A February mock exam calendar can look perfectly manageable when it is created six months earlier.
Then February arrives.
Students are completing Internal Assessments, polishing Extended Essays, revising Theory of Knowledge work and preparing for several papers across six subjects. Teachers are marking under pressure. Coordinators are trying to resolve timetable clashes that should never have existed.
A recent Koncepts LinkedIn post captured the problem clearly:
“None of these are February problems. They are August design decisions.”
The month names will vary between schools. A November session school may make these decisions at a different point in the year. The principle remains the same: the quality of an IB DP mock exam depends heavily on decisions made long before students enter the examination room.
The IB publishes official assessment sessions in May and November. The public IB guidance cited in this article does not prescribe a universal February mock period, a mandatory two week buffer or a fixed number of digital practice sessions. Those are school decisions that should be shaped by the cohort, curriculum, internal deadlines and examination mode.
What an IB DP Mock Exam Should Actually Do
A mock exam should reproduce enough of the real assessment experience to show what a student can do independently, under time pressure and within the structure of the correct paper.
The IB describes assessment as:
“direct evidence of achievement against the stated goals of the Diploma Programme courses.”
That evidence should reveal more than a total score.
A useful DP mock should help the school understand:
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Which concepts the student has not yet secured
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Which command terms are being misinterpreted
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Whether the student can apply knowledge in unfamiliar contexts
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Where timing begins to break down
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Which parts of the markscheme the response is failing to satisfy
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Whether exam conditions change the student’s performance
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What teaching or revision should happen next
A mock that produces only a grade tells the school where a student finished. A diagnostic mock helps explain why they finished there.
This distinction also matters when mocks contribute to predicted grades. The IB defines a predicted grade as a judgement based on:
“all the evidence of the candidate’s work and the teacher’s knowledge of IB standards.”
A mock result can be important evidence, but it should not become the only evidence.
Decision 1: Build the DP Calendar Before Choosing the Mock Dates
The mock window should not be placed wherever space appears in the school timetable.
It should be designed alongside the complete DP2 workload.
The IB sets submission dates for the Extended Essay and TOK components, but schools determine their own internal milestones and submission schedules. For the Extended Essay, the IB states:
“It is strongly recommended that schools set internal deadlines for the different stages.”
The same principle applies to Theory of Knowledge. Schools and supervisors are advised to set internal deadlines that remain aligned with the official submission date.
Before publishing mock dates, coordinators should place the following on one shared calendar:
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Every subject’s Internal Assessment draft date
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Every subject’s final Internal Assessment deadline
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Extended Essay milestones and the school’s final submission date
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TOK essay and exhibition deadlines
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University application and school reference deadlines
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The proposed mock examination window
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The mock marking period
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The date when feedback will be returned
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Time for post mock teaching and targeted reassessment
The important question is not whether each deadline looks reasonable in isolation. It is whether the deadlines remain reasonable when experienced by one student taking six subjects and the DP core.
Is a Two Week Buffer Required?
No public IB guidance cited here requires a two week gap between internal deadlines and mocks.
The original Koncepts article presents two weeks as a practical planning recommendation. A school may adopt that recommendation, shorten it or extend it depending on its calendar.
The better test is simple: can students prepare properly for the mock without sacrificing the quality of assessed coursework?
If the answer is no, the collision should be addressed while the calendar can still be changed.
Decision 2: Confirm the Active Syllabus Before Selecting Questions
Past papers are useful only when they represent the course the student is actually studying.
The IB regularly reviews DP subjects and introduces updated curricula on different timelines. Its curriculum page states:
“The IB reviews all subjects regularly.”
That creates a genuine risk during mock construction. A familiar paper may contain outdated content, a previous assessment structure or expectations that no longer match the current course.
As of August 2026, schools should pay particular attention to these transitions:
| First assessment | Subjects and components |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Biology, Chemistry and Physics |
| 2026 | Environmental Systems and Societies, Global Politics, and Sports, Exercise and Health Science |
| 2027 | Computer Science, Design Technology, Psychology, Visual Arts and the updated Extended Essay |
| 2028 | History |
| 2029 | Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, Language B and other listed updates |
The IB Questionbank separates older and current versions of several subjects. Biology, Chemistry and Physics, for example, are listed under both “last assessment 2024” and “first assessment 2025.” Environmental Systems and Societies is separated into “last assessment 2025” and “first assessment 2026.”
