IB History HL study plan

Map the Paper 3 depth-study syllabus into a one-page topic tree showing every prescribed region and period option you will cover

Draft a 60-item timeline of key dates, treaties, and turning points for your chosen depth study, verifying each date against two independent sources

Write three full Paper 3 essay outlines (thesis, three body arguments, counter-argument, conclusion) in timed 10-minute bursts

Identify the five most commonly examined causation and consequence questions for your depth study and note the historiographical debate behind each

Write two complete Paper 3 essays under 45-minute exam conditions and self-mark them against the official assessment criteria

Compile a bank of 20 specific evidence items (statistics, quotations, named individuals) with source attributions for your depth study

Compare three historians' interpretations of one contested event and summarise the disagreement in 150 words

Convert your weakest essay into a revision sheet listing the three structural errors you made

Select two Paper 2 world history topics and build a comparative grid linking them by theme, region, and period

Write four comparative essay plans that each explicitly address similarity and difference across two case studies

Memorise and rehearse 30 dated evidence points spanning both chosen topics

Draft five practice Paper 2 questions in the exam register and answer one in 45 minutes

Analyse the four Paper 1 source types (primary text, visual, statistics, secondary extract) and practise evaluating origin, purpose, value, and limitation on eight unseen-style sources

Write two full Paper 1 source-based answers in 60 minutes each, including the compare-and-contrast and the mini-essay sections

Link each Paper 1 source skill to a Paper 2 topic so that evidence and evaluation techniques reinforce each other

Review weeks 1-3 notes and rewrite any essay outline that lacks a clear counter-argument

Rehearse the Paper 1 source-evaluation formula until you can produce a full OPVL paragraph in under eight minutes

Complete three additional Paper 1 practice papers under strict timing and log your scores

Build a one-page checklist of the most frequent source-comparison traps and how to avoid each

Practise writing a synthesis mini-essay that uses at least three sources and acknowledges their limitations

Finalise a historical investigation research question that is narrow, arguable, and answerable within the word limit

Assemble and annotate a source bibliography of 12-15 items, classifying each as primary or secondary

Draft the investigation's section plan with word allocations that respect the required structure

Write two sections of the investigation and check every claim against its cited source

Complete a full first draft of the historical investigation within the word limit and self-assess it against the assessment criteria

Run one comparative Paper 2 essay under full exam timing to keep that skill warm

Revise the investigation for source criticism, ensuring evaluation of reliability appears throughout rather than only in one section

Trim the investigation to the word limit without losing evidential detail

Sit one full mock of Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 under authentic timing across a single weekend

Mark every mock paper against the official criteria and list the three highest-value fixes for each paper

Redraft the investigation's weakest section and proofread the whole piece for citation consistency

Compile a final one-page revision sheet of dates, historians, and evaluation phrases for each paper