IB Math RevisionIB Math AI SL November 2026: final 3-week revision plan
21 days, one focused task a day, counted back from AI SL Paper 1 on Monday 9 November 2026, then what to do on each exam day. Every task links a free page on this site, built from the topics and mistakes the IB’s own subject reports flag. Tick each day off: your ticks are saved in this browser.
Your November 2026 paper dates
| Paper | Date | Session | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Monday 9 November 2026 | afternoon | 1h 30m |
| Paper 2 | Tuesday 10 November 2026 | morning | 1h 30m |
Source: IB November 2026 examination schedule (PDF), checked 5 October 2026. Start times depend on your time zone: your IB coordinator confirms them. All sessions: IB Maths exam dates.
How to revise for each paper
How to revise for Paper 1
90 minutes, 80 marks, calculator allowed. About 1.1 minutes a mark.
In the 4 AI SL Paper 1s mapped on Examiner Insights (May 2024 TZ2, November 2024 TZ2, November 2025 TZ1, November 2025 TZ3), the most questions touched Statistics and probability (16 of 50) and Functions (10 of 50). That is what came up before, not a forecast.
Timed practice: practice Paper 1 · Prediction Paper 1 (our prediction) · past papers
How to revise for Paper 2
90 minutes, 80 marks, calculator allowed. About 1.1 minutes a mark.
In the 4 AI SL Paper 2s mapped on Examiner Insights (May 2024 TZ2, November 2024 TZ2, November 2025 TZ1, November 2025 TZ3), the most questions touched Geometry and trigonometry (8 of 20) and Statistics and probability (8 of 20). That is what came up before, not a forecast.
Timed practice: practice Paper 2 · Prediction Paper 2 (our prediction) · past papers
The 21 days
Week 1: find your gaps and fix the big topics
- Day 1
Rate every topic, then put your dates in a plan
Monday 19 October
Go through the AI SL syllabus checklist and mark each topic red, amber or green. Then add your paper dates to the study planner: it builds a week-by-week timetable from your own weak topics.
- Day 2
A timed Paper 1 to find your gaps
Tuesday 20 October
Sit our AI SL practice Paper 1 in one go (90 minutes, 80 marks, calculator allowed), marked instantly. Put every lost mark in My mistakes: that list drives the rest of the plan.
- Day 3
Statistics: hypothesis tests, probability and distributions
Wednesday 21 October
The largest share of the questions we mapped in every session; the reports repeatedly name χ²/t-test set-up and conclusions, conditional and without-replacement probability, and binomial/normal bounds.
Notes · Practise Unit 4: Statistics and probability · What the examiners say
- Day 4
Finance, sequences and accuracy
Thursday 22 October
A finance question with regular payments appears in every session and loses marks on TVM signs and periods; sequence questions confuse terms, sums and n; accuracy rules cost marks throughout.
Notes · Practise Unit 1: Number and algebra · What the examiners say
- Day 5
Calculus: tangents and normals, rates, trapezoidal rule, optimisation
Friday 23 October
Named as difficult in every session: not differentiating to find a gradient, interpreting a derivative, the trapezoidal rule and unscaffolded optimisation.
- Day 6
The formula booklet: what is in it, and what is not
Saturday 24 October
Find your way around the AI SL formula booklet: you get a clean copy in every paper. Then learn the formulas that are not in the booklet.
- Day 7
Review the week
Sunday 25 October
Redo every question in My mistakes without looking at the answer. Read how mark schemes work (M, A, R and AG marks), so you know where the method marks are.
Week 2: full papers, marked like the real thing
- Day 8
Prediction Paper 1, timed (our prediction)
Monday 26 October
Sit Paper 1 from our Prediction Papers under exam conditions (90 minutes, 80 marks, calculator allowed). They are our own papers in the IB format, not IB papers. Paper 1 of each course is free with a free account.
- Day 9
Mark it line by line
Tuesday 27 October
Mark yesterday’s paper with its markscheme, code by code. Log every lost mark in My mistakes with the topic it came from.
- Day 10
Models: exponential, sinusoidal and inverse notation
Wednesday 28 October
Exponential and log models, sinusoidal parameters and function notation cost marks in every session, mostly through interpretation rather than calculation.
- Day 11
Calculator: exam mode and the skills you will need
Thursday 29 October
Practise turning on exam mode on your own calculator. Then run through: Finance (TVM solver) · Regression · t-tests and χ² tests · Normal distribution.
- Day 12
A timed Paper 2
Friday 30 October
Sit our AI SL practice Paper 2 (90 minutes, 80 marks, calculator allowed). Mark it and log the lost marks.
