IB Exam Day Checklist | From the Night Before to the Moment Papers Begin

The night before your IB exam is not the time to discover you don't know where your candidate number is. Good exam-day performance begins the evening before—with preparation that is calm, methodical, and focused on execution rather than last-minute learning. This checklist walks you through every stage, from switching off your desk lamp the night before to reading the first line of your exam paper.

What Should You Do the Night Before an IB Exam?

The single most valuable thing you can do the night before is protect your sleep. Research on memory consolidation consistently shows that sleep in the hours after studying helps transfer information into long-term storage. Staying up until 2 a.m. reviewing notes erodes that advantage and leaves you cognitively slower during the exam itself.

Instead, use the evening for the following:

Finish any light review by early evening

If you feel you need to look at material, limit it to reviewing your own summary notes or a handful of key concepts—not opening a textbook for the first time. If you have been following a structured revision plan (see IB最終試験 直前対策 for how to structure that), the night before should already be a consolidation session, not a catch-up sprint.

Lay out every physical item you will carry to the exam

Place everything on your desk or in your bag so that tomorrow-morning-you doesn't have to think:

Confirm exam time and venue in writing

It sounds obvious—and it is, which is exactly why students forget it. Check the printed timetable from your school, not a screenshot you took three weeks ago. Note:

• The session time (morning or afternoon)
• The room number and any seating information
• Whether there are separate rooms for different subjects or levels

Set two alarms. Tell someone at home your exam time so they can be a backup.

Wind down deliberately

Screens stimulate alertness. Aim to stop using your phone or laptop at least 45 minutes before you intend to sleep. A short walk, a shower, light reading, or a familiar calming routine all work—choose what you know works for you personally.

What Should You Pack—and What Is Forbidden?

The IB's rules on permitted materials vary significantly by subject, paper, and exam session. Never rely on a friend's account or a forum post about what is allowed. The authoritative source is always the current official subject guide and your school's IB coordinator.

That said, certain categories apply broadly:

Always permitted (subject to school confirmation)

• Pens, pencils, eraser, ruler, highlighter (some schools restrict highlighters in the exam room—confirm)
• Candidate number documentation
• A transparent pencil case

Conditionally permitted

• Graphical or scientific calculators: allowed for certain papers in Mathematics, Sciences, and Economics, but specifically prohibited for others within the same subject. Know exactly which paper you are sitting and whether a calculator is permitted for that paper.
• Dictionaries: permitted for some language subjects under specific conditions. Verify the current rules for your subject.
• Data booklets or formula sheets: these are typically provided by the school for sciences and mathematics, but confirm whether you need to bring your own copy or if the school supplies them.

Not permitted

• Smart watches, earphones, or any wireless device
• Mobile phones (even switched off and in your bag—most schools require phones to be surrendered at the door)
• Personal notes, printed summaries, or any annotated materials
• Correction fluid (Tipp-Ex/White-out) in many exam contexts—check with your coordinator

What Is the Ideal Morning Routine Before an IB Exam?

Aim to wake up with enough time to eat, travel, and arrive at the venue at least 20–30 minutes before the exam begins. Rushing triggers cortisol spikes that genuinely impair recall—this is not motivational rhetoric; it is basic stress physiology.

Eat a real breakfast

Blood glucose affects concentration. You do not need to eat a large meal, but eating nothing is worse than eating something modest. Avoid foods you are not used to on a high-stakes morning.

Review only if it genuinely calms you

Some students feel more settled doing a brief review on the bus; others feel more anxious. Know which type you are. If reviewing makes you spiral into worrying about things you haven't studied, don't do it.

Travel with contingency time

Trains are delayed. Assume 15 extra minutes. If you arrive early, you have a quiet moment; if you arrive on time, you have not spent the walk to your seat panicking about being late.

What Should You Do When You Arrive at the Exam Venue?

Switch off your phone immediately

Hand it in if your school requires it. Do not wait until you are inside the hall to switch it off—do it outside. An accidental notification during an IB exam can result in a rule violation, regardless of intent.

Find your seat calmly

Locate your name or candidate number on the seating plan, place your permitted items on the desk, and leave everything else either in your bag or where instructed. Place your watch where you can see it without moving your arm dramatically.

Complete your calming routine

If you have a physical or mental routine that helps—three slow breaths, a brief moment of stillness, a quiet mental recap of your time plan—do it now, before the invigilator begins instructions. Once instructions start, your full attention should be there.

Listen to every word of the invigilator's instructions

Instructions given at the start of the exam are legally part of the exam process. They often include reminders about specific rules for that session, what to do if you need more paper, how to signal if you feel unwell, and how the papers will be collected. Missing them because you were still settling can cost you.

How Should You Approach the Paper Once It Is in Front of You?

This is the stage where preparation meets performance. The decisions you make in the first five minutes of the exam affect the entire paper.

Read the entire paper before writing anything

Before writing a single word, scan every question. This serves several functions:

• You activate background knowledge across all topics simultaneously, which can help retrieve connections you might otherwise miss under pressure
• You identify which questions you feel most confident about
• You avoid the common trap of spending disproportionate time on the first question and discovering too late that the final question was the easier one

Allocate time by marks, not by difficulty

Calculate roughly how many minutes per mark you have available—then use that ratio to set time limits per question. Write those times lightly in the margin if it helps. When your allocated time for a question runs out, move on and return at the end if time allows.

For multi-part questions, note how many marks each sub-part carries. A 2-mark sub-question and an 8-mark sub-question are not equally worthy of your time.

Use your rough work space

For mathematics and sciences in particular, show working clearly and in a logically ordered way. Even if your final answer is incorrect, method marks can be awarded. Do not do working on a scrap sheet and only copy the final answer—do your working in the answer booklet where it will be seen.

Manage the final ten minutes

Reserve the last ten minutes for:

• Re-reading any answer where you felt uncertain
• Completing any question you left blank (an incomplete attempt is always better than no attempt)
• Checking that your candidate number is written on every booklet or answer sheet

What If Something Goes Wrong on Exam Day?

You feel unwell during the exam

Raise your hand and signal the invigilator. In genuine cases of illness, your school's IB coordinator can submit a form to request consideration. Do not silently power through to the point of collapse. You are entitled to ask for help.

You realise you misread a question partway through

Cross out your answer neatly (a single diagonal line, not heavy scribbling) and begin again in the available space. Invigilators can provide additional paper if needed—raise your hand. Do not waste time being frustrated; redirect that energy into the new attempt.

You finish early

Finishing early is not a signal to leave or relax. Use remaining time to re-read your answers for logical coherence, correct grammar and clarity in essay-style responses, and check calculations. In IB exams, a quiet second read almost always surfaces at least one improvement.

Quick Reference: IB Exam Day Timeline

The strategies above are most effective when they sit on top of solid subject preparation. If you want to think through how to structure that preparation—especially across multiple subjects with differing demands—the guidance at IB Diploma の時間管理術 is a useful place to continue.

For subject-specific strategies on how to approach individual papers—what command terms demand, how marks are distributed, and what examiners reward—subject guides such as IB数学 AA/AI HL 完全ガイド or IB物理 HL 完全ガイド go into the level of detail that a general checklist cannot.

If you find that exam-day nerves or subject-specific weaknesses feel difficult to address on your own, working through past papers with a tutor who has sat IB exams themselves can make the process considerably less uncertain. That is exactly what Quick IB's advisors are here for.