Are exams different or translated?

[r.palau]

Hi, what I was wondering was if exams for the same subject and level in different languages are translations of each other or written separately? This is a fairly common scenario in my school (especially in Science) where there may be two Physics or Biology HL classes (it also happens in SL), but one is taught in Spanish and one in English. I'd assume they are translations since a heard of a student who did physics in Spanish but preferred to do his exam in English, but I'm not sure if that's just a rumour.

[Abu]

The IBO has exams in 3 different languages: English, French and Spanish. It's up to you to register for the language in which you'd prefer to test in.

[r.palau]

The IBO has exams in 3 different languages: English, French and Spanish. It's up to you to register for the language in which you'd prefer to test in.

But are they translations of each other or ask different questions? That's my doubt

[biochem]

From what I understand, its not just translation. you have adjustments in the sentences and all of that, so that a scientist in either country gets the points being conveyed. This was challenged When on IB Survival surfaced a dilemma (sounds exciting and fierce, like a battle !) where an answer key said for the same version of a chem exam that 2 options were considered correct, but in English only one. Some conclusions drawn from this was that the exam was written in English and directly translated, hindering understanding, and then allowing for two options.