That separation should happen inside the school’s mock paper archive too.
A Five Point Paper Audit
Before approving any question, confirm:
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Course and level: Is it from the correct subject, course and HL or SL pathway?
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Syllabus version: Does the content belong to the guide being taught to this cohort?
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Assessment structure: Does the question belong to the current paper format?
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Command term and demand: Does it test the intended skill at the right level?
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Markscheme: Is the marking guidance compatible with the current course expectations?
An old question is not automatically useless. It may still work as classroom practice when mapped carefully to the current syllabus.
The problem begins when an entire old paper is presented as a current mock without checking what has changed.
Teachers can verify paper structures through current subject guides, subject briefs, specimen papers, the Programme Resource Centre and the official IB Questionbank. The IB also provides a public collection of sample and specimen examination papers.
Decision 3: Decide What the Mock Is Designed to Diagnose
The IB assesses more than recall. Its DP assessment framework includes analysing information, constructing arguments, solving problems, understanding concepts and applying methods.
A mock paper should therefore be built from a blueprint, not assembled from whatever questions are easiest to find.
Before finalising the paper, each department should record:
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The subject, course and level
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The active syllabus version
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The paper being simulated
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The topics being sampled
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The assessment objectives and command terms
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The total marks and time available
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The balance between short and extended responses
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Required calculators, formula booklets, case studies or data booklets
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Approved access arrangements
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The markscheme and moderation process
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How the school will translate marks into an indicative grade
The word indicative matters.
Official IB grade boundaries are established through examiner judgement, candidate work, statistical evidence and documented grade standards. A boundary borrowed from a previous examination session can help a school interpret a mock, but it is not a guaranteed prediction of the boundary that will apply to the student’s final session.
Use Shared Diagnostic Categories
Departments should also agree on a small set of reasons why marks are being lost.
A practical set might include:
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Knowledge gap
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Misread command term
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Weak application
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Missing evidence or justification
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Incorrect method
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Time management
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Misreading the source, stimulus or question
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Examination technique
This creates a common language across subjects.
Instead of telling a student that they received 58 percent, the school can show that most lost marks came from incomplete evaluation, poor time allocation and one specific topic gap.
That is information a student can use.
Decision 4: Match the Mock to the Correct Examination Mode
Digital readiness should be based on current IB information, not assumptions carried over from the previous year.
The IB is introducing digital examinations gradually. Paper and digital examinations are being run in parallel, and schools can continue with paper examinations during the transition until they are prepared to move online.
The IB’s Director of Assessment describes the priority clearly:
“Ensuring fairness and comparability is our top priority.”
IB World Schools can access specimen digital examinations through the Programme Resource Centre in English, French and Spanish. These resources are intended to help schools, teachers and students become familiar with the format before live examinations.
For any cohort preparing for an on screen assessment, the school should test:
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The actual devices students will use
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Login and identity procedures
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Keyboard, trackpad and screen familiarity
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Navigation between questions
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Flagging, annotation and review functions
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Network and power reliability
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Approved access arrangements
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The response to a technical interruption
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Student understanding of the examination rules
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A timed section followed by a complete rehearsal
A fixed requirement of three digital practices is not stated in the public IB guidance cited here. Schools should schedule enough practice for students to use the format without the technology competing with the subject knowledge being assessed.
Decision 5: Design the Feedback Before Students Sit the Paper
Feedback should not be improvised after teachers finish marking.
The school should decide in advance:
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Who will mark each paper
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Which scripts will be moderated
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When results will be returned
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How errors will be categorised
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What students must do with the feedback
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When follow up practice will occur
Research on retrieval practice helps explain why this matters. Roediger and Karpicke found that:
“Taking a memory test not only assesses what one knows, but also enhances later retention.”
Other controlled studies found that feedback after testing helped learners correct errors and improved later retention compared with testing without feedback. These studies were not conducted on full IB mock examinations, so they should not be treated as proof that any mock automatically improves results. They support the narrower principle that retrieval becomes more useful when students receive accurate feedback and act on it.
A Practical Post Mock Review
Every student should leave the review process knowing:
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Where they earned marks
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Where they lost marks
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Why those marks were lost
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Which weakness appeared repeatedly
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What they will practise next
A simple review record can use these fields:
| Question | Marks earned | Reason marks were lost | Corrected response | Next practice |
|---|
The reason column is the most important.
