Time management in IB exams: minutes per mark for every paper, and what to do when you're behind

The simplest time-management tool for IB exams is minutes per mark: divide the paper's length by its total marks. Most Biology, Chemistry and ESS papers give you between 1.6 and 2 minutes per mark, Maths AA and AI papers about 1.1 (1.4 for HL Paper 3), and the essay-heavy Psychology and Global Politics papers between 2.6 and 3.5. Multiply by the marks on a question and you have its time budget; add them up by section and you have checkpoints to write on the front of the paper.

The budget isn't there to make you write faster. It tells you when to stop: when a 3-mark question has eaten ten minutes, it's costing you marks somewhere else.

How many minutes per mark do you get in each IB paper?

These figures divide the full duration of each paper by its total marks, rounded to one decimal place. They cover the current courses: Biology and Chemistry (first examined 2025), ESS and Global Politics (2026), Maths AA and AI (examined on the current course until November 2028), and Psychology from May 2027.

Two notes. The Global Politics mark totals come from IB schools' course outlines rather than an IB document we could read, so check them against the front cover of a recent paper, which always states the maximum mark. And if you're sitting the old Psychology course in November 2026, the durations are different (SL Paper 1 is 2 hours, SL Paper 2 is 1 hour, and HL Papers 1, 2 and 3 are 2 h, 2 h and 1 h); work out your own figure from the marks printed on your past papers.

How do you turn minutes per mark into checkpoints?

Before you start, work out when each section should be finished and write the clock times on the front cover. Here are the section budgets for the papers where sections are fixed:

For Biology HL Paper 2 starting at 09:00, that gives three checkpoints: Section A finished by 10:30, the first Section B answer by 11:00, the second by 11:30, when the paper ends. Glance at the clock only at those points. If you're more than five minutes behind at a checkpoint, speed up on the next section by moving on sooner from questions you're unsure of, not by writing faster and less clearly.

Paper 1A and 1B in Biology and Chemistry are sat together in one sitting, so the split between them is yours to choose. The split by marks is in the table, but 1A questions vary a lot: many take 30 seconds, a few need a calculation. It usually pays to finish 1A a little ahead of its share and carry the spare minutes into 1B, where the data-based questions need careful reading.

What order should you answer the questions in?

There's no single right order, but there are two rules: decide it before the exam, and practise it at least twice under timed conditions.

• Read the choices first. Where you choose questions (Biology Paper 2 Section B, ESS Paper 2 Section B, Psychology Paper 1 Section C, both Global Politics Paper 2 sections), spend two or three minutes at the start picking them. Choosing mid-paper while tired leads to picking the question that looks familiar, not the one you can answer best.
• In order is a fine default for maths Section A, Paper 1A and short-answer sections, where questions roughly build in difficulty and switching costs time.
• Consider the long answers first if you routinely run out of time in a paper. A rushed final essay loses far more marks than a rushed final 2-mark question. The cost is starting cold on a long answer, so only do this if you've practised it.
• Start data-heavy papers with the data. ESS Paper 1 is built around one unseen case study and Paper 1B around experimental data. A few minutes reading the figures, axes and units before the questions saves misreading later.

When should you skip a question?

Use a simple rule: when you've spent one and a half times a question's budget and aren't close to finishing, mark it and move on. For a 4-mark question at 1.8 minutes per mark, that's about 11 minutes. Mark it in the margin so you can find it again.

• In multiple choice, never leave a blank. There's no penalty for a wrong answer in Paper 1A, so pick your best guess, circle the question number, and return if there's time.
• In maths, a stuck "show that" part doesn't block the next part: you can use the printed result and carry on. The mark schemes guide shows how those later marks are awarded.
• In science calculations, if you can't get a value in part (a), state a sensible assumed value and use it in part (b). With error carried forward, correct working on your value can still earn marks.
• In essays, don't skip; shorten. Cut the introduction to one sentence and make sure each main point has its evidence and a link back to the question.

What should you do in the last 10 minutes?

1. Fill every multiple-choice gap and go back to the questions you circled.
2. Finish any unfinished long answer as a plan in sentences: the remaining points, the evidence you'd use, a one-line conclusion. That can still earn marks; an empty space can't.
3. Check the cheap marks: units on every final answer, significant figures (three on maths calculator papers unless told otherwise), axis labels on any graph or sketch, and that each answer is clearly marked as the answer.
4. Check you've answered the right number of questions in each section with a choice, and that each answer is labelled with its question number.
5. Re-read the command term on any question where you're unsure. A "compare and contrast" answered as two separate descriptions, or an "evaluate" without a judgement, is often fixable with two sentences. The command terms guide lists what each one asks for.

Don't use the last minutes to rewrite a correct answer more neatly or to start a brand-new long question from scratch, unless it's the only thing left.

How do you practise timing before the exam?

Timing is a skill you build, not a decision you make on the day. Practise it in three steps, starting several weeks before mocks:

1. Single questions with a budget. Before each practice question, write its budget (marks × minutes per mark) next to it and time yourself. Note every question where you went over by more than half. Those are the question types to drill.
2. Sections against the clock. Do one section in one sitting at its budget, for example Biology SL Paper 2 Section A in 61 minutes. This trains the checkpoint habit without needing a free three-hour block.
3. Full papers in exam conditions. Full length, with the right calculator and, for Chemistry and Maths, a clean data or formula booklet. Then mark it strictly. The past papers guide covers which papers match your syllabus and how to log your errors.

Your logs will usually show that time isn't lost evenly. It goes on a few question types: long calculations, unfamiliar data, the first paragraph of an essay. Speeding up on recall questions (definitions, "state" and "outline") buys time for exactly those. If you want to fit timed practice into your weeks before exams, the revision plan guide shows how to schedule it.