IB World Religions SL has 150 recommended teaching hours: 50 hours for introductory study, 80 hours for in-depth study, and 20 hours for the internal assessment. These are teaching and supervised study allocations, not a total that includes all your independent homework and revision.
How Are the Hours Divided?
The IB syllabus divides the course into three parts:
| Course component | Recommended hours | What you study |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1: Introduction to world religions | 50 hours | Five of the nine specified religions, including at least one from each syllabus column |
| Part 2: In-depth studies | 80 hours | Two religions from different syllabus columns, studied through key concepts and five themes |
| Part 3: Internal assessment | 20 hours | An individual investigative study of religious experience, practice, or belief |
What Does This Mean for Your Learning?
In Part 1, you study each selected religion through the three fundamental questions: “What is the human condition?”, “Where are we going?”, and “How do we get there?” The allocation averages approximately 10 hours per religion, although your teacher may organize the time differently.
Part 2 provides approximately 40 hours for each selected religion. Its five themes are rituals, sacred texts, doctrines/beliefs, religious experience, and ethics and moral conduct. This longer allocation supports analysis of how beliefs shape believers’ behaviour and how practices vary within traditions.
The investigative study, which is the internal assessment, has approximately 20 allocated hours for preparation, investigation, and writing.
A common misconception is that students must study all nine religions. The syllabus requires five introductory religions and two in-depth religions. World Religions is available at SL only; there is no separate HL teaching-hour allocation.
Exam Preparation
Use the course structure to organize revision: Part 1 prepares you for Paper 1 stimulus questions, while Part 2 prepares you for Paper 2 analytical essays. Teaching hours are not assessment weightings, so do not treat them as percentages of your final grade.