“Wrong answer” is not a diagnosis.
“Used evidence but did not evaluate its reliability” is a diagnosis.
“Completed the first essay in 55 minutes and left 25 minutes for the second” is a diagnosis.
“Answered ‘describe’ when the question required ‘explain’” is a diagnosis.
Students should then complete a targeted question or short paper that tests the same skill without simply repeating the original question.
The Koncepts guide to reading IB markschemes can support this stage by helping students connect command terms, available marks and the evidence examiners reward.
A DP Mock Planning Checklist
Before the mock calendar is published, confirm that:
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Mock dates have been compared with every IA, EE and TOK internal deadline.
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Teachers have confirmed the current syllabus version for each subject.
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Every paper matches the correct course and HL or SL pathway.
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Specimen material has been used where current past papers are limited.
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Each paper has a written assessment blueprint.
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Markschemes and internal moderation arrangements are ready.
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Any indicative grade boundaries are clearly labelled.
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Students know the examination format and permitted materials.
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Digital cohorts have practised on the appropriate devices.
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A feedback return date has already been agreed.
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Post mock review time appears on the teaching calendar.
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Targeted follow up work will be assigned from the diagnostic evidence.
How Koncepts Supports the DP Mock Workflow
Koncepts brings past paper practice, assessment, exam conditions, feedback and DP core supervision into one IB focused workspace.
The Koncepts DP Past Papers tool lets teachers browse papers question by question with marks, command terms and markschemes. Teachers can use individual questions during teaching or move a selected paper into the examination workflow.
Exams and Proctoring supports timed windows, unlock codes, live status monitoring and optional locked conditions. Schools should use monitoring features in line with their own safeguarding, privacy, accessibility and assessment policies.
After the mock, the DP Assessment Generator can help teachers build targeted question sets, review per question performance and assign follow up work around identified weak areas. Every generated question, rubric and markscheme remains editable before assignment.
The calendar problem can also be addressed earlier through EE and TOK Supervision, which tracks milestones, drafts and candidate progress alongside the rest of the DP workflow.
These tools do not replace the coordinator’s decisions. The school must still verify the active guide, approve every paper, protect student workload and decide how mock evidence will influence teaching.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Should May Session IB DP Mocks Take Place?
The IB does not publish one universal February mock date on the public pages cited here. Schools should select a window that leaves enough time for marking, feedback, targeted teaching and further practice before the official May examination session.
The dates should be tested against the school’s IA, EE, TOK and university application calendar before they are confirmed.
Can Schools Use Questions From an Older Syllabus?
Yes, but only after checking that the content, command term, assessment objective, paper structure and markscheme remain relevant.
An older individual question may still be useful. An unchanged full paper from a previous syllabus should not automatically be treated as a valid current mock.
Should the Mock Grade Determine the Predicted Grade?
It can contribute, but it should not be the sole basis.
The IB states that predicted grades should be based on all available evidence and the teacher’s knowledge of IB standards. Coursework, Internal Assessments, class performance, other tests and the student’s pattern over time may all be relevant.
For more detail, read IB Predicted Grades vs Final Results.
How Quickly Should Mock Feedback Be Returned?
There is no universal turnaround period in the public IB guidance cited here.
The school should set a realistic deadline before the mock begins and return the feedback while students still have enough time to use it. Feedback that arrives after the revision plan has already moved on has limited practical value.
How Should Schools Prepare Students for Digital IB Exams?
Schools should verify the current status of each subject through official IB channels, use the specimen digital examinations available in the Programme Resource Centre and practise using the devices and procedures students will encounter.
The purpose is not simply to expose students to a screen. It is to remove unnecessary uncertainty around navigation, timing, access and technical procedures.
Better Mocks Begin Before Mock Season
A mock exam is not improved by making it harder, longer or more stressful.
It improves when every part of the process has a purpose.
The calendar protects students from avoidable deadline collisions. The syllabus audit protects the validity of the paper. The blueprint reveals what the school is trying to measure. Digital preparation prevents format from obscuring knowledge. Feedback turns a score into a revision decision.
That is the real gap between August and February.
One month is when the school makes the decisions. The other is when students experience their consequences.
Explore the complete Koncepts toolkit for DP teachers to plan assessments, use DP past papers, run timed exams, track the DP core and turn mock results into targeted follow up.
