The Complete IB Revision Guide for November 2026

Effective IB revision is a sequence of decisions: what is examinable, what you can currently do, what needs deliberate practice, and when that practice should happen. Start with the official November 2026 examination schedule and your school’s internal deadlines, then work backwards.

Build the plan from evidence

Collect four inputs before filling a calendar:

1. the current syllabus or subject guide for each registered course
2. your confirmed paper and deadline schedule
3. recent marked work and teacher feedback
4. the official reference material and conditions for each assessment

Create a row for every topic and a column for recall, application, communication, and timed performance. A single confidence score hides too much. You might understand a physics model but mishandle units, or remember an economics definition but struggle to apply it in an extended response.

Use a short diagnostic task for each topic. Mark it and write the next smallest useful action. “Revise waves” is not actionable; “distinguish displacement–distance and displacement–time graphs, then answer two mixed questions” is.

Twelve to ten weeks before your first paper

Build a syllabus audit for every subject. Mark each topic as secure, developing, or not yet secure. Use evidence from questions and marked work rather than how familiar the notes look.

For mathematics and physics, keep the official reference beside you and use the public Math AA formula booklet or Physics data booklet to connect equations with topic explanations.

Create one weekly block for each Higher Level subject and shorter, repeated blocks for Standard Level subjects. Leave capacity for internal deadlines and teacher feedback; an impossible timetable is not a plan.

At this stage, repair prerequisites before advanced applications. Calculus practice will not stabilise if algebraic manipulation is still unreliable. An essay plan will not improve if the key concepts and evidence cannot be retrieved. Ask teachers which weaknesses block later work and address those first.

Create a compact resource set for each course: one syllabus tracker, one primary explanation source, one practice source, one error log, and the permitted reference. Archive duplicate notes so revision time is not spent choosing between them.

Nine to six weeks before

Shift from review to retrieval. Close the notes and produce definitions, methods, diagrams, arguments, or calculation steps from memory. Check the result immediately, correct it, and repeat the same idea after a delay.

Complete topic-level questions before full papers. The objective is to isolate weaknesses:

• Could you identify the topic?
• Did you know the governing idea?
• Was the error algebraic, conceptual, calculator-based, or caused by reading?
• Could you explain the correct method without copying?

Record errors by cause. “Got calculus wrong” is too broad; “forgot to check endpoints in a constrained optimisation problem” produces an actionable revision task.

Turn the error log into a queue

Every entry should contain the date, topic, error type, corrected principle, one repair task, and a retest date. Use categories such as missing knowledge, wrong model, incomplete explanation, algebra, units, calculator input, command term, time management, and question reading.

Retest without looking at the correction. First redo the original task, then attempt a different task requiring the same skill. Remove an item from the active queue only after delayed success. This prevents a neat copied solution from being mistaken for learning.

Use retrieval that matches the subject

For mathematics, reproduce a method and solve a mixed problem. For physics, draw the system, state assumptions, and connect the model with units. For languages and literature, retrieve evidence and construct a thesis or comparative plan. For individuals and societies, define the concept, build a causal chain, apply evidence, and form a judgement.

Retrieval should be difficult enough to expose gaps but short enough to repeat. Ten focused minutes followed by checking can be more informative than an hour rereading a chapter.

Five to three weeks before

Begin timed sections and full papers under the correct conditions. Use the correct calculator rules and permitted reference material. Mark work against the available markscheme, but also review the quality of communication.

Alternate performance days and repair days. On a performance day, sit a timed paper. On the following repair day, redo incorrect questions without the markscheme, revise the relevant topic, and answer one new question testing the same skill.

Simulate the real decisions

Use the paper duration, reading arrangements, calculator rules, and permitted materials confirmed for your session. Practise selecting question order, allocating time, and leaving space to return. If you pause the clock to look something up, label that section as supported practice rather than a true timed result.

