view, highlighter and notepad every few weeks, they'll stop noticing them by exam day. This also spreads the work across departments, rather than leaving it all to the exams office.
3. Teach Annotation and Planning on Screen
Show students how to plan a response on screen, not just on paper. Model highlighting a source in different colours for different purposes, and jotting a plan in the notepad before writing. Then give them time to practise it.
4. Build Typing Stamina for Extended Responses
Students who rarely write at length on a keyboard tire quickly. Set some extended writing tasks to be completed on screen and timed, so students learn to plan, draft and review within the time available.
5. Rehearse under Real Exam Conditions
At least once a year, run a full mock in a secure, locked-down environment with the timer running. Our guide on how to implement digital mock exams walks through how to set this up across a school.
6. Plan Accommodations from the Start
Students with access arrangements, such as extra time or reading support, need to practise with those arrangements in place. Set them up in your assessment platform early so they apply to every practice assessment, not just the mocks. For MYP on-screen exams, adaptations for a vision or hearing impairment must be requested from the IB a full year before the exam session.
7. Give Teachers Content They Can Adapt
The IB's own familiarisation activity is a useful starting point. Teachers will also want practice papers they can edit, translate and match to what they've just taught. A question bank and a shared school library make this realistic without every teacher writing papers from scratch.
How AssessPrep Supports IB eAssessment Practice
AssessPrep is Faria Education Group's online assessment platform, built around the needs of IB schools. The student experience mirrors IB eAssessment, so students can practise in familiar conditions throughout the programme.
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Familiar exam tools. Split-screen source and response, a four-colour highlighter, an on-screen notepad, image and PDF annotation, and a calculator whose results paste into the answer.
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Accessibility built in. Line focus, text-to-speech, a bilingual dictionary and display settings for font, size and spacing.
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Content for MYP and DP. A question bank tagged by level and command term, with mark schemes. Teachers can edit, translate or extend any question, or generate new ones with AI and review them before use.
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Secure delivery. Lockdown mode on Mac, Windows, iPad and Chromebook for mocks, and lighter modes for everyday practice.
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Accommodations set once. Extra time and accessibility tools apply to every assessment, and invigilators can adjust them live.
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Teacher-led grading. AI suggests marks against the mark scheme, and the teacher reviews, adjusts or discards every suggestion. It's designed for mocks and practice, since IB guidance doesn't accept AI-generated feedback on work submitted for IB assessment.
For ManageBac+ schools, AssessPrep assessments sit inside ManageBac+ tasks. MYP tasks use criteria and DP tasks use points, and grades publish straight to the ManageBac+ gradebook for students and parents. Teachers don't need to learn a separate system.
New to the category? Our guide to what e-assessment software is explains what to look for in a platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is IB eAssessment?
IB eAssessment is the IB's term for exams that students sit on screen rather than on paper. It started in the Middle Years Programme, and the IB is gradually moving more assessment on screen. Check the IB's own guidance for the latest position for each programme and subject. For a full breakdown of MYP formats, device requirements and results dates, see AssessPrep's guide to IB MYP eAssessment.
When Should Students Start Practising for eAssessment?
As early as possible in the programme. Regular, low-stakes practice with on-screen tools builds familiarity far more effectively than a single rehearsal close to exams.
Does AssessPrep Include IB Past Papers?
No. AssessPrep's question bank is written specifically for AssessPrep schools and mirrors the style and command terms of IB assessment. It does not reproduce IB past papers.
Is the Lockdown App Safe to Install on Student Devices?
AssessPrep's lockdown app closes other applications, opens only the assessment, and doesn't collect information from the device. This is the same approach the IB uses for its own on-screen exams.
Can We Use AssessPrep for More Than eAssessment Practice?
Yes. Many schools use it for everyday unit tests, formative checks and mock exams across all subjects, which also means students practise on screen far more often.
See AssessPrep in Action
Give your students regular practice in conditions that mirror IB eAssessment, connected directly to ManageBac+. Book a demo to see how AssessPrep could support your MYP and DP students.
