CAS is not an hours race. The IB does not prescribe a universal number of CAS hours or require students to submit an entry after every session. However, the programme must continue regularly for at least 18 months, and your school may set its own hour targets, reflection frequency, evidence rules, or portfolio deadlines.
For most students, the practical answer is to record participation once a week and reflect whenever something meaningful happens. A short weekly routine keeps your portfolio accurate without turning CAS documentation into a second subject.
What the IB actually requires
According to the official IB CAS subject brief, CAS begins at the start of the Diploma Programme and continues regularly for at least 18 months. Students should maintain a reasonable balance among Creativity, Activity, and Service.
Completion is based on more than accumulated time. Your programme must include:
- Regular engagement across all three CAS strands
- A portfolio containing evidence and reflection
- Evidence that you achieved all seven CAS learning outcomes
- At least one collaborative CAS project lasting a minimum of one month
- Compliance with your school's local CAS requirements
The current IB framework does not set a universal 150-hour requirement. Some schools still use hours, minimum entries, or strand targets to monitor participation, but these are local requirements rather than a worldwide IB rule. RevisionDojo's guide to the minimum CAS requirements provides a broader completion checklist.
How often should you actually be logging CAS hours?
A reliable default is to update your participation record every week. Enter dates and approximate time soon after the activity, or process all the week's sessions in one fixed 10-15 minute block.
| Type of CAS participation | Sensible logging rhythm |
|---|---|
| Weekly sport, rehearsal, or tutoring | Update the time record once each week |
| Several similar sessions in one week | Record them together if your school permits it |
| One-off event | Log it within 24-48 hours |
| Ongoing CAS project | Add evidence after each important stage or meeting |
| Significant problem, decision, or breakthrough | Reflect while the details are fresh |
This weekly rhythm is practical advice, not an IB-prescribed schedule. Your CAS coordinator's instructions take priority, including any requirement to enter every session separately.
Logging time is not the same as reflecting
A participation log answers factual questions: What did you do, when did you do it, and for approximately how long? A reflection explains what you learned, what challenged you, how a decision affected others, or what you will change.
You generally do not need a substantial reflection after every identical session. For an ongoing experience, reflect at meaningful points such as:
- When setting your initial goal
- After encountering a significant difficulty
- When feedback changes your approach
- When your responsibilities or relationships change
- At the end, when you can evaluate growth and impact
The IB expects purposeful reflection, but it does not prescribe one universal number of written entries. RevisionDojo's CAS reflection and documentation guide shows how to capture a challenge, response, learning point, and next step without writing an unnecessary essay.
A September-November CAS logging plan
The fall term is the right time to establish a sustainable routine and reliable evidence trail before academic pressure increases.
September: establish your baseline
Confirm your school's rules. Ask your coordinator about hour targets, reflection deadlines, approved evidence, supervisors, and the platform you must use.
Choose one or two repeatable experiences, set goals, and create the portfolio entries. Confirm that your overall programme can eventually cover Creativity, Activity, and Service.
October: prove consistency
Update the factual record weekly and capture evidence as you go. This might include a dated training record, planning document, draft, photograph, attendance record, or supervisor comment, provided you respect consent and privacy.
By late October, write at least one meaningful reflection on each substantial ongoing experience. This is also a sensible time to identify a collaborative project. The official IB CAS project guidance explains that a project is a collaborative series of experiences lasting at least one month. RevisionDojo also compares a CAS project with a CAS experience.
November: audit your portfolio
Review your portfolio before the term becomes crowded with tests and assignments. Check that entries contain accurate dates, suitable evidence, and reflections demonstrating learning rather than merely attendance.
Do not force all seven learning outcomes into your fall-term entries. Identify which outcomes your evidence genuinely supports and note the gaps you can address later.
What a useful weekly entry looks like
A time record can be brief and factual:
17 October, 75 minutes: Helped plan and deliver the weekly peer-tutoring session. Prepared algebra examples, worked with two students, and discussed next week's materials with the team.
A meaningful reflection would go further:
One student understood the worked example but could not apply the method independently. I realised that I had been explaining too quickly rather than checking understanding. Next week I will ask the student to explain each step back to me. This shows growth in collaboration and helps me reconsider what responsible support looks like.
The second entry provides evidence of thought, adjustment, and learning. It is more valuable than repeatedly stating that the session went well.
Common logging mistakes
Backdating an entire term: Reconstructing September in late November produces vague entries and unreliable time estimates. Use calendars, messages, or attendance evidence to recover missing facts honestly, then resume weekly logging.
Treating every reflection as a summary: A list of tasks proves participation but not development. Focus on a decision, difficulty, relationship, ethical issue, or change in perspective.
Claiming every learning outcome: Tagging all seven outcomes without evidence weakens your portfolio. One or two well-supported outcomes are more credible.
Following online targets instead of school rules: Your coordinator determines whether local documentation is complete, as explained in RevisionDojo's guide to how CAS is marked.
Conclusion
During September-November, log CAS participation weekly, record one-off experiences within a day or two, and reflect at meaningful stages rather than after every repetitive session. This demonstrates regular engagement while keeping the workload proportionate.
Always check your school's deadlines because the IB does not impose one universal hour total or logging schedule. RevisionDojo's CAS guides and Jojo AI can help you organize reflection prompts, while Study Notes and the Questionbank can support your academic revision alongside CAS.