How far ahead should a DP coordinator publish the fall assessment calendar?

Publish the provisional September-November calendar before or at the beginning of the academic year, then confirm it after teachers have checked current IB requirements and local commitments. Students and families need early visibility of major tests, orals, coursework milestones, and core deadlines. Mark tentative dates clearly so they are not mistaken for fixed commitments. After confirmation, changes should require coordinator approval and reasonable notice except in emergencies. Keep one authoritative digital version so outdated copies do not continue circulating.

How many major assessments should IB students have in one week?

The IB does not prescribe a universal weekly maximum for school assessments. A sensible starting point is no more than two heavy assessment events per student in one week, with particular care around final coursework submissions. Coordinators should examine preparation time, not merely count due dates, because two extended tasks can overlap long before submission day. The limit may need adjustment for local timetables, but departments should apply it consistently. Any exception should be discussed across the student's complete subject schedule rather than approved by one teacher in isolation.

Are school coursework deadlines official IB deadlines?

Usually, no, because schools commonly set earlier internal deadlines to meet later IB administrative requirements safely. Internal deadlines allow time for authentication, marking, standardization, file checks, absence management, and uploads. Coordinators should label each date explicitly as either school-set or official. Students are still required to follow legitimate school deadlines even when those dates do not come directly from the IB. The coordinator should verify the current session's official requirements in IB systems and assessment documentation rather than relying on a public calendar from another school.

Should predicted grades be based on one fall examination?

A single fall examination should not automatically determine a predicted grade. Teachers need a suitable body of evidence and knowledge of IB standards, interpreted according to the school's published prediction policy. Relevant evidence may include timed assessment, classwork, coursework progress, earlier performance, and a demonstrated performance trend. Departments should standardize their judgments so comparable students are treated consistently. Coordinators should also tell students which evidence can be considered and when predictions become final.

How should coordinators handle students with assessment clashes?

Start by checking whether the clash affects only one date or creates an unrealistic preparation burden across several weeks. Move the most flexible school-controlled item rather than a fixed official requirement or an assessment requiring scarce facilities. Record the decision centrally and inform every affected teacher so the adjustment does not create another collision. Where illness, disability, or access arrangements are involved, follow the school's documented procedure and current IB guidance. Avoid relying on repeated informal extensions because they can become inconsistent and difficult to monitor.

Should mock examinations be scheduled during the fall term?

Fall mocks are useful only when students have covered enough material for the results to be meaningful and have time to respond to feedback. A full mock too early may measure incomplete teaching more than examination readiness. Coordinators can instead schedule selected papers or timed sections to gather diagnostic evidence with a lower workload. If a full mock is used, protect the marking period and schedule targeted follow-up before the next major assessment. Schools should also explain whether mock performance contributes to reports or predicted grades, since mocks are school-controlled assessments rather than IB examinations.

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How Coordinators Can Set Up Realistic Fall Calendars

IB Coordinators Seasonal Planning IB Study Guides

RevisionDojo Team

•Last updated: 24 Sept 2026•10 min read

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How Coordinators Can Set Up Realistic Fall Calendars

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How Coordinators Can Set Up Realistic Fall Calendars

IB Coordinators Seasonal Planning IB Study Guides

RevisionDojo Team

•Last updated: 24 Sept 2026•10 min read

Add as a preferred source on Google

A realistic fall assessment calendar does more than distribute deadlines evenly. It works backward from official IB requirements, limits simultaneous student demands, accounts for teacher marking capacity, and preserves time for feedback, authentication, standardization, and unexpected disruption.

For many schools, September-November combines DP2 coursework, predicted-grade evidence, university applications, core requirements, and normal teaching. Coordinators must therefore review these demands together rather than allowing departments to schedule them independently.

Start with official requirements

Check the current session's Diploma Programme Assessment procedures, subject guides, IBIS notices, and Programme Resource Centre materials. The IB establishes examination schedules and submission procedures, while schools administer registration and assessment according to the current DP general regulations.

Many dates described as “IB deadlines” are actually internal school deadlines. These should come early enough to allow authentication, marking, standardization, administrative checks, student absence, and technical problems. Never copy another school's dates without verifying the examination session, subject requirements, and local calendar.

The master calendar should include:

Official registration and submission requirements
Internal and externally assessed coursework
TOK essay, exhibition, EE, and CAS milestones
Predicted-grade evidence and reporting dates
University application deadlines
Holidays, trips, performances, and oral examinations
Marking, standardization, and upload periods

The IB overview of DP assessment confirms that the programme combines external and internal assessment. A complete calendar must therefore account for tests, oral work, investigations, performances, coursework, and the DP core.

Build one cohort-wide assessment map

Ask every subject teacher and core supervisor to enter planned assessments into one shared calendar. Record the cohort, purpose, estimated student workload, marking time, feedback date, draft status, and whether the date can move.

