IB Diploma History Syllabus

(First Teaching 2026 | First Assessment 2028)

Created by a full-time IBDP History teacher, ActiveHistory provides everything you need to deliver the new syllabus with minimum fuss.

The revised IBDP History syllabus will generally allow teachers to stick closely to existing schemes of work, requiring only minor adjustments to selected topics and assessment approaches.

The most significant changes are

1. A complete overhaul of Paper 1 topics, an
2. The removal of essay-based assessment in Paper 2.

ActiveHistory resources are already aligned to these changes, helping you focus on teaching, not rewriting courses.

Overview

Content		Standard Level + Higher Level These tasks are the same for both SL and HL students			Higher Level Only
		Paper 1 Choose ONE set of focused studies from a choice of five	Paper 2 Choose ONE thematic study from a choice of four	IA	Paper 3 Choose TWO regional studies from a choice of twelve per region
Assessment		Sourcework (1hr 15mins)	3 structured questions (1hr 45 mins)	Internal Assessment (c.20 hours)	Two essays (2 hours)
Changes from previous syllabus		The paired studies are different. Exam is longer. Just three sources, but slightly longer ones than before.	Students now write 3 structured responses, not 2 essays. Exam is longer.	Simplified to three sections, removing the reflection; maximum of 7 sources	Students now write two essays in two hours, from different sections, in 2 hours. Not three essays from anywhere, in 2hrs30m.
Weighting of final grade (%)	SL >	30	40	30	-
	HL >	20	25	35	20
Teaching hours		50	80	20	90

Initial Observations

One of the strengths of the new IBDP History syllabus is the flexibility it gives teachers. I look for clear content overlaps across the three examination papers and use these to build a course that unfolds in a broadly chronological way, giving students valuable breathing space to engage with topics in real depth.

Others may prefer a model that covers a wider range of topics and time periods more briskly - and the syllabus supports that approach just as well.

To illustrate how this can work in practice, I’ve shared my ActiveHistory draft curriculum map below.

Draft Curriculum Map [Russel Tarr, ActiveHistory]