The IB does not recommend that the Psychology SL course is taught in one year only. However, I am aware that some teachers are in the position of having to do that. Naturally, this will require more hours than the 3 hours weekly that is sufficient for the two-year course. Below, please find a plan for 4.5 hours weekly (approximately three double lessons). If you are lucky enough to have 5 teaching hours a week for psychology, then your plan will be the same, but your total teaching time will be 170 hours.

I have updated the one-year plan to reflect the recent change. The IA proposal has been added to the SL curriculum. This now makes it highly unlikely that those trying to teach this in one year will have time for a mock exam. Instead I recommend making the last lesson of each context module a timed assessment under exam conditions.

I have scheduled 34 weeks, as even if you have longer, there are always long weekends, teacher-only days, CAS projects, etc. that take time out. Also, the exams are in early May, so unless your school starts in early August you will have fewer than 34 weeks. Remember, this is just a suggestion! And good luck with slotting it all in. Of course, if you DO teach SL Psychology in just one year, you won’t need to start till August 2026, as the new course is not examined until May 2027. This blog will still be here!

If you have any queries, please leave a comment and I will get back to you. Happy planning!