2025-2026 International Baccalaureate (IB) Exam Timetable
International Baccalaureate exams are held twice annually in two main sessions: November 2025 and May 2026. Below is the detailed timetable for all subjects and course papers for May 2026.
Examination Sessions
- November 2025 Session: October 24 - November 14, 2025
- May 2026 Session: April 24 - May 20, 2026
Daily Exam Sessions
- Morning session: starts after 7:00 AM local time
- Afternoon session: finishes by 6:00 PM local time
May 2026 Exam Schedule by Subject and Paper
| Date | Session | Subject & Paper | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, 24 Apr | Afternoon | School-based syllabus SL paper 1 | 1h 30m |
| Monday, 27 Apr | Morning | Language A Literature HL paper 1 / SL paper 1 Language A Language & Literature HL paper 1 / SL paper 1 (Except English, French, Spanish) | 2h 15m / 1h 15m |
| Monday, 27 Apr | Afternoon | Language & culture SL paper 2 | 1h 30m |
| Tuesday, 28 Apr | Morning | Language A Literature HL/SL paper 2 Language A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 | 1h 45m |
| Tuesday, 28 Apr | Afternoon | Physics HL paper 1 (1a & 1b) Physics SL paper 1 (1a & 1b) Sports, exercise & health science HL paper 1 (1a & 1b) Sports, exercise & health science SL paper 1 (1a & 1b) | 2h / 1h 30m / 1h 45m / 1h 30m |
| Wednesday, 29 Apr | Morning | Physics HL paper 2 Physics SL paper 2 Sports, exercise & health science HL paper 2 Sports, exercise & health science SL paper 2 | 2h 30m / 1h 30m / 2h 30m / 1h 30m |
| Wednesday, 29 Apr | Afternoon | Business management HL/SL paper 1 Business management HL paper 3 | 1h 30m / 1h 15m |
| Thursday, 30 Apr | Morning | Business management HL paper 2 Business management SL paper 2 | 1h 45m / 1h 30m |
| Thursday, 30 Apr | Afternoon | Computer science HL paper 1 Computer science SL paper 1 | 2h 10m / 1h 30m |
| Friday, 1 May | Morning | Environmental systems & societies HL paper 1 Environmental systems & societies SL paper 1 | 2h / 1h |
| Monday, 4 May | Morning | Computer science HL paper 2 Computer science HL paper 3 Computer science SL paper 2 | 1h 20m / 1h / 1h |
| Tuesday, 5 May | Morning | History HL/SL paper 1 | 1h |
| Tuesday, 5 May | Afternoon | History HL/SL paper 2 | 1h 30m |
| Tuesday, 5 May | Afternoon | Environmental systems & societies HL paper 2 Environmental systems & societies SL paper 2 | 2h 30m / 2h |
| Wednesday, 6 May | Morning | History HL paper 3 | 2h 30m |
| Wednesday, 6 May | Afternoon | Language B HL paper 1 Language B HL paper 2 - Reading comprehension Language B SL paper 1 Language B SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension Language ab initio SL paper 1 Language ab initio SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension Latin HL paper 1 Latin SL paper 1 | 2h / 1h 30m / 1h 15m / 1h / 1h / 1h / 2h / 1h 30m |
| Thursday, 7 May | Morning | Language B HL paper 2 - Listening comprehension Language B SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension Language ab initio SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension Latin HL paper 2 Latin SL paper 2 | 1h / 45m / 45m / 1h 30m / 1h 30m |
| Thursday, 7 May | Afternoon | Psychology HL paper 1 Psychology SL paper 1 | 2h / 2h |
| Friday, 8 May | Morning | Psychology HL paper 2 Psychology HL paper 3 Psychology SL paper 2 | 2h / 1h / 1h |
| Monday, 11 May | Morning | English A Literature HL paper 1 English A Literature SL paper 1 English A Language & Literature HL paper 1 English A Language & Literature SL paper 1 English B HL paper 1 English B HL paper 2 - Reading comprehension English B SL paper 1 English B SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension English ab initio SL paper 1 English ab initio SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension | 2h 15m / 1h 15m / 2h 15m / 1h 15m / 1h 30m / 1h / 1h 15m / 1h / 1h / 1h |
| Monday, 11 May | Afternoon | English A Literature HL/SL paper 2 English A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 English B HL paper 2 - Listening comprehension English B SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension English ab initio SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension | 1h 45m / 1h 45m / 1h / 45m / 45m |
| Tuesday, 12 May | Morning | Geography HL paper 1 Geography SL paper 1 Philosophy HL paper 1 Philosophy SL paper 1 Social & cultural anthropology HL paper 1 Social & cultural anthropology SL paper 1 Literature & performance SL paper 1 | 2h 15m / 1h 30m / 2h 30m / 1h 45m / 2h / 1h 30m / 1h 45m |
