IB IA deadlines are set by your school, not published as one universal deadline for every IB student. The IB establishes submission requirements, but teachers and coordinators need time to supervise, authenticate, mark, moderate, and upload work. Therefore, the deadline in your school calendar is the one you must follow.
A reliable IB internal assessment planner works backwards from school deadlines and distributes coursework across both Diploma Programme years. This model assumes a May examination session and three school terms per year, but the sequence can be adapted for November sessions and different calendars.
How IB IA deadlines actually work
Internal assessment appears in most DP subjects, but the format varies. It may be an investigation, oral, performance, fieldwork exercise, laboratory report, mathematical exploration, or another subject-specific task. Teachers normally mark internally assessed work before the IB moderates a sample, as outlined in the official Diploma Programme assessment and examinations overview.
Online dates claiming that every IA is due in March or April are not reliable personal deadlines. They may reflect later administrative stages, while schools often require completed work weeks or months earlier.
Confirm the following dates with each teacher:
- Proposal, topic, or research question approval
- Method, source list, or planning checkpoint
- Data collection or evidence completion
- First complete draft
- Feedback return
- Final authenticated submission
Always distinguish a draft deadline from the final school deadline. Missing a draft may remove your opportunity to receive permitted feedback even when the final deadline has not passed.
Term-by-term IB internal assessment planner
Replace the suggested sequence below with your school's confirmed dates.
| DP term | Main objective | Recommended outcome |
|---|---|---|
| DP1 Term 1 | Understand requirements | Record formats, criteria, resources, checkpoints, and likely deadlines |
| DP1 Term 2 | Test possible ideas | Check feasibility, evidence access, methods, safety, and backup options |
| DP1 Term 3 | Begin dependent work | Approve questions, pilot methods, collect difficult evidence, and outline responses |
| DP2 Term 1 | Produce complete drafts | Finish evidence, complete analysis, stagger drafts, and finalize 1-2 IAs where possible |
| DP2 Term 2 | Close remaining coursework | Apply permitted feedback, submit final files, and maintain examination practice |
| DP2 Term 3 | Protect revision time | Keep IAs closed except when the school approves action on an exceptional problem |
DP1 Term 1: map the workload
Do not attempt to write every IA immediately. Build one master calendar containing known IA checkpoints alongside the Extended Essay, TOK, CAS, school examinations, holidays, and major commitments.
Record each subject's assessment format and dependencies, including laboratory access, fieldwork, performances, participants, specialist software, or teacher approval. A practical IB study planner should separate fixed deadlines from the work sessions needed to meet them.
DP1 Term 2: test feasibility
A strong topic must be answerable using evidence you can obtain within the available time, ethical rules, equipment, and subject requirements. For each major investigation, record:
- The tentative question, aim, or line of inquiry
- Required evidence, data, texts, or materials
- Access, ethical, and safety constraints
- The analysis you expect to perform
- A backup plan if collection fails
Study the current criteria supplied by your teacher. Exemplars can clarify expected depth and structure, but you must not copy their wording, data, organization, or distinctive ideas.
DP1 Term 3: complete dependent tasks
Prioritize work that becomes difficult during holidays. Science investigations may require supervised equipment, geography may involve scheduled fieldwork, and arts or language components can depend on recordings or performances.
Aim to finish DP1 with 2-3 approved IA directions, one pilot or source-collection phase completed, and a clear next action for every subject. The 12-week Biology IA timeline demonstrates why piloting should precede final data collection.
Do not schedule an entire IA for an unsupervised holiday unless your teacher approves the plan. Safer holiday tasks include organizing sources, cleaning an existing dataset, checking references, or preparing an outline.
DP2 Term 1: stagger complete drafts
This is usually the main production term. Complete evidence collection early and move into analysis, interpretation, and evaluation instead of continually expanding background material.
| Period | Main priority | Secondary task |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-3 | Finish IA A evidence and analysis | Maintain sources for IA B |
| Weeks 4-6 | Draft IA A | Analyze IA B and confirm IA C plan |
| Weeks 7-9 | Revise and finalize IA A | Complete IA B draft |
| Weeks 10-12 | Finalize IA B | Begin substantive work on IA C |
This sequence keeps one IA intensive while another remains in maintenance mode. Use the ideal IA and EE timeline when Extended Essay milestones overlap with coursework.
DP2 Term 2: submit and shift toward examinations
Most evidence collection should now be complete. Remaining tasks should involve finishing drafts, applying permitted feedback, checking calculations, strengthening analysis, completing citations, and preparing final files.
Protect a 7-day buffer before each final school deadline. Use it for criterion-relevant improvements, references, figure labels, formatting, and file checks rather than adding a completely new method or argument.
Continue two or three 20-30 minute examination-practice blocks each week so subjects do not become dormant. The guide to balancing an IA with final examination preparation explains how to adjust this balance after submission.
DP2 Term 3: keep coursework closed
The final term should focus on examination preparation. Reopening submitted work consumes revision time and may not be permitted after authentication.
If an IA remains unfinished, contact the teacher and DP coordinator immediately. Do not assume an online IB date provides extra time because the school still needs to complete marking, authentication, moderation preparation, and submission.
Managing several IAs in one week
Use three protected sessions instead of an undefined goal to work over the weekend:
- A 60-90 minute session for analysis, calculations, or argument.
- A 45-60 minute drafting session with one measurable output.
- A 20-30 minute maintenance session for citations, tables, labels, or tracking.
Write outcomes such as “interpret Graph 2 and explain two anomalies,” not “work on Biology IA.” Record the next physical action after each session so the following block begins without another planning delay. The IA time-management guide offers a useful six-week model for approaching deadlines.
Limit yourself to two active IAs when school deadlines allow. Give one intensive analysis or drafting blocks while the other receives shorter maintenance sessions. This reduces context switching and produces completed work rather than several unfinished documents.
Feedback, authenticity, and submission
Teacher feedback is governed by the rules for the relevant subject and component. Do not assume repeated editing or unlimited draft feedback is allowed. For example, the current Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches guide describes advice on one draft before the next version is submitted as final, but follow the guidance for your own course.
Keep dated notes, raw data, drafts, calculations, source records, and checkpoint evidence. These materials support revision and help teachers authenticate the work. Acknowledge all borrowed wording, ideas, images, and data.
Before submission, confirm that:
- The response addresses the approved question or task
- Analysis is explained rather than merely displayed
- Figures, units, tables, and citations are complete
- The correct file opens and follows naming instructions
- Comments, placeholders, and tracked changes are removed
- You understand that this is the final authenticated version
Common planning mistakes
Using an internet date instead of the school deadline risks missing the only date that governs your schedule. Obtain written confirmation from your teacher or coordinator.
Writing before evidence exists produces vague analysis. Complete experiments, source selection, data cleaning, or textual work early enough to write from genuine findings.
Leaving every IA until DP2 Term 2 creates competition with mocks, TOK, the Extended Essay, and revision. Finalize 1-2 substantial components during DP2 Term 1 where your schedule permits.
Leaving no buffer allows a citation, formatting, or file problem to become a missed deadline. Set a personal completion date several days before final submission.
Conclusion
The central rule for IB IA deadlines is simple: your school's deadlines control your schedule. Map requirements during DP1, test feasibility early, complete dependent evidence before holidays, stagger drafts through DP2 Term 1, and close coursework before intensive examination preparation.
RevisionDojo can support this plan through Coursework Review, IA Feedback, Study Notes, and Jojo AI. Begin with the guide explaining when IAs are due, then use the most relevant tools alongside official criteria and your teacher's instructions.