Core: Extended Essay

What is the Extended Essay?

The Extended Essay (EE) is one of the three core requirements that are at the centre of the IB Diploma. It is a compulsory, independent, self-directed piece of research which culminates in a written essay of up to 4000 words.

The Extended Essay gives students the opportunity to show their knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm about a topic of their choice. The topic should be based on one of their three HL subject choices. Please note: if students wish to complete their Extended Essay on another subject area they must get the IB Coordinator’s agreement prior to starting it.

The essay will be supervised by a relevant IB teacher e.g. a historical topic will be supervised by an IB History teacher. The supervisor will provide advice, guidance and support to the student. They will also comment on the first draft of the Extended Essay. The topic may relate to the syllabus you have been taught but it must go beyond it. A good essay will involve intellectual risk-taking and extensive reflection, open-mindedness, balance and fairness.

Students will be responsible for their own independent learning and the essay will require about 40 hours work overall.

How will it be assessed?

The 4000 word limit does not include appendices, bibliography, illustrations, footnotes or abstract. Any essays over 4000 words will be subject to penalties. There should be an abstract of less than 300 words included with the essay.

The essay will be externally assessed. In addition, students complete a short interview (viva voce) with the supervising teacher.

Grades from the Extended Essay are combined with the TOK grade to give up to 3 points towards a candidate’s total score for the IB Diploma.