If you want your Sports, Exercise and Health Science internal assessment finished before winter break, start in the first half of September. A realistic IB SEHS IA timeline lasts approximately 12 weeks. Complete the research question and pilot in September, collect final data in October, then analyse, write, review, and revise during November.
This is longer than the 10 hours allocated to the scientific investigation because calendar time includes approval, participant recruitment, equipment booking, feedback, and unsuccessful trials. Your school determines its own internal deadlines, so confirm the proposal, draft, and final submission dates before using this schedule.
What the Current IB SEHS IA Requires
For the course first assessed in 2026, the IA is officially called the scientific investigation. The official IB SEHS subject brief describes it as an open-ended investigation in which students collect and analyse data to answer their own research question.
The official framework specifies:
- 10 hours allocated to the investigation
- 24% of the final SEHS grade at SL and HL
- A written report of no more than 3,200 words
- Internal marking followed by external IB moderation
- Four criteria: research design, data analysis, conclusion, and evaluation, each worth 6 marks
This model differs from the older SEHS IA. Personal engagement and communication are no longer separate criteria. The IB curriculum update also confirms that conclusion and evaluation together represent 50% of the marks. Avoid outdated guidance describing five criteria or a 20% weighting.
Limited collaboration is allowed where appropriate. Students may use similar methodologies in small groups, but either the independent or dependent variable must differ. Each student must collect unique data and submit an individual report.
Recommended September-to-November Timeline
This schedule assumes that work begins in the first school week of September and the final version is ready by November 30. Adjust it around holidays, school deadlines, facility access, and teacher feedback arrangements.
| Period | Main task | Required outcome |
|---|---|---|
| September 1-7 | Explore topics and read the criteria | Two or three feasible ideas |
| September 8-14 | Refine the research question | Approved question with measurable variables |
| September 15-21 | Design the method and ethics plan | Reproducible procedure and risk controls |
| September 22-30 | Conduct a pilot | Tested method with documented changes |
| October 1-14 | Collect final data | Complete, clearly labelled raw data |
| October 15-21 | Process and graph results | Calculations, statistics, tables, and figures |
| October 22-31 | Interpret evidence | Findings and ranked limitations |
| November 1-9 | Write the first draft | All four criteria addressed |
| November 10-16 | Use permitted feedback | Prioritised revision list |
| November 17-23 | Revise the argument | Stronger analysis, conclusion, and evaluation |
| November 24-30 | Complete final checks | Submission-ready report |
Early September: Choose a Feasible Question
Do not choose a topic simply because it sounds sophisticated. A workable investigation needs measurable variables, accessible equipment, safe procedures, available participants, and enough repeated measurements to support analysis. The RevisionDojo SEHS IA topic guide can help you compare possibilities, but the final question and decisions must be your own.
By September 14, aim to have a focused question identifying the variables and relevant population or context. Instead of asking, “How does exercise affect heart rate?”, investigate how two standardised recovery conditions affect heart-rate recovery in a defined participant group.
Before approval, check that you can measure the dependent variable precisely, control important confounding variables, recruit participants ethically, and finish testing within the available sessions. The activity must also be appropriate for each participant's health and ability.
Late September: Design and Pilot the Method
Use September 15-21 to establish equipment, sampling, controls, trial order, recovery periods, safety measures, consent procedures, and data-recording conventions. Human investigations require informed consent, confidentiality, participant welfare, and the right to withdraw. Follow your school's ethics process before collecting data.
Pilot the complete procedure before October. A pilot should test whether instructions are clear, equipment works, timings are practical, exercise intensity is safe, and measurements vary enough to answer the question.
Document every resulting change. Unstable heart-rate readings might require standardised sensor placement or a longer measurement period. Persistent fatigue between conditions could require longer recovery or testing on separate days.
Early October: Collect Final Data
Reserve October 1-14 for final collection. Two weeks provide protection against absences, unavailable facilities, equipment problems, and sessions that must be repeated.
Prepare the raw-data table before testing. Include headings, units, participant codes, repeated trials, relevant observations, and instrument uncertainties where appropriate. Back up data after every session, and never remove inconvenient values without a documented scientific reason.
Standardisation is particularly important in human performance research. Sleep, motivation, previous exercise, nutrition, caffeine, technique, and time of day can influence results. Control significant factors consistently and record those that could affect interpretation.
Complete Analysis Before the Full Draft
Use October 15-21 to turn measurements into evidence. Appropriate processing might include means, standard deviations, percentage changes, rates, correlations, or an inferential test. Statistics should help answer the research question rather than make the report appear advanced.
The RevisionDojo SEHS data analysis guide explains how central tendency and spread support judgments about patterns and reliability. Create a traceable chain from raw data to processed values, graphs, statistical results, and scientific interpretation.
By October 31, identify the main pattern, its size and consistency, the relevant SEHS explanation, and how confidently the evidence answers the question. Keep a testing log of inconsistent technique, equipment problems, participant variation, and procedural decisions. This produces a more specific evaluation than trying to recall weaknesses later.
Use November for Writing and Revision
Write the complete first draft during November 1-9. Completing every section is more useful than perfecting the introduction while leaving analysis unfinished. Use the current SEHS IA criteria guide and 2026 SEHS rubric checker to audit coverage of all four criteria.
Give particular attention to conclusion and evaluation. The conclusion should answer the research question using specific results and accepted scientific context. The evaluation should identify consequential weaknesses, explain their effects on the evidence or conclusion, and propose realistic improvements that address them directly.
Use November 10-16 for teacher feedback where permitted. IB teachers must follow rules concerning assistance, so repeated rounds of detailed editing may not be available. Organise permitted feedback by criterion instead of making disconnected sentence-level changes.
During November 24-30, verify the word count, citations, table numbering, figure labels, units, calculations, page order, file name, and authentication requirements. The RevisionDojo IA timeline guide recommends maintaining a submission buffer rather than finishing on the deadline itself.
Common Scheduling Mistakes
The most damaging mistake is spending all of September searching for an original topic. A manageable investigation conducted carefully is stronger than an ambitious project that cannot be controlled or completed.
Other common problems include:
- Collecting final data without a pilot
- Relying on unconfirmed participants
- Choosing statistics only after collection
- Treating data collection as the end of the investigation
- Writing the conclusion before completing analysis
- Using the final week for major rewriting
- Following another school's deadline instead of your own
If the schedule slips, protect analysis, conclusion, and evaluation time. With teacher approval, simplify an overcomplicated design or reduce unnecessary background material instead of compressing the sections where scientific reasoning is assessed.
Conclusion
Begin your IB SEHS IA in early September. Finalise the question by mid-September, pilot before October, collect data in early October, complete analysis by the end of October, and reserve November for writing and revision.
This timeline accommodates the practical delays of human-participant research while protecting the most heavily assessed reasoning. RevisionDojo's SEHS IA Guide, Jojo AI, and IA Feedback tools can support planning and criterion-based review, but your teacher's instructions, school deadlines, and academic integrity rules remain decisive.