Time required to cover full syllabus

[IB`NOT`ez]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering how long does it take roughly for your school to cover the entire subject's syllabus, whether it be Biology/Physics/Economics/Geography etc.

At my school, I just found out it won't be until next year early February that we'll be finished with the Maths SL Syllabus, and mid February for the Chemistry SL Syllabus since there's only one Chemistry teacher in my school and she had to spend a significant amount of time teaching the HL syllabus as well. 

Do those deadlines provide enough time to fully immerse in and revise everything effectively before the May 2017 exams?

Thanks,

Edit: Just realized I accidentally posted this in the General Discussion section instead of the IB General Discussion section, could a mod please kindly move this thread there? 

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by IB`ez

[kw0573]

Really depends. My classes finished syllabus a week or two before the exams. If you school is going to do revision in those 2-3 months before exams then that sounds like enough time. 

[IB`NOT`ez]

7 hours ago, kw0573 said:

Really depends. My classes finished syllabus a week or two before the exams. If you school is going to do revision in those 2-3 months before exams then that sounds like enough time. 

Ah, I've always had the vague notion that all teaching should ideally finish by November, allowing a full 5 months of revision before the actual exams. Just thought hard about it now and realized it's not really feasible x_x

Did finishing your exams a week or two before the exams prepared you for the actual ones good? 

[kw0573]

I mean I got into university 
It just depend on how in depth your classes go. I took exams for 2 SLs in Year 1, which may have affected the pace of the courses. It just really depends on if you know the gist of the concepts when your classes are finished. There is no point to go really fast and the teacher has to re-teach everything.

For example IB recommends 240 hours of teaching time per HL class, or about 120 each year. If you are in class 4 hours a week for 30 weeks that's 120 hours. This doesn't include time for assessments or other school-based projects. I think in practice, maybe 300 or more hours is spent on each HL. 

 

[thecsstudent]

I think for all of my subjects except for Maths and Physics HL we finished the syllabus in February right before our mocks. Maths was around end of March and then Physics during the last week of school in April.

[Guest beyondtheimagine]

I taught myself the entire Chemistry SL syllabus within one month before my exam.  Please keep in mind this was my first time learning it.

 

[aTeddy]

For my subjects at my school:

For Literature, most of the time my school does order 4,1,2,3, so we do our IOP around half-way through year 1, our written assignment through the second-half of IB1 and submit it around second-half of IB2, in the very beginning of IB2 we study the literature for IOC, then we do the final IOC in mid IB2. Then we spend a good six months doing all three Paper 2 texts and writing practices. Mostly we well and truly finish the Paper 2 stuff before trials about 3 months before the exams.
For Maths Studies, we finish most things in IB1, do our IA at the start of IB2 and have well and truly finished the course by the trials.
For Biology, we finish most of SL in IB1, finish it off in IB2, do our option, finish our IA, the AHL content and have finished the content "just" by around October, about a month before the exams. (A lot too close for comfort)
For Chemistry, right now (mid-late IB1) we are doing Chapter 8/11 and have done most uncertainties. Our teacher expects to finish at the beginning of IB2, in which we do our IAs. After the IA, we essentially have 7-8 months to revise. Which is really good. 
For Psychology, we do the core in IB1, finished by the mid-late region. We do Abnormal Psych (option 1) by the start of IB2, we then have like four months of IA doing and second option learning and then we conclude with a very detailed (I think too detailed) run through of Paper 3 by the trials in August. 
For French ab, there is no real scope and sequence, although we do the Written Assignment in mid-IB2 and then the final oral in mid-late IB2.