IB Visual Arts HL Tutoring
One-to-one online preparation for the Visual Arts Higher Level syllabus
IB Visual Arts HL has no written exam – the grade rests entirely on what you submit – and marks are lost most often because the making process was never documented. In 90-minute one-to-one sessions we build your inquiries portfolio screen by screen, and decide together which works go forward and how the accompanying texts should read.
Quick Answer
Visual Arts HL support cannot be crammed: the portfolio has to be watched across weeks, because the making process itself is what gets assessed. We therefore suggest spreading a 20-lesson package over the year. In each 90-minute session we look through your work on screen together.
HL
Level
Fully Online
Format
90 min
Lesson length
€85 per 90 min one-to-one lesson
Not happy after your first lesson? Full refund.
See packages and lower per-lesson rates
HLIB Specialists
Experienced Team
About IB Visual Arts HL Tutoring
Our IB Visual Arts HL programme brings together creative expression and art history. We provide expert guidance on studio work, comparative research and portfolio preparation.
The new Visual Arts guide, first assessed in May 2027, has three components: the Art-making Inquiries Portfolio, the Artist Project (HL only) and Selected Resolved Artworks. The Comparative Study of the previous guide has been removed and the Process Portfolio has become the Art-making Inquiries Portfolio.
HL students produce a minimum of eight works and select five of them for the Selected Resolved Artworks. The Art-making Inquiries Portfolio runs to a maximum of 15 screens and 3,000 words; the Artist Project to a maximum of 12 screens, 2,500 words and a 3-minute video.
Technical skills and conceptual thinking are developed together. Our teachers, expert in painting, sculpture, photography, digital art, printmaking and mixed media, help the student discover and develop their strengths.
Art history knowledge and critical analysis skills are also developed. We teach in detail how to compare artworks from different cultures and periods, use art terminology and carry out visual analysis.
IB assessment experience
Lessons are planned with teachers who have relevant subject experience and a strong command of the IB assessment criteria. Matching is done by subject, level, the student's current standing and teacher availability.
Syllabus Topics
And what does the board look like at SL?
The same topics, taught at SL
SLExam Papers
First exams 2027IB Visual Arts HL exam structure and focus areas
| Paper | Duration | Weighting | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art-making Inquiries Portfolio | — | 30% | External – max 15 screens, 3,000 words |
| Artist Project | — | 30% | External – max 12 screens, 2,500 words and a 3-minute video |
| Selected Resolved Artworks | — | 40% | Internal – 5 works selected from a minimum of 8, rationale and artwork texts |
Source: the assessment components and weightings on this page follow the IB Visual Arts HL subject guide published by the International Baccalaureate Organization (First exams 2027). Your school's IB coordinator can access the current session documents. ibo.org
About grade boundaries: According to the grade boundary documents the International Baccalaureate Organization publishes for each exam session, the total percentage needed for a 7 varies by subject, level and session in a band of roughly 55–85%. Your school's IB coordinator can access the relevant May/November Grade descriptors and boundaries document. In our one-to-one lessons we review the student's realistic grade range together using past-session boundaries and mock results.
IA / Written-Task Support
Where do one-to-one lessons help with the Internal Assessment and written tasks?
The process cannot be assembled afterwards
What the portfolio assesses is not the finished piece but the attempts that led to it. You cannot manufacture a process at the end of the year: with no photograph of an intermediate stage, that screen stays empty. In the first session we set up the recording habit – what was tried in each working session, and what failed.
The five selected works are not the best five
The works are read as a set, not only one by one. Putting your five strongest pieces side by side often produces an incoherent group. We select for how the works read together, and sometimes leave out a piece you rate more highly.
Distributing the screen and word limits
Fifteen screens and three thousand words will not carry everything you want to say. We plan in advance how much image and how much text each screen gets; a portfolio built without that plan runs out of room in its final screens.
The Artist Project video
Three minutes filmed without preparation becomes a summary rather than an account. We write what you will show and in what order beforehand, so there is a script in your hand when the camera starts.
The work is yours and so is the portfolio
We do not make work and we do not assemble the portfolio for you. In the session we open the file together over screen share and show which screen meets which criterion. The decisions and the making stay yours.
Comparing Preparation Paths
How self-study, group classes and one-to-one support compare for IB Visual Arts HL
| Preparation path | Pros | Limitations | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working on your own |
|
| Students who make steadily and can keep their own portfolio. |
| School lessons and the studio |
|
| Students making heavy use of the studio. |
| One-to-one online lessons with us |
|
| Students whose making is strong but who lose marks on the portfolio and the texts. |
Lesson packages
Not happy after your first lesson? Full refund. Split 10- and 20-lesson packages across any subjects you like, with no expiry date.
