The Extended Essay

This offers you the opportunity to investigate a topic of special interest and to become acquainted with the kind of independent research and writing skills expected at university. You may choose to write on any subject area offered in the diploma programme, but are advised to focus on one of your HL subjects. It should be about 4,000 words (about 10 sides of A4) and should take about 40 hours in total- covering research, discussion with your supervisor and actual writing time.

All extended essays are marked externally on a scale of A (excellent) to E (elementary) and are assessed according to various criteria, some relating to general aspects of the essay, such as presentation and having a suitable introduction and conclusion, while others relate to subject-specific areas, such as correct use of subject terminology and appropriate analytical and evaluative skills.

Assessment

Extended essays are assessed according to both general and subject-specific criteria.

The general criteria relates to the appropriateness of your research question, the way in which the material is handled, the level of analysis and the quality of the argument.

Subject-specific assessment criteria relates to how you manage your chosen topic within the context of the subject in which the essay is registered.

Since the purpose of the extended essay is to provide you with an opportunity to engage in independent research, the general assessment criteria is given twice as much weight as the subject-specific criteria.