A well-structured IB revision timetable spanning roughly six months before your final exams gives you enough time to move through distinct phases — content review, focused practice, and full exam-condition simulation — rather than cramming everything into the final weeks.
Why Six Months Is the Right Planning Window
Starting serious, structured revision around six months before your May exams (roughly from the start of the second term of Year 13) gives enough runway to genuinely close content gaps identified early, rather than discovering them too late to address properly. Starting earlier than this is fine if you’re motivated, but six months is a realistic minimum for a thorough, phased plan across six subjects.
Phase 1: Content Audit and Gap Mapping (Weeks 1-3)
Before creating a detailed schedule, go through each subject’s syllabus and honestly rate your confidence in every topic. This audit — not a detailed revision timetable yet — is what should genuinely drive how you allocate time in the following phases; revising evenly across all topics regardless of your actual weak points wastes your most valuable resource, time.
Phase 2: Foundational Content Review (Weeks 4-12)
This phase focuses on rebuilding genuine understanding of weaker topics identified in your audit, using active recall techniques (summarizing from memory, then checking against notes) rather than passive re-reading. Allocate more time to subjects and topics where your audit revealed larger gaps, rather than splitting time equally across all six subjects by default.
Phase 3: Topic-by-Topic Practice (Weeks 13-18)
Once foundational understanding is solid, shift to targeted practice using topic-specific questions rather than full past papers — this lets you drill a specific weak area (a particular type of Math problem, a specific essay skill) repeatedly without the time pressure of a full exam simulation yet.
Phase 4: Full Past Paper Practice Under Timed Conditions (Weeks 19-22)
This phase is where you shift entirely to full, timed past papers, simulating real exam conditions as closely as possible — same time limits, no notes, ideally in a similar environment to where you’ll actually sit the exam. This phase reveals time-management issues that topic-by-topic practice alone won’t expose.
Phase 5: Final Review and Targeted Weak-Spot Practice (Weeks 23-24)
In the final two weeks, avoid learning substantial new content. Focus instead on reviewing summary notes, revisiting the specific weak spots your Phase 4 practice revealed, and maintaining confidence rather than cramming — this is also the phase where protecting sleep and managing stress (see our guide on dealing with IB stress and anxiety before exams) matters most.
How to Actually Structure Your Weekly Schedule
Within this six-month arc, build a weekly template that rotates through your six subjects rather than dedicating entire weeks to a single subject — this spaced approach, revisiting each subject regularly rather than in long isolated blocks, is consistently shown to improve long-term retention compared to massed practice in one subject at a time.
A Sample Weekly Structure (Phase 2-3)
- 2 subjects per weekday evening, roughly 45-60 minutes each, rotating which two subjects pair together
- One weekend day for a longer, focused session on your single weakest subject
- One full rest day — genuinely protected, no revision, to prevent burnout across a six-month plan (see our guide on surviving Year 2 without burning out)
Common Mistakes When Building a Revision Timetable
- Creating an unrealistically packed schedule in week one that collapses within two weeks
- Spending equal time across all subjects regardless of your actual gaps
- Moving to full past papers too early, before foundational understanding is solid enough to make that practice useful
- Not building in genuine rest, treating every day as a study day
Final Tip
Review and adjust your timetable every 3-4 weeks based on how you’re actually progressing, rather than rigidly sticking to a plan made six months out — your Phase 1 audit was a snapshot at one point in time, and your real strengths and weaknesses will shift as you revise.