Study Plan Framework
A typical five-phase plan for IB Visual Arts HL in one-to-one lessons, adapted to the student's exam date.
The recording habit
the first 2 sessions
- How each working session gets documented
- Setting up a routine for photographs, sketches and notes
- Drawing up a screen template for the portfolio
Research and experiment
across IB 1, 2 sessions a month
- Documenting experiments with technique and materials
- Tying studies of artists and works back to your own practice
- Getting the attempts that failed into the portfolio too
Making and the portfolio
the first half of IB 2
- A production schedule towards at least eight works
- Filling the inquiries portfolio screen by screen
- Distributing the word budget across screens
The Artist Project
4-6 weeks
- Settling the frame of the project
- Planning the twelve screens
- Writing the video script and filming
Selection and submission
the 4 weeks before submission
- Selecting five works with the coherence of the set in mind
- Writing the accompanying texts and the rationale
- Exhibition layout and running order
This framework is a sample plan; it is customised for each student based on exam date, target grade and current level.
How One-to-One Lessons Work
How IB Visual Arts HL sessions are structured
There is no exam here, only submissions
The grade comes entirely from what you hand in, and those files accumulate across a year. Unlike examined subjects, there is no cramming them into the last two months. So we spread the support across the year at a few sessions a month; a portfolio assembled at the end cannot have its gaps filled.
We work on the file itself, over screen share
What gets discussed in a session is not general advice but the screen currently open. We show on the portfolio itself which image needs which text and which screen is not yet meeting the criterion.
An experiment that failed is still evidence
Most students remove the attempts they judge unsuccessful, when the chain of decisions is exactly what is being assessed. Writing what you abandoned and why earns as much as showing the result that worked.
A written progress report every two weeks
We share how many works are finished, how many screens the portfolio has reached and what comes next, in writing.
IA Grader
Evaluate your Internal Assessment report yourself. IA Grader for all subjects →
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IA Preparation Checklist
Check the key elements of your IA report before moving on to scoring.
0/9 completed
0%Comparison
Process
Criterion-Based Scoring
Assess yourself on each criterion. Use the slider to set your score.
Comparative Study
0/12Comparative analysis of artworks and artists.
No comparison.
Process Portfolio
0/12Creative process, experimentation and development.
No documentation of the process.
Total IA Score
Areas for Improvement
Want feedback on your IA from a teacher?
Work one-to-one with teachers who know the IB assessment criteria and IA rubrics inside out, and strengthen your report with feedback on each criterion.
If you'd like personalised feedback on your IA from a teacher, you can work with one of our tutors. This tool produces an estimated score; it does not replace official IB assessment.
Where Students Struggle
Our experienced IB teachers help you get past each of them.
Our Teaching Approach
IB-Focused Methodology
Work with teachers who know the IB assessment criteria inside out.
Where We Start
The first lesson sets the level, and the topic order follows from it.
The IA and the Exam
From the research question to the report, from past papers to mark schemes.
Past-Paper Focused
Real exam questions and mark scheme analysis.
Share before your first lesson
The information below helps the lesson plan focus on the student's real needs from the very first minutes.
- Target IB grade (e.g. 6 or 7) and exam date
- Current level: latest mock grade, predicted grade or weak topics
- School curriculum: the textbook used, IA / EE topic, deadlines
- Study schedule: lessons per week, available days and time slots
Who Is This Programme For?
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there prerequisites for IB Visual Arts HL tutoring?
Do your Visual Arts lessons help with the portfolio?
Is IB Visual Arts tutoring online?
Programme Features
- Documenting the process screen by screen
- Selecting the Resolved Artworks
- The texts that accompany each piece
- The three-minute video component of the Artist Project
- The inquiries portfolio reviewed across the year, not at the end
- Exhibition layout and running order
- Feedback on the portfolio over screen share
Contact us for a lesson plan
Tell us your target grade, where you are now and when you sit the exam, and we will work out the weekly schedule with you.
Quick Info
Tutors who teach this course
- Sena K.
IB Visual Arts HL Teacher
- Cenk A.
IB Visual Arts HL Teacher
Our teachers are currently working in IB schools, so we cannot share their full surnames.
Our tutors provide mentoring, structure suggestions and feedback during the IA / EE process. IB Courses does not write a student's IA or assignment for them.
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Go to the IB Maths AA HL Tutoring pageLet's work out where to start with IB Visual Arts HL
On a free intro call with our experienced IB teachers, we'll decide together how many lessons you need and what to focus on.
The intro call is free and non-binding. We do not guarantee a specific IB grade.