IB May 2027 Exam Calendar & Revision Planner

Most Singapore international schools run an August–July academic year and sit May. A number of Singapore schools run a January–December academic year instead and sit November as their normal session, including Hwa Chong International School, St Joseph's Institution (and St Joseph's Institution International), Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), and ACS (International) Singapore. November is also the retake session for May candidates. The IB sets one worldwide schedule per session and staggers only local start times by exam zone; Singapore is in zone A8 (morning 09:30, afternoon 13:30). This page covers the final May 2027 and November 2026 schedules; use the session toggle in the planner to switch between them.

The session runs from Friday 23 April 2027 to Tuesday 18 May 2027. Only the School-based syllabus and Language & culture papers sit on 23 April; most candidates start on or after Monday 26 April, and the last paper is Mathematics HL Paper 3 on the afternoon of 18 May. This is the IB's final schedule for all exam zones (A, B, C).

The November 2026 session runs from Friday 23 October to Friday 13 November 2026, on the IB's final schedule for all exam zones (A, B, C). Only the School-based syllabus paper sits on 23 October; most Diploma papers run from Monday 26 October. In Singapore, morning papers start at 09:30 and afternoon papers at 13:30.

Economics Paper 2 (HL and SL, 1h 45m) is on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 November 2026. Paper 1 (HL and SL, 1h 15m) is on the morning of Wednesday 11 November 2026, and HL candidates also sit Paper 3 (1h 45m) in that same morning session, back-to-back.

Singapore IB schools sit in exam zone A8 (UTC+8): morning papers start at 09:30 and afternoon papers at 13:30 local time. Start times are fixed by the IB per zone and identical across schools, unlike Cambridge, where each centre sets its own start within Key Time rules.

Economics Paper 1 (HL and SL, 1h 15m) is on Wednesday 12 May 2027 in the morning session. HL candidates also sit Paper 3 (1h 45m) in the same morning, back-to-back. Paper 2 (1h 45m, HL/SL) is the previous afternoon, Tuesday 11 May 2027.

For both AA and AI: Paper 1 on Thursday 13 May 2027 (afternoon) and Paper 2 on Friday 14 May 2027 (morning). HL 2h, SL 1h 30m each. HL candidates sit Paper 3 (1h 15m) on Tuesday 18 May 2027 in the afternoon.

Yes. Several subjects schedule two papers in the same session, sat back-to-back under supervision: Economics HL P1+P3 (12 May AM), Business HL P1+P3 (27 Apr PM), History P1+P2 (3 May PM), Psychology P1+P2 (29 Apr PM) and Global Politics P1+P2 (14 May PM). The planner above flags every back-to-back block in your own combination.

The IB builds its schedule from registration data so that as few students as possible worldwide have a clash, and almost all subjects sit on consecutive days. Two papers from the same subject in one session, such as Economics HL Paper 1 and Paper 3, are not a clash: they are sat back-to-back. If a clash or another problem means a paper has to move, only the IB can approve it. An exam cannot be rescheduled without authorisation from the Assessment Division at the IB Global Centre in Cardiff, and your DP coordinator applies using the criteria in the IB's Diploma Programme Assessment procedures. Students cannot arrange a change directly with the school (IB May 2027 and November 2026 examination schedules).

The IB confirms the May 2027 date nearer the session. For May 2026, candidates received results on 6 July 2026 at 8.00pm Singapore time, one day after schools, via candidates.ibo.org with the code and PIN from their DP coordinator. Results go directly to nominated universities as well.

Psychology, Computer Science, Design Technology and Visual Arts (first teaching 2025) are first assessed in May 2027, alongside the updated Extended Essay. The two IB schedules show the change: in November 2026 these subjects still sit the outgoing papers, and in May 2027 the new ones. There is no past-paper bank yet, so specimen papers are the key preparation resource.

Not in the Cambridge sense. The IB registers all candidates through IB World Schools; there is no British Council private-candidate route. Retake or external candidates must be entered by an IB school willing to host them, with registration in the November before a May session. Start that conversation with schools early.

The IB's November 2026 examination schedule gives a provisional November 2027 window of Friday 22 October to Friday 12 November 2027, subject to confirmation. No per-subject dates are published for it yet. In Singapore, most international schools (August–July academic year) sit May; several schools on a January–December academic year, including Hwa Chong International, St Joseph's Institution, ACS (International) and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), sit November as their normal session, alongside May retake candidates. Use the May/November toggle in the planner above; we load the November subject dates as soon as the IB releases them.

The IB publishes the schedule PDF on ibo.org, and your school's DP coordinator holds the definitive version plus your individual candidate timetable. This page summarises and organises the official final schedule; your coordinator's document is the final authority for your entries.

Study Supervision isn't an extra lesson; it's structured, supervised time where the work between lessons actually gets done. Most tuition only reaches students for the two to three hours they're in class each week; what happens in the other 160-plus hours is usually left to chance. Students attend on fixed days each week, with frequency increasing as exams approach, in a dedicated classroom supervised by a Teaching Assistant, with regular one-to-one check-ins throughout. Phones are kept at the administration desk for the full session, and parents can contact the centre directly for anything urgent. Homework is marked against an answer key from the subject tutor; for subjects where answers vary in quality, Economics essays and case studies, for example, marking is done personally by the tutor. Mr Jason Low, KS Academia Prep's Head of Economics, is known among students for marking exam scripts late into the night to return detailed, personal feedback.

It's academic planning, not tuition. It addresses decisions that carry two years of consequences but are often made on hearsay, which subjects to take, HL versus SL, and how each choice maps to university requirements in Singapore, the UK, the US and beyond. A consultation works through a student's strengths, workload capacity and target pathway to arrive at a subject combination they can sustain for the full Diploma.

Yes. Families search for this kind of structured, accountable support under many different terms: academic coaching, supervised study, a structured study programme, homework support or a homework club, guided self-study, a student accountability programme. Whatever the label, the core is the same: fixed, supervised sessions where a Teaching Assistant makes sure assigned work is actually completed and properly marked, not just attempted.