- Day 13
Three mistakes that cost marks
Saturday 31 October
From the IB’s own subject reports, as summarised on Examiner Insights: Finance: compound-interest formula with regular payments, TVM signs and periods; Probability: adding instead of multiplying, conditional sample spaces, without replacement; Binomial and normal: recognising the model, the bound, the tail. Read each fix, then find one question where you made it.
- Day 14
Triangles, 3D shapes and Voronoi diagrams
Sunday 1 November
Usually accessible, but marks go on the wrong rule or angle, missing units, and perpendicular bisectors in Voronoi questions.
Notes · Practise Unit 3: Geometry and trigonometry · What the examiners say
Week 3: sharpen, then rest
- Day 15
One more paper, timed
Monday 2 November
Sit a paper from the AI SL past papers or Paper 2 from the Prediction Papers, timed, and log the lost marks.
- Day 16
Redo every question in My mistakes
Tuesday 3 November
Open My mistakes and redo each one. Anything you still get wrong goes on a single sheet for the last week.
- Day 17
Command terms: what each question asks for
Wednesday 4 November
Read the maths command terms: “show that”, “hence”, “justify” and “write down” each want something different.
- Day 18
A mixed set of questions
Thursday 5 November
Twenty minutes of mixed review questions across the course, then the question of the day.
- Day 19
Formulas to know by heart
Friday 6 November
Test yourself on the formulas that are not in the booklet, with the AI SL formula sheet beside you.
- Day 20
A light day: calculator check and your bag
Saturday 7 November
Go through the calculator exam-day checklist and how to reset it. One short topic only, then stop.
- Day 21
The night before Paper 1
Sunday 8 November
No new topics. Read the night-before checklist below, pack your bag and get an early night.
Exam days
- Monday 9 November, afternoon
Paper 1 (1h 30m)
Calculator in exam mode. Skim your formula list and two questions you got right, then go in calm. Pace: about 1.1 minutes a mark.
Afterwards, don’t redo it from memory: Paper 2 is on Tuesday 10 November (morning). Twenty minutes on the calculator skills above, then sleep.
- Tuesday 10 November, morning
Paper 2 (1h 30m)
Calculator charged and in exam mode. Write the equation or integral down before you use the calculator, so the method marks are on the page. Pace: about 1.1 minutes a mark.
The night before
- Pack pens, a pencil, ruler and eraser, and your calculator: charged or with fresh batteries. Your school tells you what ID to bring.
- Know how to turn on exam mode on your model, and check the angle mode at the start: degrees or radians.
- You get a clean copy of the formula booklet in every paper. Read your list of formulas that are not in it once.
- Plan your time: Paper 1 is 90 minutes for 80 marks; Paper 2 is 90 minutes for 80 marks.
- No new topics. An early night does more than one more hour of revision.
In the exam room
- Accuracy: 2 s.f. answers, early rounding, and ignoring the accuracy asked for. Write the full calculator value, then round once: 3 s.f. unless the question says otherwise (keep trailing zeros). Read each question for its own rounding instruction and for context (whole years, whole items). (Examiner Insights)
- No working shown: bare GDC answers and calculator notation. Write the formula or distribution first (X ~ B(n, p), P(X ≤ 3) = …), then the unrounded value, then the rounded answer. Convert calculator E-notation to a × 10ⁿ. Cross out the attempt you do not want marked. (Examiner Insights)
- χ² and t-tests: hypotheses, the comparison and the conclusion in context. Use a fixed layout: H₀ and H₁ in symbols with the population parameter (μ₁ = μ₂; μ₁ > μ₂) or in words naming both variables for χ²; the p-value; "p < 0.05, so reject H₀" (or not); then one sentence in context. (Examiner Insights)
- Show your method. Method marks are given for correct working even when the final answer is wrong: how mark schemes work.
- Stuck? Leave a gap, move on, and come back with the time you have left.
Free account: save your plan and progress
With a free account (no card), the study planner saves your paper dates and builds a week-by-week timetable from your weak topics, your checklist ratings and My mistakes follow you to any device, and Paper 1 of our Prediction Papers opens in full.
Free account, no card: 5 more practice questions on every topic with instant feedback, full worked answers on free questions, and your streak and progress on any device. Join free
More for the final weeks
- IB Maths AI SL exam countdown a shorter checklist
- IB Maths AI SL Examiner Insights where marks are lost
- Formula booklet PDFs
- Grade boundaries
Other plans for IB Maths AI SL: Mock prep · Exam countdown · Back to school · Results day · 30-day challenge · IA rescue week · Mock Season Plan (free, 4 weeks) · Final 6 Weeks (free plan) · all exam-season plans