Revising for the bac with past papers: the method, the official sources and the schedule

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

Revising for the bac with past papers is the most direct way to know what the examiners expect from you. An exam paper shows you the format, the length, the level and the time you have. Above all, it shows you what you cannot do yet. Rereading your notes makes you feel you have mastered the material; a paper forces you to write an answer script, and the script is what gets marked. Here is the full method: where to find official papers, how to sit them in real conditions, how to mark yourself, keep an error log and spread the work over the last months.

Why revise for the bac with past papers

Three reasons, which apply to every track.

Where to find official past papers

Start with official sources: they are the only ones you can be sure reproduce the real paper, with the real marking scheme.

Senegal is the richest case: for the 2026 session, the Office published the first-group and second-group papers, and answer keys for the L, LA, LAR, S1, S2, S2A and S3 tracks (for philosophy, an outline rather than a full answer). If you take the bac elsewhere, these papers remain useful in maths or physics, provided you check that the chapter is on your syllabus.

Two warnings. First, a "paper" circulating on WhatsApp the night before the exam is no help: it is either a scam or fraud. In Côte d'Ivoire, the DECO publishes the decisions of its national disciplinary commission every year, and a sanctioned candidate must obtain a certificate lifting the sanction before registering again. Second, beware of websites that charge for past papers: official papers are free from the Office or at your school.

The country guides cover tracks, coefficients and calendar: the bac in Benin, the bac in Senegal and the bac in Côte d'Ivoire.

Compatri's exam paper archive

On Compatri, the exam paper archive (in French) gathers exam papers uploaded by members: bac, BEPC, probatoire, tests and term exams. Each paper is reviewed before publication, contains no pupil's name, and is never published before the day after the exam. The person uploading must be 16 or older.

Let us be clear: the archive is being built and is still sparse. It grows with every pupil who photographs a paper after the exam. If you kept your term test or mock papers, upload them here (in French): a pupil in the same class, in another city, will revise with them next year. The rules (what you may share, when and in what form) are explained in our article on sharing an exam paper.

The method in five steps

1. Pick the right paper at the right time

Until you have finished a chapter, only do the exercises on it. Full papers come when the syllabus is nearly covered. Start with the most recent papers: they follow the current syllabus.

2. Sit it in real conditions

• timer set to the official length of the paper;
• empty desk: no notes, no phone, only the permitted calculator;
• a real answer script, written neatly, as on exam day.

If you get stuck, move on to the next question and note where. Never look at the answers during the paper: you would lose the most valuable information, knowing where you stop on your own.

3. Mark yourself honestly

Use the official answer key when there is one, otherwise ask a teacher or a more advanced classmate to mark it. Score yourself against the scheme, without leniency. For every lost point, ask why: content not known, method not mastered, calculation error, instruction misread, time ran out.

4. Keep an error log

This is the tool that makes the difference. A notebook, one line per error:

Reread this log every week. An error that comes back three times deserves its own revision sheet.

5. Do it again

Two or three weeks later, redo the same paper without looking at your first script. If you score more, the lesson is learned. If not, back to your notes.

The schedule for the last months before the bac

Written papers usually take place in June. In 2026, they started on 15 June in Benin and in Côte d'Ivoire; in Senegal, the technical bac started on 15 June and the general bac on 30 June. The 2027 session calendars are not published yet: watch your country's official announcements.

Prioritise by coefficients

Your time is limited: share it according to the coefficients of your track. In Benin, according to the Office du Baccalauréat's list, maths weighs 6 in the C track and 4 in the D track, while life and earth sciences (SVT) weigh 5 in the D track. A point gained in SVT is therefore worth more in D than in C. If you are still torn between those two tracks, our article bac C or bac D helps you choose.

Still keep time for the smaller subjects: a zero in history and geography or in a foreign language can cost a lot, and the oral counts too.

Revise together with your class

Revising alone is good; marking together is better. A classmate instantly sees the mistake you keep rereading without noticing.

On Compatri, the Study page lets you join your class's group in your city (for example "Terminale D, Kétou"). You post an exercise, ask a question, and whoever asked marks the best answer. You also find the same class in other cities: final-year D pupils in Cotonou, Parakou or Natitingou work on the same syllabus. To get started, read our tips on creating a revision group and on asking a good question about an exercise.

For advice on study choices or method, the diaspora mentors are volunteer students and professionals: you send them a connection request with a message, and the conversation opens if they accept.

Mistakes to avoid

• Reading answer keys instead of doing papers. Understanding a solution is not the same as finding it.
• Only doing the subjects you like. Your error log tells you where the points are.
• Working without a timer. Time is part of the exam.
• Sacrificing sleep in the last week. An all-nighter costs more than it brings.
• Believing in leaks. They can get you excluded from the exam.

Your parents can help you keep this pace: our guide to supporting a child through the bac is written for them.

Sources

• Senegal's Office du Baccalauréat: home page, papers, answer keys and syllabuses
• Senegal's Office du Baccalauréat: 2026 general bac papers
• Senegal's Office du Baccalauréat: 2026 general bac answer keys
• Benin's Office du Baccalauréat: list of papers
• Côte d'Ivoire's Direction des examens et concours (DECO)
• Government of Benin: start of the 2026 bac written papers
• Ivorian Press Agency: 2026 bac, nearly 330,000 candidates