| Wednesday, 13 May | Morning | Geography HL/SL paper 2 Geography HL paper 3 Philosophy HL/SL paper 2 Philosophy HL paper 3 Social & cultural anthropology HL paper 2 Social & cultural anthropology SL paper 2 | 1h 15m / 1h / 1h / 1h 15m / 2h 30m / 1h 30m |
| Wednesday, 13 May | Afternoon | Biology HL paper 1 (1a & 1b) Biology SL paper 1 (1a & 1b) | 2h / 1h 30m |
| Thursday, 14 May | Morning | Biology HL paper 2 Biology SL paper 2 | 2h 30m / 1h 30m |
| Thursday, 14 May | Afternoon | Economics HL/SL paper 2 World religions SL paper 1 | 1h 45m / 1h 15m |
| Friday, 15 May | Morning | Economics HL paper 1 Economics HL paper 3 Economics SL paper 1 | 1h 15m / 1h 45m / 1h 15m |
| Friday, 15 May | Afternoon | World religions SL paper 2 | 1h 30m |
| Monday, 18 May | Morning | Classical Greek HL paper 1 Classical Greek SL paper 1 Spanish A Literature HL paper 1 Spanish A Literature SL paper 1 Spanish A Language & Literature HL paper 1 Spanish A Language & Literature SL paper 1 | 2h / 1h 30m / 2h 15m / 1h 15m / 2h 15m / 1h 15m |
| Monday, 18 May | Afternoon | Spanish B HL paper 1 Spanish B HL paper 2 - Reading comprehension Spanish B SL paper 1 Spanish B SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension Spanish ab initio SL paper 1 Spanish ab initio SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension | 1h 30m / 1h / 1h 15m / 1h / 1h / 1h |
| Tuesday, 19 May | Morning | Classical Greek HL paper 2 Classical Greek SL paper 2 Spanish A Literature HL/SL paper 2 Spanish A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 | 1h 30m / 1h 30m / 1h 45m / 1h 45m |
| Tuesday, 19 May | Afternoon | Spanish B HL paper 2 - Listening comprehension Spanish B SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension Spanish ab initio SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension | 1h / 45m / 45m |
| Wednesday, 20 May | Morning | Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL paper 1 Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL paper 1 Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL paper 1 Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL paper 1 | 2h / 1h 30m / 2h / 1h 30m |
| Thursday 21 May | Morning | Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL paper 2 Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL paper 2 Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL paper 2 Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL paper 2 | 2h / 1h 30m / 2h / 1h 30m |
| Friday, 22 May | Morning | Chemistry HL paper 1 (1a & 1b) Chemistry SL paper 1 (1a & 1b) Design technology HL paper 1 Design technology SL paper 1 Design technology HL/SL paper 2 | 2h / 1h 30m / 1h / 45m / 1h 30m |
| Monday, 25 May | Morning | Chemistry HL paper 2 Chemistry SL paper 2 Design technology HL paper 3 | 2h 30m / 1h 30m / 1h 30m |
| Monday, 25 May | Afternoon | Digital Society HL paper 1 Digital Society SL paper 1 Global politics HL/SL paper 1 Global politics HL/SL paper 2 | 2h 15m / 1h 30m / 1h 15m / 1h 45m |
| Tuesday, 26 May | Morning | Digital Society HL/SL paper 2 Digital Society HL paper 3 Global politics HL paper 3 | 1h 15m / 1h 15m / 1h 30m |
| Wednesday, 27 May | Morning | French A Literature HL paper 1 French A Literature SL paper 1 French A Language & Literature HL paper 1 French A Language & Literature SL paper 1 | 2h 15m / 1h 15m / 2h 15m / 1h 15m |
| Wednesday, 27 May | Afternoon | French B HL paper 1 French B HL paper 2 - Reading comprehension French B SL paper 1 French B SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension French ab initio SL paper 1 French ab initio SL paper 2 - Reading comprehension | 1h 30m / 1h / 1h 15m / 1h / 1h / 1h |
| Thursday, 28 May | Morning | French A Literature HL/SL paper 2 French A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 | 1h 45m / 1h 45m |
| Thursday, 28 May | Afternoon | French B HL paper 2 - Listening comprehension French B SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension French ab initio SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension | 1h / 45m / 45m |
| Friday, 29 May | Morning | Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL paper 3 Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL paper 3 | 1h 15m / 1h 15m |
Important Notes
- Examination schedules may vary by region; local start times depend on allocated exam zones.
- IB exams cannot be rescheduled without IB authorization.
- Subjects with large student numbers are spread over multiple weeks for workload balance.
- Language exams for English, French, and Spanish are individually scheduled outside other languages.