The September-to-November period of IB DP2 often combines unfinished coursework, new syllabus content, predicted-grade assessments, university applications, CAS, and mock preparation. If you cannot do everything equally well, prioritize by consequence, deadline, and academic value, not by which task feels easiest or most stressful.
Your usual order should be: protect diploma eligibility, meet immovable deadlines, advance assessed coursework, prepare for assessments that provide current evidence, complete applications, and maintain a small amount of cumulative revision. This is not an official IB hierarchy, but it is a practical framework that you should adapt to your school's calendar.
Use an IB DP2 priority hierarchy
A priority list is a decision about where limited time will produce the greatest benefit. Some work needs an excellent standard, some only needs competent completion, and some can wait.
Ask three questions whenever tasks compete:
- What happens if I do not complete this on time?
- How much could this affect my diploma, subject result, or application?
- Can focused work still improve the outcome?
| Priority | What belongs here | Appropriate response |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diploma requirements and fixed deadlines | Schedule immediately and confirm requirements |
| 2 | IAs, EE, TOK, orals, performances, and assessed coursework | Complete the next submission-ready step |
| 3 | Tests and work contributing to predicted-grade evidence | Practise the relevant format using feedback |
| 4 | University and scholarship applications | Work backward from official and school deadlines |
| 5 | Cumulative examination preparation | Maintain short weekly recall and question practice |
| 6 | Optional activities and low-value polishing | Reduce, postpone, delegate, or remove |
Protect diploma requirements and fixed deadlines first
The Diploma Programme includes six subjects plus TOK, the Extended Essay, and CAS. TOK and the EE are assessed, while CAS must be completed successfully as a diploma requirement.
Do not assume that an online deadline is your personal deadline. The IB communicates submission dates to schools, which commonly establish earlier internal deadlines for the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge. Your coordinator's confirmed calendar is therefore your operational source of truth.
Create one master list containing:
- IA draft, feedback, authentication, and final deadlines
- EE supervision, reflection, revision, and submission milestones
- TOK deadlines relevant to your cohort
- CAS interviews, evidence, reflections, and completion checks
- Oral, performance, portfolio, and practical dates
- Mock examinations and significant tests
- University, scholarship, admissions-test, and reference deadlines
For UCAS 2027 entry, the deadline for Oxford, Cambridge, and most medicine, dentistry, and veterinary courses is 15 October 2026 at 18:00 UK time. Most other undergraduate courses have an equal-consideration deadline of 13 January 2027, although schools may require earlier completion so references can be prepared.
Advance coursework through concrete next actions
Writing "finish Biology IA" creates pressure without providing an instruction. Replace each large project with an action that fits one focused block, such as correcting uncertainty calculations, drafting an evaluation around three limitations, recording five credible EE sources, or checking citations against the bibliography.
If several projects are unfinished, rank them by confirmed deadline, current stage, assessment value, and dependence on teacher feedback. A draft due tomorrow normally outranks polishing a nearly complete project due next month.
Use the official criteria supplied through your school. RevisionDojo's IA guides can clarify structural issues, while coursework feedback can identify areas to review. Submitted writing must remain your own, and all assistance must follow your school's rules and the IB's academic integrity expectations.
Protect assessments that provide current evidence
Schools determine predicted grades using their own policies. Ask each teacher what evidence matters, when predictions are finalized, and what measurable improvement would look like.
Choose two priority subjects each week, usually those with an imminent assessment, a realistic opportunity for improvement, or an unresolved weakness. For each subject:
- Identify one weak topic or paper skill from recent feedback.
- Review only the material needed to repair it.
- Complete relevant exam-style questions without notes.
- Mark the work and classify each error.
- Retest the skill with a fresh question later that week.
RevisionDojo's Questionbank supports targeted practice by subject, level, and topic. Jojo AI can clarify a specific misunderstanding, but complete the next question independently to confirm that you understand it.
Maintain a minimum revision floor
Coursework and immediate assessments may deserve more time than full-paper revision early in DP2. However, abandoning old material until mock season creates a larger problem later.
Aim for:
- 10-15 minutes of recall on most school days
- One or two targeted question sessions each week
- One short timed section in a priority subject
- A mistake log recording why marks were lost
Review formulas, vocabulary, quotation banks, essay structures, and important DP1 concepts. The RevisionDojo Study Planner can convert these into specific daily tasks.
Full papers are useful for testing timing and stamina, but they are inefficient when obvious content gaps remain. Short diagnostic sets usually provide better value in September and October. Mixed and timed practice can become more regular by November.
Build a week that can survive disruption
Plan from your available time after accounting for school, travel, meals, activities, sleep, and personal responsibilities. A realistic week might include three 45-60 minute coursework blocks, three 35-50 minute subject-practice blocks, five short recall sessions, one application block, one buffer block, and protected rest.
Choose no more than three important outputs each day. "Revise one EE subsection, complete eight calculus questions, and send a reference request" is more useful than "work on school" because each task has a clear stopping point.
For more detailed scheduling, use the IB study-planner guide with the month-by-month guide to IB DP2.
Reduce repeated note rewriting, unnecessary file organization, extra questions on mastered topics, premature polishing, and optional commitments during deadline clusters. Do not sacrifice sleep routinely, since reduced attention and memory will damage the work you are trying to protect. If the workload remains impossible, ask a coordinator, teacher, counsellor, or parent to help determine the order before deadlines are missed.
Conclusion
When you cannot do everything this term, prioritize diploma requirements, fixed deadlines, assessed coursework, current academic evidence, applications, and a minimum floor of revision. Break projects into concrete actions, concentrate on a small number of subjects each week, and deliberately remove low-value work.
RevisionDojo can support this system through its Study Planner, Questionbank, Study Notes, Flashcards, coursework feedback, and Jojo AI. Start by mapping confirmed deadlines, then use targeted practice and feedback so each study block produces visible progress.
Sources and referenced URLs
- IB explanation of Diploma Programme assessment
- IB Extended Essay submission deadline guidance
- IB Theory of Knowledge deadline guidance
- IB academic integrity guidance
- UCAS application dates and deadlines
- RevisionDojo IB IA guides
- RevisionDojo Coursework Grader
- RevisionDojo Questionbank
- RevisionDojo IB Study Planner
- RevisionDojo guide to choosing an IB study planner
- RevisionDojo month-by-month guide to IB DP2

