The IB introduced a new History course, first taught in August 2026 with first exams in May 2028. If you started DP1 in 2026, this is your course: older guides and past papers follow the previous structure.
The four concepts
Every component is organised around four concepts: cause and consequence, continuity and change, perspectives and significance.
Course structure
- Focused study (SL and HL, 50 hours): one option from five — independence and identity; political and economic transitions; conflict and displacement; climate and innovation; protest and change. Each option contains two focused studies.
- Thematic study (SL and HL, 80 hours): one of conflict (from 750 CE), innovation and transformation (from 750 CE), authoritarian rule (from 1750 CE) or popular movements (from 1750 CE). No examples are prescribed.
- Regional study (HL only, 90 hours): one region — Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, or Europe — with two regional studies.
- Historical investigation (IA, 20 hours).
The new exams
- Paper 1 (1 h 15 min, 24 marks, SL 30 %, HL 20 %): three questions on one focused study framed by an inquiry question — the content of two sources, how a source's context shapes its usefulness, and a synthesis of perspectives across three sources. Outside knowledge is not required.
- Paper 2 (1 h 45 min, 25 marks, SL 40 %, HL 25 %): Section A, one of two questions on the concepts; Section B, one of two thematic-study questions with a short response and an essay.
- Paper 3 (HL, 2 hours, 30 marks, 35 %): two essays from different regional studies, each evaluating a given argument.
- Historical investigation (24 marks, SL 30 %, HL 20 %): three sections — inquiry question, sources and perspectives, synthesis and evaluation — with a maximum of seven sources. The reflection section is gone.
How to prepare
Practise reading sources in context and synthesising perspectives for Paper 1, build case studies from several regions for your thematic study, and write essays that use the four concepts explicitly. Check details such as word limits with your teacher and the official guide.