How to get a 7 in IB Digital Society

Sreemati is a certified teacher with three decades of classroom experience, and has a very deep knowledge of the IB programme, teaching IB Digital Society, Geography, Global Politics, and Theory of Knowledge. She is an IB Workshop Leader for Geography, TOK and Digital Society; an IB Examiner, and IA and EE Moderator. Fully committed  to helping her students maximise their potential, we couldn’t think of a better person to contribute to this guide on How to get a 7 in IB Digital Society. You can read more about Sreemati or book a session with her here.

Article reviewed & updated by Sreemati, 27th June, 2025.

Chances are, you’ve chosen to study Digital Society because you’re fascinated with modern technologies and how they reshape our world. You translate this passion into studying hard, and you would really like to receive a top grade. But do you know that to reach this goal, you need to study not only hard but also smart? In our guide on how to get a 7 in IB Digital Society, Sreemati offers her advice on the best strategies to maximise your learning throughout the whole course, so you can feel confident in getting the best marks in your inquiry project and final exams.

Why does getting a 7 in IB Digital Society matter?

Let’s start with why you may need to get a 7 in IB Digital Society. A 7 in any IB subject will boost your overall IB score. This is important because many higher education institutions, especially reputable ones, have demanding entry requirements. They often look for total point scores in the range of 38 to 42. Needless to say, a 7 in Digital Society, alongside strong performance in other subjects, can help you hit that target.

If you want to connect your future academic and career path with social science or digital technology, a high score in Digital Society becomes even more critical. When considering applications for technology-focused programmes, universities may specifically look for strong grades in related subjects. Therefore, a 7 can demonstrate your foundational knowledge and aptitude, as well as potentially set your application apart.

Additionally, you may want to get a 7 in Digital Society because you are genuinely passionate about the subject. You invested a lot of time and effort in understanding the digital world and its impacts on our lives, and you naturally wish to get a reward for this hard work. At the end of the day, the top grade is a sign of an ambitious individual, someone who isn’t afraid to set high goals and diligently pursues them.

IB Digital Society Content

SL and HL students learn the same core content, consisting of an introduction to the digital society and material in three categories: Concepts, Content, and Contexts.

Concepts:

• Change;
• Expression;
• Identity;
• Power;
• Space;
• Systems;
• Values and ethics;

Content:

• Data;
• Algorithms;
• Computers;
• Networks and the internet;
• Media;
• Artificial intelligence;
• Robots and autonomous technologies;

Context:

• Cultural;
• Economic;
• Environmental;
• Health;
• Human Knowledge;
• Political;
• Social.

It takes about 120 hours to cover all the prescribed topics. Additionally, the syllabus envisions 30 hours for the Inquiry Project (Internal Assessment), which has identical requirements for the SL and HL courses. 

IB Digital Society Assessment Structure

The structure of the IB Digital Society assessment is different for SL and HL. Overall, HL students write an extra paper and require two more hours to complete the external assessment.

Besides the external assessment, students need to complete an inquiry project (Internal Assessment) on the impacts and implications of a digital system of their choice. This investigation contributes 30% to the final score at SL and 20% at HL. Sreemati recommends putting in the work to create a great IA:

A 6 or a 7 in your IA will help you with an overall 7. Make sure that you justify the source selection for the write-up on your inquiry, and be very creative with your presentation.

Key differences between HL and SL in IB Digital Society

In addition to the prescribed topics, HL students learn the Extension unit: Challenges and Interventions. It consists of three topics:

• Global well-being;
• Governance and human rights;
• Sustainable development.

Differences in the course material are also reflected in the assessment structure. While SL students write two papers with an overall duration of 2 hours and 45 minutes, their HL peers face three papers, which they must complete in 4 hours and 45 minutes. The internal assessment is also weighted differently, at 30% for SL and 20% for HL.

IB Digital Society core skills to get a 7

When it comes to the actual assessment, knowledge of the subject is, naturally, paramount. However, Sreemati insists that how you apply your knowledge about the subject, especially in relation to concepts, contexts, and stakeholders, matters as well. Keep in mind that you will face a lot of analytical and mini-essay questions, which bring the majority of points. To answer them effectively and get as many marks as possible, you need to combine your knowledge with higher-order thinking skills.

