European Baccalaureate Philosophy study plan

Map the A-mark criteria (formative assessment) for your school's philosophy course and list every graded activity type you will face in the coming term.

Audit your current portfolio of essays, oral contributions, and tests, then rate each against the A-mark descriptors to identify the weakest two criteria.

Draft a weekly evidence log template that records date, activity, criterion targeted, and self-rating for every philosophy task.

Schedule and complete one timed diagnostic essay (45 minutes) on a core syllabus theme to establish a baseline for later comparison.

Deconstruct two past Pre-Baccalaureate (B-mark) papers into question types and mark allocation, and annotate how each maps to the syllabus.

Write two full B-mark-style essays under exam conditions (one per session) and score them against the official rubric.

Compile a personal error taxonomy (e.g., misreading the command word, weak rebuttal, missing quotation) and count occurrences across the two essays.

Revise the evidence log to include B-mark practice scores so formative and summative trends sit side by side.

Outline the five written examination papers by format (essay, commentary, text analysis, etc.) and allocate study time proportionally to their weight.

Build a quotation and argument bank of 30 entries (author, work, thesis, counter-thesis) drawn only from the prescribed texts.

Write one timed essay per written-paper format (three sessions) and log the scores in the evidence tracker.

Identify the two written-paper formats where your scores are lowest and write a targeted improvement action for each.

Analyse the command words used across five years of written papers and produce a glossary of what each demands (e.g., 'evaluate', 'compare', 'discuss').

Practise three essay plans (15 minutes each) on unseen questions, then write one full essay from the best plan.

Self-mark the full essay against the written-paper rubric and compare the result with your week-3 baseline.

Rewrite the weakest paragraph of the essay, showing the before-and-after version side by side.

List the three oral examination formats and the criteria examiners use, then script a two-minute opening for each format.

Record three five-minute oral responses on different syllabus themes and transcribe them to identify filler words and weak transitions.

Deliver one mock oral to a study partner or recorder, receive feedback against the oral rubric, and log the score.

Update the A-mark evidence log with oral-practice entries so the formative record reflects spoken as well as written work.

Rehearse the three oral formats under timed conditions (five minutes preparation, five minutes speaking) across three sessions.

Build a response bank of ten flexible argument structures that can be adapted to unseen oral prompts.

Conduct a second mock oral with a different interlocutor and compare rubric scores with week 5 to measure improvement.

Identify and drill the single oral criterion still below target by recording two focused three-minute responses.

Sit a full simulated written examination (all five papers compressed into one timed block) and score every paper.

Reconcile simulated B-mark scores with the A-mark evidence log to project a preliminary-mark range and identify the gap to your target.

Produce a one-page revision sheet per written paper listing the three most frequent errors and the fix for each.

Complete two additional timed essays in the weakest written-paper format to confirm the fixes hold under pressure.

Run a final timed written paper and a final mock oral back to back to simulate exam-week stamina demands.

Consolidate the evidence log into a single summary showing A-mark and B-mark trends across all eight weeks.

Write a personalised exam-day checklist covering timing, command words, oral preparation routine, and stress management.

Review all deliverables from weeks 1-7 and mark any unresolved weaknesses as final pre-exam priorities.