Let’s understand what is the Extended Essay?

Being into an IB Diploma Program you can’t miss hearing about the Extended Essay from your teachers and your seniors.

What is the Extended Essay?

The well-known IB Extended Essay, or EE, is a research thesis that you write under the guidance of an IB adviser (a local IB teacher), and it counts toward your IB Diploma Grades. Let's go over the details of EE.

What exactly is the purpose of the Extended Essay?

The extended essay contains the following information:

Students can examine a topic of personal interest that links to one of their six DP topics or adopts the interdisciplinary approach of a World Studies extended essay as practical preparation for undergraduate research.

You will choose a research issue as your topic for the Extended Essay, do the research independently, and then write an essay based on your findings. The essay itself is lengthy—while there is a 4,000-word restriction, most winning entries come close to exceeding it.

The required components of this independent piece of research are:

  • Research Question
  • Title Page
  • Contents Page
  • Introduction
  • Body (Development/ Methods/ results)
  • Conclusion
  • Bibliography and references

It also includes 3 reflections to be submitted i.e. the first, the interim and the final reflection during the research process.

 Some more facts about the Extended Essay:

  • The extended essay is required for all Diploma Program students and is optional for course students.
  • A student must receive a D or above to receive the Diploma.
  • The extended essay is graded externally and can add up to three points to the final IB Diploma mark when combined with the theory of knowledge grade.
  • The extended essay process aids students in their preparation for university and other post-diploma options.
  • Students must check the school's list of available Diploma Program disciplines when deciding on a subject for the extended essay.
  • The extended essay is a piece of independent research on a topic chosen by the student with the help of a school supervisor.
  • It is the product of the student's about 40 hours of work.
  • The viva voce, or final interview with the supervising teacher, is the third and last required reflection session.

You shouldn't stress too much about your extended essay right now because it's normally written near the end of your first year of IB. However, you'll almost certainly need to pick a topic and a research question sooner rather than later. As a result, I would advise you to start thinking about what topic might pique your interest enough for you to write 4,000 words.

You can obtain a lot of assistance in this area. A 'supervisor' will be assigned to you by your school. Your supervisor will be an IB teacher at your school, and it is their job to meet with you and talk about your research question, strategy, and first draught.

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