The Extended Essay

The Extended Essay requires students to engage in independent research and culminates in a 4000 word research paper and reflection which is externally assessed by IB. It is an invaluable opportunity for students to delve into a topic of personal interest which connects to one of the student's Diploma Program subjects or takes an interdisciplinary approach. Students are required to formulate an appropriate research question, engage in a personal and academic exploration of the topic, and communicate their ideas in an organized manner. Throughout the process, students are supervised by a teacher mentor, and a school team of Extended Essay coordinators. The mandatory reflections conducted with their supervisors provides a wonderful learning experience, and also a good opportunity for students to practice and oral interview which may be required for acceptance for employment or universities.

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This aspect of the IB Programme is intended to provide students with an opportunity to engage in independent research. It involves in-depth study of a limited topic of particular interest to the student. The essay is expected to be approximately 4,000 words in length. The entire experience of choosing an appropriate topic, doing research, organizing material, and writing the essay gives students an invaluable foretaste of the kind of work they will be doing at university.

Assessment

All Extended Essays are assessed by external IB examiners and are graded using General and Subject-Specific assessment criteria. Together with the Theory of Knowledge results, students can achieve up to three Diploma points from the Extended Essay (EE) and the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) combined. Students are in-serviced in the Library to assist them with this research process.

*Adapted from What is the extended essay?