The International Baccalaureate (IB) published its final May 2025 examination schedule for the Diploma Programme (DP) and Career-related Programme (CP). This guide sets out the full timetable, the length of every paper and the local start times for each exam zone.
Note: The May 2025 exams have now finished. If you are sitting exams soon, see our November 2026 exam schedule, and read how students did in our IB results 2025 statistics.
Key Takeaways
- The May 2025 IB exams ran from Friday 25 April to Wednesday 21 May 2025 (IB, 2025).
- The main written exams started on Monday 28 April and were held over four weeks.
- There were no exams on Thursday 1 May. It is the only public holiday the IB schedule allows for, because the exams are held in so many countries.
- Start times depended on each school's exam zone. Most schools started between 8:30 am and 10:00 am (morning) and 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm (afternoon) local time.
IB Exam Schedule May 2025
The schedule below is taken from the IB's official May 2025 examination schedule (final version), which applied to all exam zones (A, B and C). Paper lengths are shown in brackets. Where Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL) papers have different lengths, both are listed.
For Language A, Language B and ab initio exams, English, French and Spanish were scheduled separately from all other languages.
| Date | Morning session | Afternoon session |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, 25 Apr | No exams | School-based syllabus SL paper 1 Language & Culture SL paper 1 (1h 30m) |
| Week 1 | ||
| Mon, 28 Apr | School-based syllabus SL paper 2 Language & Culture SL paper 2 (1h 30m) | Language A Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) Language A Language & Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) Except English, French and Spanish |
| Tue, 29 Apr | Language A Literature HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) Language A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) Except English, French and Spanish | Physics paper 1, parts 1a and 1b (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) |
| Wed, 30 Apr | Physics paper 2 (HL 2h 30m, SL 1h 30m) Sports, Exercise and Health Science paper 2 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) | Business Management HL/SL paper 1 (1h 30m) Business Management HL paper 3 (1h 15m) |
| Thu, 1 May | No exams | No exams |
| Fri, 2 May | Business Management paper 2 (HL 1h 45m, SL 1h 30m) | Computer Science paper 1 (HL 2h 10m, SL 1h 30m) Environmental Systems and Societies SL paper 1 (1h) |
| Week 2 | ||
| Mon, 5 May | Computer Science HL paper 2 (1h 20m), HL paper 3 (1h) and SL paper 2 (1h) Environmental Systems and Societies SL paper 2 (2h) | History HL/SL paper 1 (1h) and paper 2 (1h 30m) |
| Tue, 6 May | History HL paper 3 (2h 30m) | Language B paper 1 (HL 1h 30m, SL 1h 15m) and paper 2 reading (1h) Language ab initio SL paper 1 (1h) and paper 2 reading (1h) Except English, French and Spanish Latin paper 1 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) |
| Wed, 7 May | Language B paper 2 listening (HL 1h, SL 45m) Language ab initio SL paper 2 listening (45m) Except English, French and Spanish Latin HL/SL paper 2 (1h 30m) | Psychology paper 1 (HL 2h, SL 2h) |
| Thu, 8 May | Psychology HL paper 2 (2h), HL paper 3 (1h) and SL paper 2 (1h) | English A Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) English A Language & Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) English ab initio SL paper 1 (1h) and paper 2 reading (1h) |
| Fri, 9 May | English A Literature HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) English A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) English B paper 2 listening (HL 1h, SL 45m) English ab initio SL paper 2 listening (45m) Literature & Performance SL paper 1 (1h 45m) | Geography paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 30m) Philosophy paper 1 (HL 2h 30m, SL 1h 45m) Social & Cultural Anthropology paper 1 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) |
| Week 3 | ||
| Mon, 12 May | Geography HL/SL paper 2 (1h 15m) and HL paper 3 (1h) Philosophy HL/SL paper 2 (1h) and HL paper 3 (1h 15m) Social & Cultural Anthropology paper 2 (HL 2h 30m, SL 1h 30m) | Biology paper 1, parts 1a and 1b (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) |
| Tue, 13 May | Biology paper 2 (HL 2h 30m, SL 1h 30m) | Economics HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) World Religions SL paper 1 (1h 15m) |