1. Develop independent thinking

Since the IB Digital Society course challenges you to analyse digital systems and their societal effects, Sreemati emphasises that it is critical to be an independent thinker. Oftentimes, exam questions, let alone your inquiry project, require you to draw your own insights from the information at hand, analyse them, and apply them to solve the task(s).

The nature of the course itself, and specifically its inquiry-based approach, encourages you to rely on independent thinking. This means you should ask questions and seek answers outside of your textbooks. Let’s say you are studying artificial intelligence; to fully understand this concept, you might want to familiarise yourself with research and publications from multiple reliable sources. This way, you can form your own opinions as well as find examples for open-ended exam questions.

Oftentimes, it is helpful to engage in discussions related to IB Digital Society topics, as it allows you to get to know different viewpoints. For example, you might participate in a debate on the pros and cons of digital surveillance or read about varying expert opinions on this matter. Such discussions, especially when they get to challenge your assumptions, can spark new ideas and strengthen your ability to think independently.

2. Demonstrate accurate and thorough knowledge

A variety of questions in exam papers will require you to demonstrate how well you know the theory. From defining terms to analysing issues in context, you need to know it all like the back of your hand to get a 7 in IB Digital Society.

Naturally, the exam questions will cover the topics of the syllabus. It goes without saying, you need to master those. The textbooks approved by your school should provide sufficient knowledge across all the prescribed topics. Along with this, you can support your learning with academic journals, specialised blogs, and even curated source collections specifically for IB students. The beauty of these resources is that they deliver a different perspective to the same theoretical framework, which might better stick with you. What’s even more important, they often use real-world examples to illustrate complex concepts or phenomena and make them easy to digest. 

You might find it helpful to use mind maps and flash cards to memorise the theoretical framework of the course. You can find some ready-made stacks here created by fellow students, or make your own. Either way, you need to constantly expose yourself to IB Digital Society theory to confidently answer exam questions across multiple papers.

3. Constantly consider multiple perspectives

Central to the course is considering digital issues from a variety of perspectives. Some questions in Papers 2 and 3 will require you to analyse digital issues from various angles, specifically for the tasks involving source comparison and contrast or considering counterarguments. Different viewpoints, such as ethical, global, and conceptual, can help you demonstrate a nuanced understanding. 

For starters, Sreemati highlights that you need to realise that digital innovations can bring both pros and cons, depending on who you ask. For example, a city’s network of surveillance cameras helps the police keep people safe; yet, citizens may worry that they undermine their privacy. That’s why it is important to consider different stakeholders and their opinions about the same processes. This perspective may come from an individual user, a community, a tech company, or the government.

When talking about various perspectives, it is important to keep ethics in mind. While privacy rights are paramount for most individuals, the ways in which companies handle user data and governments shape regulatory policy can raise ethical concerns for various stakeholders. Therefore, showing your understanding and appreciation of diverse ethical perspectives can reinforce your answers.

Along with this, don’t forget to examine how digital technologies affect societies worldwide. You might consider cultural, economic, and political differences. Let’s take a political aspect – in Europe, data privacy is strict under GDPR, but it may be seen differently elsewhere. Or if you focus on the economy, it might be worth noting differences in access to the internet in developed and developing countries. All in all, a global perspective highlights the varied implications of digital systems.

4. Explore your case studies in detail

Case studies provide real-world contexts for a profound analysis. By the time you end up in the exam room, you should have plenty of experience with case studies. It will come in handy to answer inquiry-based questions, specifically those that themselves provide case study materials.

Sreemati explains that responses that bring you the most marks are analytical. This means it simply won’t do to summarise data. Instead, examiners are looking for conceptual understanding and digging deeper than the surface level.

For starters, you may use the course’s seven concepts – change, expression, identity, power, space, systems, values and ethics – as lenses to analyse a case from multiple angles. For instance, when talking about a social media platform’s role in a protest movement, you can explore how it enables expression (e.g., hashtag campaigns), shifts power (from governments to activists), and raises ethical concerns (misinformation).

