Study techniques for the IB November 2026 exams

First, confirm your timetable

Get your exact paper dates from your IB coordinator and write them into a single calendar. Count backwards from your first paper — every plan below depends on knowing which subjects come first and where the tight clusters are.

Put your earliest and hardest subjects at the front of the plan, but never drop a subject entirely for more than a few days. Topics you do not touch fade quickly.

Active recall beats rereading

Recall means pulling information out of memory without looking: answering a question, writing a definition from blank, or explaining a process out loud. Every successful retrieval makes the next one easier — rereading gives you a feeling of familiarity without that strengthening effect.

• Close your notes and write everything you know about one syllabus point, then check what you missed.
• Turn each subtopic heading into a question and answer it before you revise it.
• Use exam-style questions as your main recall tool — they test recall and exam technique at once.

Space it out and mix it up

Revisiting a topic after a gap — a day, then a few days, then a week — leads to far better retention than one long session. Build short return visits into your plan instead of finishing a topic and moving on for good.

Once a topic is secure, interleave: mix questions from several topics in one sitting. It feels harder, but it trains the skill the real paper demands — recognising which idea a question is actually testing.

Practise under exam conditions

Content knowledge does not automatically turn into marks. Timed practice builds pacing, stamina and the habit of answering exactly what the command term asks. Aim for roughly a mark a minute on most papers and learn where you personally lose time.

Mark honestly against the mark scheme, then rewrite every answer that dropped marks. Keep a running list of lost marks by syllabus point — within a few sessions, your real priorities become obvious.

A six-week plan

Adjust the dates to your own timetable, but keep the shape: gaps first, mixed practice next, full papers last.

• Weeks 1–2: topic-by-topic recall and short question sets. Identify your three weakest topics per subject.
• Weeks 3–4: targeted work on weak topics, plus mixed-topic sets to practise interleaving.
• Week 5: full timed papers, one or two per subject, marked honestly and corrected.
• Week 6: light, spaced review of your lost-marks list, formula and definition recall, and plenty of sleep.

Protect sleep and energy

Memory consolidation happens during sleep, so late-night cramming actively undoes daytime work. Keep a steady sleep schedule, take short breaks between focused blocks (around 45–50 minutes works for many students), and move a little every day.

If stress is building, shrink the task: one topic, one question set, one honest review. Progress you can see is the best antidote to exam anxiety.

Put it into practice

IBBase gives you syllabus-aligned questions for every topic and lets you generate full timed papers, so you can follow this plan without running out of practice material.