IB Exams Are On Right Now: What Parents Can Actually Do

If your child is in DP2 at a November-session school, the exams are not coming - they are on. The IB's official November 2026 examination schedule opened on Friday 23 October and closes on Friday 13 November, when the last papers (the two Mathematics HL paper 3 exams) are written in the afternoon session. Most parent questions in these weeks are practical: what are the rules right now, what happens if something goes wrong on an exam day, and when exactly do results arrive. The answers are all in the IB's own documents, and they are more specific than the rumours. Here is what they say, in the order you will need them.

These two weeks: start times are fixed, and exams cannot be moved

Every IB school sits exams in an allocated exam zone, and the zone sets the local start time - morning sessions begin between 08:30 and 10:00 local time depending on the zone, afternoon sessions between 12:30 and 14:00, with no variance inside a session. Your school's DP coordinator knows the zone and the exact times; if you are planning travel or pickups, ask them rather than assuming. One rule is worth knowing before you ever need it: an examination cannot be rescheduled without authorization from the Assessment Division at the IB Global Centre in Cardiff. There is no moving a paper because of a traffic jam, a wedding or a flight. Treat the published times as immovable and plan backwards from them.

If your child is ill on an exam day

Call the DP coordinator immediately - before the exam if at all possible - and keep whatever evidence a doctor gives you. The IB's General Regulations for the Diploma Programme define what it calls adverse circumstances: situations that begin during the examinations, or up to three months before them, that are beyond the control of the student or the school and that affect performance. Illness during exam weeks fits that definition. The school, not the parent, takes the case forward under the IB's assessment procedures, and the IB decides what action it can apply. What you should not expect is a fresh exam date for one child: rescheduling needs Cardiff's authorization. The realistic protection is the adverse-circumstances route, and it runs entirely through the coordinator, so the speed of your phone call matters.

Results day is 16 December - earlier than most parents think

Many November-session families assume results arrive in January. The IB's own assessment FAQ is precise: for November exam sessions, results are issued to schools on 16 December from 9.00pm GMT, released at staggered times by time zone. Students then view their results on the IB's candidate website using the personal code and PIN issued by the school's coordinator. Two things worth doing this week, while exams are still running: first, make sure your child actually has their Individual PIN report from the coordinator - discovering a missing PIN on results evening is a classic, avoidable mess. Second, note that the coordinator is the channel for everything. The IB deals with schools, and the school deals with families.

If a grade disappoints: re-marks and retakes, on the official rules

A re-mark - the IB calls it an enquiry upon results, or EUR - can only be requested by the school's coordinator, never by you or your child directly. It costs a fee, which the coordinator must tell you about in advance. And here is the part families miss: the grade can go down. Because of that, the IB requires written consent from the candidate or a legal guardian before the request is placed, and if a grade is lowered after consent, the original grade is not reinstated. The outcome goes only to the coordinator. A retake is the other door: any subject can be retaken in a future session - sessions run every May and November - and at any IB World School, not only the one your child attended, though a school is not obliged to accept retake candidates, so ask early. The old three-session limit was removed in 2023, so there is no countdown on attempts. If a university offer hangs on one grade, the coordinator conversation about EUR versus retake should happen in the days right after 16 December, not in the new year.