Extended Essay: Class of 2027

Overview

The Extended Essay is an independent research project where students explore a topic they are passionate about. It develops critical thinking, research, and writing skills while preparing students for university-level work. Through the EE, students dive deep into a subject, ask meaningful questions, and gain confidence as independent learners.

Aims of the extended essay

The aims of the extended essay are to enable students to:

Experience the excitement of intellectual exploration
Engage in student-led academic research on a topic of personal interest
Develop skills in research, thinking, self-management and communication
Reflect on the learning experience of doing an extended essay.

Extended Essay Pathways

The EE pathways let students explore knowledge in focused or creative ways. The subject-specific pathway deepens understanding in a single discipline, while the interdisciplinary pathway connects insights from multiple subjects.

Subject-Specific Pathway

Focus deeply on one subject to develop specialized knowledge, analytical skills, and subject-specific expertise.

Interdisciplinary Pathway

Combine perspectives from different subjects to investigate global challenges and understand how knowledge from various fields connects and informs each other.

Interdisciplinary Framework

The five frameworks shown in figure 6 are intended to help you position and shape your ideas for an interdisciplinary extended essay topic. These frameworks allow for inclusion of a broad, diverse range of ideas that could arise from your personal interests. They are designed to help you choose an appropriate context for the topic you wish to explore with an interdisciplinary approach.

Extended Essay Pathway

For the extended essay, you have a choice of two pathways: the interdisciplinary pathway or the subject-focused pathway. The direction you take will depend on the nature of your topic, arising from exploration of your personal interests and how these may relate to your Diploma Programme (DP) studies. Figure 5 sets out how you might think through these early choices, but it should be noted that this process may unfold differently for different students, and that to change your thinking before you settle on something is entirely acceptable.

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September 2026

October 2026

November 2026

December 2026

February 2027

Timeline

Information coming soon

Pathway

The interdisciplinary pathway

"Curiosity is the engine of achievement."

Ken Robinson

Your extended essay, whether interdisciplinary or subject-focused, should begin with an idea that is generated by your personal interest. Some ideas will suit exploration through the subject-focused pathway, while others will suit the interdisciplinary pathway if the ideas may be better explored through the combined lenses of two DP subjects. Imaginative interdisciplinary collaboration can open such topics to rich research.

What does “interdisciplinary” mean in the extended essay?

You research and write your extended essay in an interdisciplinary way when you integrate knowledge, concepts, theories, perspectives or methods, or a combination of these, from two chosen DP subjects. In other words, elements of the two subjects are combined so that they work together effectively to help research an extended essay topic.

Ultimately, integration of two subjects can lead to fresh insights and create new and/or deeper understandings that would not be possible through research within one DP subject alone.

The subject-focused pathway

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."

Zora Neale Hurston

Your extended essay, whether subject-focused or interdisciplinary, should begin with an idea that is generated by your personal interest. If your idea can be specifically associated with one DP subject, then the subject-focused pathway is the best choice. Investigation through the lens of a specific subject allows you to develop understanding of a topic within the academic boundaries of that subject.

What does “subject-focused” mean in the extended essay?

You are researching and writing your extended essay in a subject-focused way when you use knowledge, concepts, theories, perspectives or methods, or a combination of these, from one chosen DP subject to respond to a research question. You are then building on an understanding of this subject that you have developed during your DP studies. It is important to think about your extended essay as being a different experience compared with your classroom learning. This is your opportunity to engage in self-designed, independent research, challenging yourself, expanding your thinking and stretching boundaries

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