Markschemes show creditable content, but they are not always model student responses. Compare your work with the stated command term, allocation of marks, and teacher guidance. For written subjects, ask whether the line of reasoning is visible. For quantitative subjects, ask whether setup, working, units, and conclusions are readable.

Measure patterns, not just percentages

Track time completed, marks attempted, marks earned, and loss by cause. A rising raw score can hide the same repeated conceptual error; a lower score on a harder paper can accompany better process. Review trends across several tasks.

Build a “last twenty marks” plan if endurance is a problem. Complete shorter timed sections after a normal school day, practise recovering from a difficult question, and protect easy communication marks when tired.

Final two weeks

Use the November 2026 exam timetable to plan by the real spacing between papers. Subjects with several days between papers need a different maintenance strategy from papers that arrive back-to-back.

Reduce the number of new resources. Revisit your error log, trusted notes, formula navigation, common command terms, and high-frequency methods. Protect sleep and keep daily start times aligned with the sessions you will sit.

Divide topics into three groups: maintain, repair, and defer. Maintain secure skills with brief mixed retrieval. Repair weaknesses that are likely to improve with one or two focused sessions. Defer low-return relearning that would displace higher-value work, then confirm priorities with a teacher.

Plan around clusters of papers. Complete substantial relearning early for subjects with little recovery time between sessions. Use gaps for short retrieval and error reminders, not for opening an unfamiliar textbook. Keep one daily buffer so delays do not push revision into sleep.

The final 48 hours

Do not try to relearn an entire course. Complete a small number of representative problems, review recurring mistakes, confirm equipment and logistics, and stop at a planned time.

For essay subjects, practise plans and evidence selection rather than writing every possible response. For quantitative subjects, rehearse method selection and reasonableness checks rather than doing hundreds of nearly identical calculations.

Confirm venue, arrival time, identification, writing equipment, calculator configuration, batteries or charging, and permitted reference material with the school. Prepare transport alternatives. If illness, access arrangements, or exceptional circumstances are relevant, follow coordinator instructions rather than relying on informal advice.

Use a one-page subject sheet containing recurring mistakes, key structures, and calm first actions. It should prompt retrieval, not compress the entire syllabus into unreadable text.

A weekly template

1. One timed or exam-style performance block.
2. One repair block based on errors.
3. Two or three retrieval sessions.
4. One formula/data booklet navigation drill.
5. A short planning review every Sunday.

Here is one way to distribute those actions without letting one subject consume the week:

• Monday: HL topic repair and one SL retrieval block
• Tuesday: written-response planning and language practice
• Wednesday: quantitative mixed set and error correction
• Thursday: second HL repair block and formula navigation
• Friday: light cumulative retrieval or recovery
• Saturday: timed section or full paper, followed by a break
• Sunday: correction, retest scheduling, and the next weekly plan

The subject allocation should follow your evidence and paper order. Keep sessions outcome-based: a finished error repair or marked section is clearer than “two hours of biology.”

Avoid common planning traps

Do not allocate time equally simply because there are six subjects. Do not rewrite every note before attempting questions. Do not collect new resources whenever practice feels difficult. Do not delay timed work until every topic feels complete. Most importantly, do not record a mistake without scheduling the repair.

Revision plans also fail when they assume perfect energy. Include sleep, meals, movement, travel, school, employment, and major commitments first. Use shorter tasks for low-energy periods and protect demanding work for the times when concentration is usually strongest.

Review the plan every week

Ask four questions each Sunday:

1. What evidence improved?
2. Which weakness repeated?
3. Which task took much longer than expected?
4. What should be removed, reduced, or moved?

Update the next week rather than defending an outdated schedule. If scores or wellbeing are deteriorating, involve teachers, the coordinator, family, or appropriate school support early.

The best revision plan is not the longest. It is the one that repeatedly turns evidence of weakness into focused practice while leaving enough recovery time to perform when the examination session begins.