IB Diploma Programme
IB French preparation, against the IB's own criteria.
Language B at SL and HL, and Language ab initio. The IB marks conceptual understanding, audience and purpose as explicitly as it marks language — and candidates who are not taught that lose marks they have earned elsewhere.
Start here
The criteria are the syllabus.
IB French assessment rewards a candidate who chooses the right text type, addresses the right audience, sustains a purpose and shows conceptual understanding — and who can talk analytically about a stimulus rather than merely describe it. Language quality matters, but it is one criterion among several, and candidates routinely lose marks in the others without knowing it.
Preparation is therefore explicit about the criteria from the first session, and every piece of work comes back marked against them.
The components
SL and HL differ in demand and, at HL, in the literary requirement.
- Individual oral
- Stimulus description and analysis, then the discussion. Rehearsed repeatedly, because the difference between describing an image and analysing it is the difference between bands.
- Paper 1 — productive writing
- Text type selection, register, conventions and purpose. Practised across the full range so the exam-day choice is a strategy rather than a gamble.
- Paper 2 — listening and reading
- Longer authentic material with question types that reward careful reading of the question itself.
- HL literature
- Where the course requires literary works, worked analytically and integrated into the oral where relevant.
- Themes and conceptual understanding
- The five themes worked as a bank of examples and vocabulary, so answers are specific rather than generic.
- Ab initio
- A different course with different expectations, prepared as such — not as a diluted Language B.
Preparation
How IB French preparation runs.
Every programme opens with a diagnostic: a written task and a spoken task marked against the criteria of the examination itself, not against a general sense of level. That is what tells us whether the gap is language, technique, or exam literacy — and they are prepared for very differently.
The specialist is matched from our network for that examination and that candidate, with a chemistry call before you commit, a review at week six, and oversight through to the exam date.
- Course, level and school timetable confirmed before planning.
- The assessment criteria taught explicitly and used on every marked piece.
- Paper 1 text types practised in rotation with feedback.
- Individual oral rehearsed under timed conditions from early in the year.
- Theme vocabulary and examples built into a usable bank.
- Work timed to the school's internal assessment calendar as well as the final examinations.
Two ways to prepare
Private IB French preparation, or a small cohort.
One candidate, one paper, one date.
A specialist matched from our network for IB French, a programme written around your actual gaps, and scheduling that fits around school or work.
From £89/hr
See the investmentNo IB French cohort is open yet
Group exam terms run only where enough candidates share the same examination and level — we do not advertise cohorts that are not scheduled. Tell us what you are sitting on the form below and you will hear first when one is timetabled.
Register your interestThe evidence
What IB French candidates and their families say.
Verified Google reviews from Learn&Co candidates who prepared for IB French with us.
“My tutor helped me push my IB Grade from a 4 to a 6. I would most definitely recommend. They help you identity your weaknesses and provide you with the relevant exercises to improve your french.”
Posted on Google
Who we prepare
Trusted by families, schools and organisations.
IB French candidates reach us from two directions: pupils in schools that expect a grade, and adults whose next step depends on a certificate. Both are prepared by a specialist matched from our network.
Corporate clients
Professionals sitting language tests and diplomas
Employees at these organisations have prepared with us for language tests, official diplomas and the requirements attached to a move abroad.
Partner schools
Pupils preparing for school examinations
Pupils at these schools have prepared with us for French papers, against the specification their school actually follows.
Investment
What IB French preparation costs.
Private preparation is bought as hours, used at the pace the exam date demands. The more hours you commit to, the lower the effective hourly rate — and every plan carries the identical service.
Hours of private exam preparation, delivered online and typically used at one hour a week. All prices include VAT. Face-to-face lessons in London, intensive revision courses and additional hours are quoted individually.
Flexi
4 hours
Month to month
£105/hr£420 in total
Discovery
12 hours
Up to 3 months
£100/hr£1,197 in total
Momentum
24 hours
Up to 6 months
£95/hr£2,268 in total
Mastery
48 hours
Up to 12 months
£89/hr£4,284 in total
Every private plan, whichever you choose, includes
Bespoke programmes — not lesson bundles.
- Exam and board diagnostic
- Specialist matched for that qualification
- Chemistry call before you commit
- Programme dated to the exam
- Marked past-paper practice
- Monthly progress reports
- Week-six review
- Timed mocks in the run-in
£950 for a ten-week term
Per learner, 10 × 90-minute sessions — 15 teaching hours. Including VAT. Maximum six candidates, one exam objective, one level.
IB French enquiry
Tell us the course, the level and the exam session.
Phone number required. We will come back with a view of where the criteria are costing marks and the specialist we would match for IB French.
Everything you send goes straight to Maria. We reply personally, usually the same working day.
Before you book
IB French — your questions, answered.
- Do your tutors teach the IB specifically?
- For IB candidates we match from tutors who work with the IB criteria regularly. The criteria are the difference between a good linguist and a good IB candidate.
- Can you help with the individual oral?
- Yes, and it is usually where the fastest gains are. Rehearsal with an unfamiliar adult, under timing, changes performance markedly.
- Is ab initio prepared differently?
- Completely. It is a separate course for near-beginners with its own expectations, and we do not treat it as a lighter Language B.
- When should we start?
- Candidates who begin in DP1 build the habits before the pressure arrives. DP2 starts are common and are planned with a heavier weighting on technique and on the oral.
- Do you work alongside the school?
- We plan around the school's internal deadlines and assessments. We do not duplicate what the teacher is already doing well.
- Face to face or online?
- Both. Online is usual for IB families, who are frequently international, and it widens the pool of suitable specialists.
Preparing for a different examination?
Each qualification has its own format, its own marking and its own timetable. Choose the one you are sitting and we will show you exactly how it is prepared for.
Prefer to talk it through?
Schedule a chat with Maria.
Tell us which IB French route you are on, where you are now and when you sit. You will get an honest view of the gap and which specialist we would match you with.
Maria Toubbe
- 20 minutes
- A conversation, not a sales call.
- With Maria
- Our founder, every time — not a call centre.
- No obligation
- Advice you can use even if you never book.
20 min · video call · free
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