How the IB Diploma is structured
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) is a two-year programme for students aged 16 to 19, offered by schools around the world. It is designed and assessed by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).
| Component | What to know |
|---|---|
| Six subjects | One from each of five groups (language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics), plus an arts subject or another subject from groups 1 to 4 |
| Levels | Normally three or four subjects at higher level (HL) and the rest at standard level (SL) |
| Subject grades | Each subject graded 1 to 7, combining external exams and internal assessment |
| Core: Theory of Knowledge (TOK) | Essay and exhibition, assessed with the Extended Essay to award up to 3 bonus points |
| Core: Extended Essay (EE) | Independent research essay on a topic of your choice |
| Core: CAS | Creativity, activity, service; required for the diploma but not graded |
| Total | Maximum of 45 points; the IB sets the minimum points and conditions required to pass |
| Exam sessions | May and November |
Every subject combines external assessment, mostly written exam papers at the end of the course, with internal assessment (IA), coursework marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB. The weighting between them, the number of papers and their lengths vary by subject and level. All of this is set out in each subject guide. Your school has access to the guides; the IB publishes the programme overview and assessment rules on ibo.org.
What this means for study: the IB is a marathon with many deadlines before the exams. Students who lose time usually lose it to unfinished internal assessments, not to the exams themselves. Plan revision around clearing coursework first.
A 12-week IB Diploma revision plan
This plan covers the twelve weeks before May exams and assumes your IAs, EE and TOK essay are submitted or nearly done. Rotate subjects every day; HL subjects get more time than SL.
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Audit | Use each subject guide as a checklist; rate topics red, amber or green. Confirm all internal deadlines are met. Build a weekly timetable. |
| 2 | HL red topics | Rebuild notes for weak HL topics. Turn each into flashcards and start daily spaced-repetition reviews. |
| 3 | SL red topics | Same for SL subjects. Answer topic questions from past papers after each one. |
| 4 | Language subjects | Group 1 texts: themes, quotations and context on flashcards. Group 2: vocabulary and grammar drills; timed writing. |
| 5 | Mocks review | Go through mock exam papers and markschemes. List every type of mark you lost. |
| 6 | Amber topics | Test first, then review only gaps. Begin one full past paper per subject. |
| 7 | Sciences and maths | Data-based and calculation questions; formula booklet familiarity. Mixed practice across topics. |
| 8 | Humanities | Essay planning under time pressure from memory. Case studies and evidence on flashcards. |
| 9 | Past papers | Full timed papers for HL subjects. Mark with markschemes; read subject reports where available. |
| 10 | Past papers | Full timed papers for SL subjects. Fix the gaps from week 9. |
| 11 | Weak areas | Re-test topics that lost the most marks. Redo old questions without looking at answers. |
| 12 | Taper | Light flashcard review and short timed questions. Revise to your exam timetable. |
How to use active recall, spaced repetition and practice questions for the IB
Active recall across six subjects. Begin each session by writing what you remember about the topic from memory, then check against your notes. This active recall shows you where to spend time and strengthens memory far more than rereading. The Feynman technique, explaining a topic in simple language as if teaching it, is useful for TOK concepts and for sciences.
Spaced repetition for two years of content. IB exams cover the full two-year course, so spaced review is essential. A spaced repetition system schedules reviews for you and keeps daily time manageable across six subjects.
Past papers and markschemes. IB papers have distinctive styles, especially in maths, sciences and the humanities. Practice testing with real papers, marked against the official markscheme, teaches you what examiners reward. Subject reports from previous sessions explain common mistakes.
Interleave within subjects. In maths and sciences, mix question types in one session. This interleaving helps you learn to recognise which method a question needs.
How to use Duetoday for the IB Diploma
- Turn class material into notes. Upload slides and handouts as PDFs, record a lesson (with your teacher’s permission) or paste a YouTube explainer. Duetoday creates a transcript and notes for each.
- Build a deck per subject. Use the AI flashcard generator on each topic’s notes, edit the cards, and review with spaced repetition. Export to Anki or CSV if you already use another app.
- Generate practice questions by topic. Create a practice test from your notes on a red topic, with explanations, before attempting past papers on it.
- Map ideas for TOK and humanities. Use a mind map to connect knowledge questions, themes and examples, then rebuild it from memory.
- Ask Galileo to explain and quiz. When you are stuck on a concept, ask Galileo to explain it from your notes and set you questions on it.
Choosing IB resources
The subject guide is your most important document: it lists the syllabus content and the assessment objectives for each subject and level. Ask your teachers for access if you do not have it. Past papers and markschemes come next, and subject reports from previous sessions, where your school provides them, explain where candidates commonly lose marks.
For notes, use your class materials and, where useful, a textbook written for the current version of the subject guide. Several IB subjects have had new guides in recent years, so check that a textbook, video series or past paper matches your syllabus before relying on it. For language subjects, regular reading and listening in the target language are as important as revision notes.
The final weeks and exam session
The May session lasts about three weeks, with papers for different subjects spread across it. Plan revision around the timetable your school gives you: in the days before each paper, focus on that subject’s topics and question styles, while keeping short daily flashcard reviews going for later papers. Check which papers allow a calculator and which use a formula booklet. The night before each exam, review lightly and sleep. In the exam, read the command terms carefully, because the IB uses them precisely: “describe”, “explain”, “evaluate” and “discuss” each expect a different kind of answer.
Common IB revision mistakes
- Letting IAs and the EE drift into revision time. Finish coursework first.
- Under-revising SL subjects. Every subject is worth the same 7 points.
- Using old syllabus papers without checking. Subject guides change; check topics are still in the current guide.
- Not reading markschemes closely. IB markschemes are specific about method marks, terminology and evaluation.
- Leaving language subjects to the end. Language skills build slowly; practise a little every week.
- Skipping sleep during the exam session. The session runs for weeks. Sustainable routines beat late nights.
