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IB Visual Arts SL & HL Tutoring

Online IB Visual Arts tutoring at SL and HL for the new course, first assessed in May 2027. Learn the skills behind your art-making inquiries portfolio, your connections study (SL) or artist project (HL), and the five resolved artworks you submit for internal assessment.

IB Visual Arts has no written exam: your grade comes from three submitted tasks. From May 2027 every student completes the art-making inquiries portfolio, SL students complete a connections study and HL students an artist project, and both levels submit five resolved artworks with a rationale for internal assessment. Your tutor teaches you, with example portfolios and practice exercises, how experiments become clear lines of inquiry, how curated screens meet the criteria within the word limits and how to research other artists and contexts, and helps you plan the two years so nothing is rushed at the end. Sessions are online and one-to-one, with verified tutors who scored 40+ IB points.

Quick answer: IB Doctor offers 1-to-1 IB Visual Arts SL & HL tutoring for course content, each assessment component and coursework. Lessons follow the syllabus and assessment criteria, and the work stays your own. Review tutor verification, student results and methodology before booking.
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Visual Arts tutoring prices

From £52.50 to £70 per hour, depending on bundle size. Each bundle covers one subject.

  • Taster Bundle
    3 hours
    £210
    £70 per hour
  • Starter Bundle
    5 hours
    £330
    £66 per hour
  • Coursework Bundle
    10 hours
    £650
    £65 per hour
  • Assessment Bundle
    20 hours
    £1,250
    £62.50 per hour
  • Guardian Bundle
    50 hours
    £2,900
    £58 per hour
  • Ultimate Bundle
    100 hours
    £5,250
    £52.50 per hour
See full bundle details

What You Get with IB Visual Arts SL & HL Tutoring

Comprehensive support designed to help you achieve your target grade

Art-Making Inquiries Portfolio

  • Turning your experiments into lines of inquiry, with the inquiry questions or generative statements the task requires
  • Curating up to 15 screens so the visual evidence leads and the writing supports it
  • Critical reflection within the 3,000-word limit, judged against criteria A to D
  • Working with a variety of art-making forms and creative strategies

Connections Study and Artist Project

  • SL connections study: linking one of your resolved artworks to your own context and to at least two artworks by different artists
  • Researching cultural significance with sources you can cite
  • HL artist project: planning, realising and presenting a stand-alone artwork in a context you choose
  • Recording the dialogues and feedback that shaped your project

Resolved Artworks (IA)

  • Building a coherent body of five resolved artworks over the two years
  • Writing a rationale of up to 700 words that explains your artistic intentions
  • HL: selecting your five from at least eight works and writing the five artwork texts
  • A realistic timeline for all three submissions and your school's internal deadlines
Real student results

Students Improving Their Visual Arts Grades

5 → 7
"My tutor helped me develop a cohesive theme across my exhibition and pushed me to experiment with media I'd never tried before. My process portfolio became so much stronger."
I

Isabella R.

Visual Arts HL, May 2024

4 → 7
"The comparative study was the component I found hardest, but my tutor taught me how to structure my analysis and make meaningful connections between artists. It made all the difference."
O

Oliver T.

Visual Arts HL, May 2024

4 → 6
"I didn't think I could get a high mark without being naturally talented at drawing, but my tutor showed me that concept and process matter just as much. I'm proud of what I achieved."
M

Mia S.

Visual Arts SL, May 2024

How It Works

Simple steps to get started with IB Visual Arts SL & HL tutoring

1

Buy a Bundle

Choose 3 to 100 hours based on your needs. Split across subjects if needed.

2

Complete Onboarding

Tell us your course and level, weak areas, goals, and scheduling preferences.

3

Get Matched & Start

Matched within 24 hours. Schedule your first session immediately.

First Session Guarantee

Not satisfied? Contact us within 24 hours. We'll address concerns, offer a rematch, or provide a full refund.

Visual Arts HL vs SL: What's the Difference?

