Intermediate Biology Olympiad 2020

Hey everyone,
I'm in Year 12 and I'm going to be taking the IBO online in about 2 weeks. I want to do as well as I possibly can, so I was wondering if anyone can share tips/how they prepared? The spec is very similar to what we've done in A Level Biology so far so I was thinking of going through the content within these 2 weeks and attempting some past papers as well. Any help would be appreciated - even if you're a fellow Year 12 taking the IBO, I think it would still be helpful to motivate and support each other.

Reply 1

becausethenight

19

Imo, it’s quite hard to prep for (did it last year) as the questions are either very conceptual or highly detailed! I got a gold without doing that much revision beyond having a strong grasp of Y12 biology, but what you’re suggesting sounds eminently sensible :smile:

I imagine that’s not actually that helpful, but it might be reassuring to know that you don’t need to worry about learning lots of extra detailed content for things like taxonomy? Good luck :smile:

Reply 2

studyingpeach

OP

13

Original post by becausethenight

Imo, it’s quite hard to prep for (did it last year) as the questions are either very conceptual or highly detailed! I got a gold without doing that much revision beyond having a strong grasp of Y12 biology, but what you’re suggesting sounds eminently sensible :smile:

I imagine that’s not actually that helpful, but it might be reassuring to know that you don’t need to worry about learning lots of extra detailed content for things like taxonomy? Good luck :smile:

Thanks a lot - well done on the Gold! I've actually been looking for IBO papers online and there don't seem to be any :confused:

as everything is for the BBO... Oh well, it's all revision anyway :lol:

Reply 3

becausethenight

19

Original post by studyingpeach

Thanks a lot - well done on the Gold! I've actually been looking for IBO papers online and there don't seem to be any :confused:

as everything is for the BBO... Oh well, it's all revision anyway :lol:

Thanks

Yeah I had the exact same problem - I wanted to do past papers to revise, couldn’t find any, and gave up lol. The BBO is very similar except it has Y13 content, so that will be useful!

Reply 4

studyingpeach

OP

13

Original post by becausethenight

Thanks

Yeah I had the exact same problem - I wanted to do past papers to revise, couldn’t find any, and gave up lol. The BBO is very similar except it has Y13 content, so that will be useful!

Thanks so much! :h:

Reply 5

anthroprometics

4

Original post by studyingpeach

Thanks a lot - well done on the Gold! I've actually been looking for IBO papers online and there don't seem to be any :confused:

as everything is for the BBO... Oh well, it's all revision anyway :lol:

There's a single past paper on the website: https://british-biology-olympiad.s3.amazonaws.com/media/medialibrary/2019/01/BBO_sample_paper.pdf
https://british-biology-olympiad.s3.amazonaws.com/media/medialibrary/2019/01/BBO_sample_paper_answers.pdf

Reply 6

studyingpeach

OP

13

Original post by manav28

There's a single past paper on the website: https://british-biology-olympiad.s3.amazonaws.com/media/medialibrary/2019/01/BBO_sample_paper.pdf
https://british-biology-olympiad.s3.amazonaws.com/media/medialibrary/2019/01/BBO_sample_paper_answers.pdf

Thanks a lot but I'm doing the IBO (Intermediate Biology Olympiad) not the BBO - I'll still use this for revision though!

Reply 7

thechemkidd

6

if anyone wants to give me questions for this years IBO...

Reply 8

Emily5243

14

Same as becausethenight. I did it in 2018 and got gold. I didn't really do any extra revision for it as I was revising for year 12 mocks at the same time so I already had a good understanding of year 12 content. I don't remember doing any past papers but I don't think I could find any at the time.

Reply 9

Faceit193

11

Original post by becausethenight

Imo, it’s quite hard to prep for (did it last year) as the questions are either very conceptual or highly detailed! I got a gold without doing that much revision beyond having a strong grasp of Y12 biology, but what you’re suggesting sounds eminently sensible :smile:

I imagine that’s not actually that helpful, but it might be reassuring to know that you don’t need to worry about learning lots of extra detailed content for things like taxonomy? Good luck :smile:

Hi, do you know what the grade boundaries are like (if not, what mark did you get?) Also what it's out of? I have it in a couple of days...

Reply 10

becausethenight

19

Original post by Faceit193

Hi, do you know what the grade boundaries are like (if not, what mark did you get?) Also what it's out of? I have it in a couple of days...

I have genuinely no idea, and I suspect that only the IBO people know! I literally just got an email from a teacher a couple months later saying 'well done, come over to the department to pick up your certificate' :tongue:

Sorry I can't be more help :smile:

Reply 11

Faceit193

11

Original post by becausethenight

I have genuinely no idea, and I suspect that only the IBO people know! I literally just got an email from a teacher a couple months later saying 'well done, come over to the department to pick up your certificate' :tongue:

Sorry I can't be more help :smile:

Ok, thanks anyway :smile:

Reply 12

Angelica27803

7

Hi, I think it was out of 68, I did it like 1 hour ago. Also, does anyone know when we will get the results back?

Reply 13

pingutherat

4

was there any specific topics u think it focuses on more?

Reply 14

yuben2003

3

Original post by Angelica27803

Hi, I think it was out of 68, I did it like 1 hour ago. Also, does anyone know when we will get the results back?

For BBO it came back in a few weeks. Do you have any info abt the test? I'm going to do it tomorrow and I'm still uncertain about stuff.

Reply 15

xsowmix

18

Original post by Angelica27803

Hi, I think it was out of 68, I did it like 1 hour ago. Also, does anyone know when we will get the results back?

My teachers have told me that it should come in a few weeks.

Original post by yuben2003

For BBO it came back in a few weeks. Do you have any info abt the test? I'm going to do it tomorrow and I'm still uncertain about stuff.

Most of the questions are based on applying your knowledge of AS Biology. The timing for the IBO is very difficult so try not to dwell on a question if you don't know the answer.

Reply 16

Angelica27803

7

Original post by pingutherat

was there any specific topics u think it focuses on more?

There were 4/5 sections titled: the study of life,genetics, cell biology, human physiology I can’t remember it all that well but just revise y11/y12 things and you’ll be fine.