Difference between the QBs and PPQs

[Guest tlr5J11]

Hi, 

May I know the difference between these 2 mentioned in the title? Whether or not there is a difference, are the questionbanks worth buying?

[Vioh]

Next time, please make it clear what the acronyms stand for. Here, I assume QBs stands for question banks, and PPQs are past paper questions. Technically all questions in the question banks are taken from the past IB papers. So in terms of questions themselves, there is absolutely no difference. In fact, the question banks are probably what your teachers use to create tests and quizzes for your class.

Question bank is a computer program with many functionalities. You can filter questions based on certain topics, levels, as well as types of questions (like multiple choice, short or long answers, calculator allowed, etc.). The question bank doesn't only have the markschemes (or the solutions), but also provide us with "examiner's comments" which often tell us what mistakes the students usually make. At least, that was what the old versions of the question banks look like. I don't know about the new version, but I'd assume that it would only be better than the older versions.

Personally, I didn’t really use the question bank for my own study. I used it only to create fake IB tests for the classmates that I tutored. So for me, question banks are totally not worth buying. I personally thought that doing past paper questions is quite enough to get me prepared for the finals, because I could then simulate the real exam situations. However, I know many people out there who find the question banks to be extremely useful and worth the money. So it's really up to you. One tip is to ask your class if you can use the class money to buy the question bank, and then you can share it with everyone.