Understanding the requirements at each level

SL
HL
Teaching Hours
150 hours
240 hours
Art-Making Inquiries Portfolio
Up to 15 screens and 3,000 words, 40%
The same task, 30%
Second Task
Connections study: up to 10 screens and 2,500 words, 20%
Artist project: up to 12 screens and 2,500 words plus a video of up to 3 minutes, 30%
Resolved Artworks (IA)
Five resolved artworks and a rationale of up to 700 words, 40%
Five artworks selected from at least eight, a rationale and five artwork texts, 40%
Written Exam
None
None

IB Visual Arts SL & HL Topics We Cover

The new course, launched by the IB in February 2025, is built around art-making as inquiry. Its three core areas, create, connect and communicate, come together in your own lines of inquiry. The IB recommends 150 teaching hours at SL and 240 at HL, most of them spent making art. Content is not prescribed, so your tutor works with the media, artists and contexts you choose.

Create

  • Generating ideas through investigation and observation
  • Experimenting with art-making forms and creative strategies
  • Following lines of inquiry from idea to resolved artwork
  • Developing your own visual language

Connect

  • Investigating artworks from different times and contexts
  • Relationships between artwork, artist and audience
  • Situating your own art-making in context
  • Understanding cultural significance

Communicate

  • Visual and written presentation of your work
  • Dialogue and critique with teachers and peers
  • Curating, sharing and situating your artwork
  • Documenting artwork digitally for submission

Art-Making Inquiries Portfolio Criteria

  • A: Exploration and experimentation (8 marks)
  • B: Practical investigation (8 marks)
  • C: Lines of inquiry (8 marks)
  • D: Critical review (8 marks)

Connections Study (SL) and Artist Project (HL)

  • SL: connections with your own context and with artworks by other artists
  • SL: investigation of cultural significance
  • HL: proposal, connections and dialogues
  • HL: curation and realisation in context, evaluation and future development

Resolved Artworks (IA) Criteria

  • Coherence of your body of artworks
  • Conceptual realisation
  • Technical resolution
  • HL only: understanding of artistic context
Assessment breakdown

IB Visual Arts SL & HL Assessment Structure

From May 2027, IB Visual Arts is assessed through three submitted tasks and no written exam. Externally assessed (60%): the art-making inquiries portfolio (SL 40%, HL 30%) plus the connections study at SL (20%) or the artist project at HL (30%). Internally assessed (40%): five resolved artworks with a rationale, marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB. The previous course, with the comparative study, process portfolio and exhibition, has its last exams in November 2026; from May 2027 everyone is on the new course.

Art-Making Inquiries Portfolio (externally assessed)

External Assessment
SL: 40%
HL: 30%

Submitted coursework, not a timed exam: curated visual evidence and critical reflection showing how your lines of inquiry developed your visual language

One PDF of up to 15 screens, 3,000 words maximum, plus a source list | 32 marks

Connections Study (SL, externally assessed)

External Assessment
SL only: 20%

Submitted coursework connecting one of your five resolved artworks to your own context and to at least two artworks by different artists, informed by research into cultural significance

One PDF of up to 10 screens, 2,500 words maximum, plus a source list | 24 marks

Artist Project (HL, externally assessed)

External Assessment
HL only: 30%

Submitted coursework: you plan, realise and present a stand-alone artwork in a context you choose, informed by research, connections with at least two artworks by different artists, and dialogues

One PDF of up to 12 screens, 2,500 words maximum, a video of up to 3 minutes and a source list | 40 marks

Resolved Artworks (internal assessment)

Internal Assessment
SL: 40%
HL: 40%

A coherent body of five resolved artworks with a rationale. At HL you select the five from at least eight of your works and add five short artwork texts

SL: rationale up to 700 words, 32 marks | HL: rationale up to 700 words plus artwork texts up to 1,000 words in total, 40 marks | Marked by your teacher, moderated by the IB

Key Assessment Notes

  • There is no written exam in IB Visual Arts. External tasks are submitted coursework marked by IB examiners; the internal task is marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB.
  • This course is first assessed in May 2027 and applies to every student taking exams from then on. The previous course (comparative study 20%, process portfolio 40%, exhibition 40%) has its last exams in November 2026, so check the date of any resource you use.
  • The internal assessment no longer asks you to document an exhibition, although schools are still expected to give you chances to exhibit.
  • Work on the same artwork can feed more than one task, but the material you curate for each submission must not be duplicated.
IB Visual Arts grade distribution and average gradeHow students actually scored in the latest IB results: the share of each grade, HL vs SL, and how many got a 7.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about IB Visual Arts SL & HL tutoring

