IB French B Exam Guide

French B Exam Skills & Techniques

French B is available at Standard and Higher Level. Choose your level to see paper structures, command terms, and exam strategies built around the five prescribed themes.

It is a Group 2 language acquisition subject, assessed across five prescribed themes.

Standard Level

Core French B content across all five prescribed themes, plus writing, listening, reading, and the individual oral.

• 150 teaching hours
• Paper 1: 1h15 (25%)
• Paper 2: Listening + Reading (50%)
• Individual Oral: 25%

Higher Level

All SL content plus the HL literature component — two French works and the literary-extract individual oral — with longer, more demanding texts and a 450–600-word written task.

• 240 teaching hours
• Paper 1: 1h30 · 450–600 words (25%)
• Paper 2: Listening + Reading (50%)
• Individual Oral: literary extract (25%)