Apart from this, you should strive to show that you understand the whole picture, even if you are talking about its specific segment. Specifically, try to link your case to a broader digital society theme. Again, social media topics can be connected to such ideas as privacy or even mental health. You can also draw parallels or show contrasts across contexts (e.g. social media situations in different countries).

Finally, it is often beneficial to challenge assumptions or common narratives. While most analyses focus on social media’s negative effects, you can take the flip side and talk about its benefits.

5. Get comfortable interpreting data

Being comfortable interpreting data means understanding what it shows, spotting patterns, and drawing conclusions. Sreemati emphasises that this skill is especially important for Paper 2’s source-based questions (they will come with charts, tables or stats), let alone the inquiry project.

Your data interpretation may include both quantitative data (statistics or trends found on a graph) and qualitative data (for instance, consumer feedback). But here is a catch – you need to explain what they imply in the digital context. When talking about a graph that shows the rise of internet access rates, don’t just say that it rises. You must reflect on why it matters. Perhaps, it can lead to an increase in digital divides or boost e-commerce growth.

To interpret data effectively, Sreemati reminds you to always consider its context and source. Who produced the data? When was it produced, or which period does it encompass? What is its purpose? Is there a bias? These questions can help you identify the reliability of your sources. If a company conducts a survey, it may frame the results to look good for its products. This means their data probably has a bias, and you need to point it out. Specifically, show which factors or information might be missed out, whether intentionally or not.

6. Structure your study schedule strategically

IB Digital Society is packed with material. Besides mastering the theoretical framework of the course, you will also need to seek real-life cases while simultaneously working on your inquiry projects. Therefore, if you don’t approach studying and revision systematically, Sreemati warns, your chances of getting a 7 in Digital Society won’t be particularly high. With a good study plan, however, you can cover all the bases and avoid last-minute stress.

For starters, your study plan should include all the syllabus topics, broken down into manageable chunks on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. For example, Week 1 can be dedicated to studying the Concept of Power, the next one to Identity, and so on. Studying Power for a week doesn’t, however, mean sitting behind the textbook all the time. It is best that you alternate your activities. One day can be about reviewing this concept. The next couple of days are about practising with Past Papers. Additionally, you need to spend some time looking for examples, so make sure to read journals, watch tech news, and so on. Finally, don’t forget that you have the inquiry project to write. It also makes sense to break it into smaller stages and tackle them one by one every week.

When you focus on a particular concept or topic, you need to ask yourself – How well do I know it? Is my current knowledge enough to correctly answer the exam questions related to it? Do I know enough case studies or real-world examples to be able to illustrate my knowledge? If you think that you do have knowledge gaps, it is better to study this area more intensively than the topics you are confident about.

For more ideas on how to ace your exams, see How to get top marks in your IB Digital Society Exams.

Need an expert tutor to help to boost your grades?

Now you have an idea of how to get a 7 in IB Digital Society. In order to get confident in your subject knowledge and your independent learning skills, the assistance of an experienced IB Digital Society tutor could be a great asset.

A tutor like Sreemati can help you find case studies and examples relevant to various topics of the course, offer advice on how to learn steadily throughout the course, and support your revision when exam time comes. Attempting to do all of this alone would require much more time, the time you can spend on other commitments.

One of our IB clients had this to say about Sreemati:

“I am writing this on behalf of my son Deniz, as he was the one who received the very valuable help from the TutorPlus. I would like to thank personally to Ms. Sreemati for her great help. She is available, sends brief but crisp lesson updates to keep us in the loop, supports Deniz and elevates his success on the subject which reflected not only on his grades but on his motivation as well. I was not expecting that level of quality of service both from tutorplus and from Sreemati in the beginning to be frank. We are completely satisfied. We only have one regret; if only we had discovered TutorPlus earlier.”

TutorsPlus is where you can find experienced and knowledgeable IB Digital Society tutors. What sets our tutors apart is that they are all certified teachers with years of experience in international schools. Some are even examiners and IA moderators. Getting guidance from someone who has first-hand experience with the assessment process is like having a card up your sleeve.

Don’t hesitate to contact TutorsPlus at +41 22 731 8148 or to find out how our tutors can help you get a 7 in IB Digital Society and other subjects.