Yes. Every tutor scored 40 or more IB points and is verified, and all sessions are online and one-to-one. Your tutor teaches the skills each task rewards, from developing lines of inquiry to curating screens and critical writing, using practice exercises and example work. All artwork and writing must be entirely your own, so feedback on your submissions comes from your teacher and the tutor never makes work for you. You are usually matched with a tutor within 24 hours.

The new course was launched in February 2025 and is first assessed in May 2027. The process portfolio became the art-making inquiries portfolio, with a 3,000-word limit. The comparative study was replaced by the connections study at SL and the artist project at HL. The exhibition task became five resolved artworks with a rationale, and you no longer document an exhibition. Resources describing the old tasks apply only to exams up to November 2026.

No. All three tasks are submitted coursework. The art-making inquiries portfolio and the connections study or artist project are externally assessed, which means IB examiners mark your submission, and together they are worth 60%. The five resolved artworks are the internal assessment, worth 40%, marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB. Because there is no exam to rescue a grade, steady work across both years matters.

It is the task SL and HL share: a PDF of up to 15 screens and 3,000 words, plus a source list, worth 40% at SL and 30% at HL. You curate visual evidence of your investigations, experiments and creations, show how one or more lines of inquiry developed your visual language, and state the inquiry questions or generative statements you worked with. It is marked on exploration, practical investigation, lines of inquiry and critical review.

The SL connections study (20%) takes one of your five resolved artworks and connects it, through research, to your own context and to at least two artworks by different artists: up to 10 screens and 2,500 words. The HL artist project (30%) asks you to create a new stand-alone artwork, realise it in a context you choose and document the process: up to 12 screens and 2,500 words plus a video of up to 3 minutes.

Five at both levels. SL students submit five resolved artworks and a rationale of up to 700 words. HL students select their five from at least eight works, justify the choice with reference to three works they left out, and add five artwork texts of up to 1,000 words in total. Each artwork is submitted as an image or a video of up to three minutes, with its title, medium and size.

No. The IB accepts a wide range of art-making forms, from drawing, painting and sculpture to photography, video art and digital art, as long as your artworks include visual elements. The resolved artworks are judged on coherence, conceptual realisation and technical resolution, so a clear idea carried out well in your chosen media counts more than drawing skill alone. A tutor helps you choose forms that suit your intentions.

HL has 240 teaching hours against 150 and more demanding tasks: a full artist project instead of the connections study, and a selection of five artworks from at least eight with artwork texts. Results in May 2026, on the previous course, were close: a mean grade of 4.3 at HL and 4.0 at SL (IB provisional statistical bulletin). Choose HL if you want to make substantial new work and can manage the time.

Very few. In May 2026 (IB provisional statistical bulletin) 2.9% of the 9,709 HL candidates and 1.2% of the 6,076 SL candidates got a 7. The most common grade was a 4 at both levels, with 31.2% of HL and 36% of SL candidates. Those students took the previous course, so the first results for the new course come from May 2027.

Yes. Close to a deadline, sessions usually focus on what each task requires, how curation and concise writing work within the word limits, and practice on example screens and rationales. You are usually matched with a tutor within 24 hours. Earlier support helps more, because lines of inquiry and resolved artworks take months to develop, and the work must remain entirely your own.

We offer a first session guarantee. If you're not satisfied after your first session, we'll rematch you with a different tutor or give you a full refund.

Recommended Guides

IB Internal Assessment: What It Is, Methods, Structure

How teacher marking and IB moderation work, including for practical IAs in the arts.

Read guide

IB Assessment Criteria Explained: How IB Marking Works

How criteria and markbands work, so you can read the portfolio and IA criteria with confidence.

Read guide

IB Citation Format: Referencing Your Extended Essay

Referencing habits that apply to the source lists in every Visual Arts task.

Read guide
View all resources

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