| Wed, 14 May | Economics HL paper 1 (1h 15m), HL paper 3 (1h 45m) and SL paper 1 (1h 15m) World Religions SL paper 2 (1h 30m) | Classical Greek paper 1 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) Spanish A Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) Spanish A Language & Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) Spanish ab initio SL paper 1 (1h) and paper 2 reading (1h) |
| Thu, 15 May | Classical Greek HL/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 paper 2 listening (HL 1h, SL 45m) Spanish ab initio SL paper 2 listening (45m) | Maths: Analysis and Approaches paper 1 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) Maths: Applications and Interpretation paper 1 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) |
| Fri, 16 May | Maths: Analysis and Approaches paper 2 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) Maths: Applications and Interpretation paper 2 (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) | Chemistry paper 1, parts 1a and 1b (HL 2h, SL 1h 30m) |
| Week 4 | ||
| Mon, 19 May | Chemistry paper 2 (HL 2h 30m, SL 1h 30m) Design Technology HL paper 3 (1h 30m) | Digital Society paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 30m) Global Politics HL/SL paper 1 (1h 15m) |
| Tue, 20 May | Digital Society HL/SL paper 2 (1h 15m) and HL paper 3 (1h 15m) Global Politics paper 2 (HL 2h 45m, SL 1h 45m) | French A Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) French A Language & Literature paper 1 (HL 2h 15m, SL 1h 15m) French ab initio SL paper 1 (1h) and paper 2 reading (1h) |
| Wed, 21 May | French A Literature HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) French A Language & Literature HL/SL paper 2 (1h 45m) French B paper 2 listening (HL 1h, SL 45m) French ab initio SL paper 2 listening (45m) | Maths: Analysis and Approaches HL paper 3 (1h 15m) Maths: Applications and Interpretation HL paper 3 (1h 15m) |
Source: IB Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme May 2025 examination schedule, final version.
Local Start Times by Exam Zone
Every IB school is given an exam zone (A, B or C), which stays the same from one exam session to the next. Start times depend on the zone and the local time difference from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). The IB says these times are local and do not need to be adjusted for daylight saving.
| Exam zone | Time difference from UTC | Morning start | Afternoon start |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | +3 to +7 | 9:00 am | 1:00 pm |
| A | +8 | 9:30 am | 1:30 pm |
| A | +9 to +12 | 10:00 am | 2:00 pm |
| B | 0 and +1 | 9:00 am | 1:00 pm |
| B | +2 | 9:30 am | 1:30 pm |
| B | +3 | 10:00 am | 2:00 pm |
| C | −3 | 10:00 am | 2:00 pm |
| C | −4 | 9:30 am | 1:30 pm |
| C | −5 to −10 | 8:30 am | 12:30 pm |
Source: IB May 2025 examination schedule.
How the IB Builds the Exam Schedule
The IB explains several principles behind its timetable:
- Holidays: because the exams are held in so many countries, the IB cannot avoid public, national or school holidays, apart from 1 May.
- Clashes: registration data is used so that as few students as possible worldwide have two exams at the same time.
- Consecutive days: almost every subject's papers are held on consecutive days, so that an absence affects as few papers as possible.
- Spreading the load: the subjects with the most students are spread across the four weeks, and language and science exams are scheduled in every week.
- Rescheduling: an exam cannot be moved for a student without approval from the IB.
What Comes After the Exams?
After the exams, IB examiners mark the papers, the IB moderates internal assessment, and grade boundaries are set for every subject. May session results are released in early July. To understand your results, see our complete guide to understanding your IB results and our guide to how your IB score is calculated. If a result is close to a grade boundary, read about whether you should get your IB scores re-marked.
Preparing for Your Next IB Exams
- Make a revision timetable early. Work backwards from your first paper and give extra time to your busiest weeks.
- Practise with past papers. Find out why past papers are the ultimate tool for IB exam preparation.
- Learn your command terms. See our complete guide to understanding IB command terms.
- Look after yourself. Sleep, exercise and breaks make your revision more effective.
Need help preparing? Our experienced IB tutors can help you plan your revision and practise exam technique, online wherever you are.
