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Wondering about when exactly you'll be sitting your exams? In this post we will share the exam dates for the May 2026 IB session.
IB Exam Dates May 2026
The IB May 2026 exam session will take place from the 24th of April to the 20th of May.
The exact examination timetable is as follows:
Friday 24 April
- Morning session
- No exams
- Afternoon session
- School-based syllabus SL Paper 1
- Language & Culture SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
Monday 27 April
- Morning session
- School-based syllabus SL Paper 2
- Language & Culture SL paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Language A Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- Language A Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Language A Language & Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- Language A Language & Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- *Except: English, French, Spanish
Tuesday 28 April
- Morning session
- Language A Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- Language A Language & Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- *Except: English, French, Spanish
- Afternoon session
- Physics HL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (2h)
- Physics SL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (1h 30m)
- Sports, exercise & health science HL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (1h 45m)
- Sports, exercise & health science SL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (1h 30m)
Wednesday 29 April
- Morning session
- Physics HL Paper 2 (2h 30m)
- Physics SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Sports, exercise & health science HL Paper 2 (2h 30m)
- Sports, exercise & health science SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Business management HL/SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Business management HL Paper 3 (1h 15m)
Thursday 30 April
- Morning session
- Business management HL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- Business management SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Computer science HL Paper 1 (2h 10m)
- Computer science SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Environmental systems & societies HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Environmental systems & societies SL Paper 1 (1h)
Friday 1 May
- No exams
Monday 4 May
- Morning session
- Computer science HL Paper 2 (1h 20m)
- Computer science HL Paper 3 (1h)
- Computer science SL Paper 2 (1h)
- Environmental systems & societies HL Paper 2 (2h 30m
- Environmental systems & societies SL Paper 2 (2h)
- Afternoon session
- History HL/SL Paper 1 (1h)
- History HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
Tuesday 5 May
- Morning session
- History HL Paper 3 (2h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Language B HL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Language B HL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- Language B SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Language B SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- Language ab initio SL Paper 1 (1h)
- Language ab initio SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- *Except: English, French, Spanish
- Latin HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Latin SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
Wednesday 6 May
- Morning session
- Language B HL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (1h)
- Language B SL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- Language ab initio SL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- *Except: English, French, Spanish
- Latin HL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Latin SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Psychology HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Psychology SL Paper 1 (2h)
Thursday 7 May
- Morning session
- Psychology HL Paper 2 (2h)
- Psychology HL Paper 3 (1h)
- Psychology SL Paper 2 (1h)
- Afternoon session
- English A Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- English A Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- English A Language & Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15)
- English A Language & Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- English B HL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- English B HL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- English B SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- English B SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- English ab initio SL Paper 1 (1h)
- English ab initio SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
Friday 8 May
- Morning session
- English A Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- English A Language & Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- English B HL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (1h)
- English B SL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- English ab initio SL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- Literature & performance SL Paper 1 (1h 45m)
- Afternoon session
- Geography HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- Geography SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Philosophy HL Paper 1 (2h 30m)
- Philosophy SL Paper 1 (1h 45m)
- Social & cultural anthropology HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Social & cultural anthropology SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
Monday 11 May
- Morning session
- Geography HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 15m)
- Geography HL Paper 3 (1h)
- Philosophy HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 15m)
- Philosophy HL Paper 3 (1h)
- Social & cultural anthropology HL Paper 2 (2h 30m)
- Social & cultural anthropology SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Biology HL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (2h)
- Biology SL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (1h 30m)
Tuesday 12 May
- Morning session
- Biology HL Paper 2 (2h)
- Biology SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Economics HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- World religions SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
Wednesday 13 May
- Morning session
- Economics HL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Economics HL Paper 3 (1h 45m)
- Economics SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- World religions SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Classical Greek HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Classical Greek SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Spanish A Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- Spanish A Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Spanish A Language & Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- Spanish A Language & Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Spanish B HL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Spanish B HL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- Spanish B SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Spanish B SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- Spanish ab initio SL Paper 1 (1h)
- Spanish ab initio SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
Thursday 14 May
- Morning session
- Classical Greek HL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Classical Greek SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Spanish A Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- Spanish A Language & Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- Spanish B HL paper 2 - Listening comprehension (1h)
- Spanish B SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- Spanish ab initio SL paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- Afternoon session
- Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL Paper 1 (2h)
- Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
Friday 15 May
- Morning session
- Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL Paper 2 (2h)
- Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL Paper 2 (2h)
- Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Chemistry HL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (2h)
- Chemistry SL Paper 1 (1a and 1b) (1h 30m)
- Design technology HL Paper 1 (1h)
- Design technology SL Paper 1 (45m)
- Design technology HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
Monday 18 May
- Morning session
- Chemistry HL Paper 2 (2h 30m)
- Chemistry SL Paper 2 (1h 30m)
- Design technology HL Paper 3 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- Digital Society HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- Digital Society SL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- Global politics HL/SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- Global politics HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
Tuesday 19 May
- Morning session
- Digital Society HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 15m)
- Digital Society HL Paper 3 (1h 15m)
- Global politics HL Paper 3 (1h 30m)
- Afternoon session
- French A Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- French A Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- French A Language & Literature HL Paper 1 (2h 15m)
- French A Language & Literature SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- French B HL Paper 1 (1h 30m)
- French B HL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- French B SL Paper 1 (1h 15m)
- French B SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
- French ab initio SL Paper 1 (1h)
- French ab initio SL Paper 2 - Reading comprehension (1h)
Wednesday 20 May
- Morning session
- French A Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- French A Language & Literature HL/SL Paper 2 (1h 45m)
- French B HL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (1h)
- French B SL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- French ab initio SL Paper 2 - Listening comprehension (45m)
- Afternoon session
- Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL Paper 3 (1h 15m)
- Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL Paper 3 (1h 15m)
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