Assessment type	Examples	Scheduling implication
Fixed external requirement	Examination or IB submission process	Verify first and protect an administrative buffer
School-controlled assessment	Timed essay, test, practical	Moveable, but must provide valid evidence
Coursework milestone	Proposal, draft, final hand-in	Schedule as a sequence, not one deadline
Core milestone	EE meeting, TOK stage, CAS review	Coordinate because many candidates are affected
Formative checkpoint	Outline, practice response, quiz	Keep low stakes and connect it to later work

Colour-coding helps reveal collisions, but a short quiz and a final IA submission are not equivalent. Add a workload rating such as light, moderate, or heavy, then inspect the combinations faced by actual students.

Apply a weekly capacity rule

A practical starting recommendation is no more than two heavy assessment events per student per week, including no more than one final coursework submission. This is not an IB rule, and schools may adjust it for their timetable and context.

Count preparation time as well as due dates. Two Friday submissions still collide if both require sustained work during the same preceding week. A simple scoring system can support discussion:

Light formative task: 1 point
Moderate test or substantial draft: 2 points
Major test, oral, or final submission: 3 points

The exact threshold matters less than using one transparent method across departments. When a week becomes overloaded, move the most flexible school-controlled task rather than an official requirement.

Plan September-November in phases

September: verify and diagnose

Confirm registrations, subjects, levels, candidate details, access arrangements, and current component requirements. Audit the status of each IA, EE, TOK requirement, and CAS process instead of relying only on verbal assurances.

Early assessments should diagnose performance and generate useful feedback. Avoid clustering final submissions immediately after a long break, particularly for students who have changed schools or programmes.

October: gather balanced evidence

October often carries university application pressure and predicted-grade decisions. Publish what evidence teachers may consider, when departmental standardization occurs, and when predictions become final under school policy. A predicted grade should reflect a relevant body of evidence rather than one conveniently timed test.

Spread major assessments across different weeks and reserve marking time after each. Departments may use RevisionDojo's Questionbank and timed assessment tools for diagnosis, but teachers must interpret platform-generated results professionally.

November: consolidate progress

Use November to complete agreed milestones, address missing work, and act on feedback. Do not fill every available week simply because December remains open. Teachers need time to standardize marks, and coordinators need capacity for exceptions.

For May-session schools, November is usually a staging period rather than the final IB submission month. For November-session schools, examinations and session administration dominate, so planning must follow the current IB examination schedule and protect examination security.

Schedule the work behind each deadline

A final hand-in is only the end of a longer process. Backward planning should include:

Task briefing and criteria clarification
Research, experimentation, or preparation
Progress checkpoint
Permitted teacher feedback
Student revision and final submission
Authentication and academic integrity review
Marking, standardization, verification, and upload buffer

The IB's academic integrity policy emphasizes that teachers should see work develop and be satisfied that it is the student's own. Compressing substantial coursework into one short period weakens supervision and makes authentication harder.

The RevisionDojo Coursework Grader can provide formative, criterion-related observations on drafts. Teachers must still follow current subject guides, permitted-feedback rules, school policy, and professional judgment.

Protect marking and feedback capacity

Every student deadline creates another staff deadline. If several subjects assess simultaneously, the following week may become unmanageable for marking, moderation, reteaching, and individual support.

Record an expected feedback date beside each significant assessment. If that date is unrealistic, the assessment date probably is too. The IB assessment guide for teachers and coordinators identifies formative feedback as an important teacher responsibility throughout the course.

A timed section, oral conference, or selected questions may sometimes provide enough evidence without another full paper. Reserve complete mocks for points when students have covered sufficient material and can act on the results. The RevisionDojo mock-exam guide explains how to use timed practice diagnostically.

Control changes and exceptions

Publish who may move deadlines, how much notice is expected, and how changes will be communicated. Establish procedures for illness, access arrangements, transfers, technology failure, academic integrity concerns, and conflicts with major school obligations.

Avoid relying on informal private extensions. Record exceptions confidentially and review the student's position across all subjects so that solving one clash does not create another.

Test and publish the calendar

Review the plan from three perspectives: a student taking a demanding subject combination, the staff who must mark work the following week, and the coordinator responsible for externally consequential dates. Verify official requirements using current IB systems and documents.

Publish one authoritative version and label dates as draft, final, internal, or official IB. RevisionDojo's IB subject resources and IB Grade Calculator can support preparation and indicative analysis, but estimates must not be presented as official grades.

Conclusion

Realistic fall calendars begin with verified requirements, map demands across the whole cohort, limit weekly load, and protect feedback and administration time. September should verify and diagnose, October should gather balanced evidence, and November should consolidate progress. RevisionDojo Questionbank practice, coursework feedback, and mock assessments can then support learning between major deadlines without adding unnecessary compulsory work.