Classical languages Extended Essay structure: sections, criteria and word count

At a glance

The structure, section by section

1. Title page

Required by the IB · Criterion: A (structure) · Outside the word count

Your personal code, the research question, the subject and the word count, plus a statement when explanatory footnotes are counted.

1. Enter your IB personal code.
2. Leave out your name, your supervisor's name, your session number and your school.
3. Paste the research question exactly as it stands in the introduction.
4. Name Classical languages as your subject, and choose English or Spanish as the language you submit in.
5. Insert the word count from the counter.
6. Add the footnote statement if you used explanatory notes.

2. Acknowledgements or dedication

Common practice (Optional, uncounted and unassessed) · Outside the word count · Only when it applies

Thanks or a dedication with no identifying names.

1. Decide whether you need it.
2. Remove any name that identifies you, your supervisor or your school.
3. Keep it to a few lines.

3. Contents page

Required by the IB · Criterion: A (structure) · Outside the word count

Headings with page numbers.

1. Generate it from your headings.
2. Start page numbers on the page after it.
3. Regenerate it after your last edit.

4. Introduction

Required by the IB · Criterion: A, B, C

The topic and its importance, your focus, the scope, your approach and sources, the research question and a preview of the argument.

1. State the topic and why it is worth investigating.
2. Give only the background a reader needs.
3. Write the research question as a question.
4. Say which focus you take: linguistic, literary, or culture and civilization.
5. Set out your approach and main sources.
6. Preview the line of argument.
7. Revise this section once the body is done.

5. The debate

Rewarded by a criterion (Part of the introduction) · Criterion: A

The question scholars disagree on, and the research question.

1. Name the question scholars disagree on.
2. Summarise the main positions.
3. State your research question.
4. Check that enough sources exist before you commit; canonical authors have more.
5. Leave out comparisons with modern reception (films, contemporary literature or art) and topics that are uncontroversial, since they invite narrative.

6. State of scholarship and context

Rewarded by a criterion (The review itself is required in every EE; this is its form in Classical languages) · Criterion: A (methods), B

The current state of the field and its contexts.

1. Set out the current state of the field.
2. Give the historical or literary context your argument needs.
3. Define the terms your focus needs, such as morphology, particle, scansion and syntax.
4. Use academic editions or digital libraries of Greek and Latin texts, preferably from well-known academic publishers.

7. Original-language evidence

Rewarded by a criterion (Together with the next section this is the body, which the IB requires) · Criterion: B, C

Passages read in Greek or Latin, analysed for form and meaning.

1. Read the passages in the original.
2. Quote them in translation in the body.
3. Put the original in a footnote; the count leaves it out.
4. Explain how the form shapes the meaning.
5. In a linguistic essay, analyse the morphology and syntax of the texts you chose.
6. In a literary essay, read at least part of the work in the original.
7. In a culture and civilization essay, add substantial background reading; art, architecture and material culture are usable sources.

8. Counterarguments and source evaluation

Rewarded by a criterion (Part of the body, which the IB requires) · Criterion: A, C, D

Who wrote each piece of evidence and why, and the reliability of ancient and modern sources.

1. Set out the strongest counterarguments.
2. Judge each source's author and purpose.
3. Weigh ancient and modern sources for reliability.
4. Keep subjective readings, speculation about an author's intentions and contemporary values out of the argument.

9. Conclusion

Required by the IB · Criterion: C, D

The answer to the research question, a synthesis, the limitations, the questions left open and no new material.

1. Answer the research question directly.
2. Draw the main findings together.
3. State the limitations.
4. Name questions that remain open.
5. Check that it matches the body and adds nothing new.

10. References or bibliography

Required by the IB (Also an academic integrity rule: every source must be acknowledged) · Criterion: A (structure) · Outside the word count

Every source used, in 1 standard style chosen by the school.

1. Use 1 style throughout.
2. List every source you cited, including images, data and AI output.
3. Cite ancient texts by author, work and passage.
4. Keep entries for sources in other languages in the original language.
5. Add URLs and access dates for online sources.
6. Check that each in-text citation has an entry.

11. Appendices

Common practice (Optional, and examiners need not read appendices; the signed external mentor form is the one required item) · Outside the word count · Only when it applies

Supporting material only: raw data, full texts and the mentor form.

1. Include only material the argument can stand without.
2. Refer to each appendix from the body.
3. Insert the signed mentor form if you had a mentor.

12. Reflection sessions log

Required by the IB (The 3 sessions are mandatory and are recorded on the RPF, which is uploaded separately from the essay) · Outside the word count · Submitted separately

The 3 formal reflection sessions, each with its month, your DP year (1 or 2) and your supervisor's initials.

1. After the first reflection session, log its month and your DP year.
2. Log the interim session the same way.
3. Log the viva voce as the third session; it runs 20 to 30 minutes, after your supervisor has read the final version.
4. Ask your supervisor to initial each row; the form carries initials only.
5. If you are retaking, record the current year as DP year 2.
6. Leave informal check-ins off the log.
7. Check that all 3 rows are complete before your supervisor initials and dates the form.

13. RPF reflective statement

Required by the IB (A mandated form, uploaded separately from the essay and marked under criterion E) · Criterion: E · Outside the word count · Submitted separately

Up to 500 words, written after the viva voce, evaluating how the EE shaped you as a learner and which skills you will carry forward.

1. Keep dated notes after each session, ideally in a researcher's reflection space.
2. Reread them after the viva.
3. Evaluate specific decisions and turning points, and keep any account of the process brief.
4. Show how you grew and where you will use the skills.
5. Write every word yourself; an AI-written reflection counts as fabrication.
6. Write in the essay's language and stop at 500 words.

What counts toward the limit

Counted: the introduction, body and conclusion, including quotations and explanatory footnotes or endnotes. Left out: the title page, acknowledgements, contents, page headers, maps, charts, diagrams, annotated illustrations, tables, equations, calculations, citations, reference notes, the bibliography, appendices, the RPF statement and a footnote that gives a quotation's original-language text. The guide does not mention section headings, captions or table titles, so the counter leaves them out as well.

The limit: 4,000 words, plus a 500-word RPF statement. Examiners stop reading at the limit. RPF statement: up to 500 words, counted apart from the rest.

Graphs and visuals

• Artefacts, inscriptions and buildings Image, occasional
  Usable as sources. Cite each one and refer to it in the text.
• The original text set beside its translation Table, occasional
  A convention with no IB source. Quotations that carry your argument still go in the body in translation, so use a side-by-side table only to compare forms.

The frequencies are our estimates, from what the IB guide expects and what teachers advise. We did not count them in marked work.

Citations

No subject style is prescribed. Entries for sources in other languages follow the general rules. Cite ancient texts by author, work and passage.

The workspace keeps your sources and writes the bibliography in Harvard to start with. You can switch to APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago author-date or Chicago notes (footnotes) at any point.

Pitfalls

• Comparing a classical topic with its modern reception.
• Writing a narrative on an uncontroversial topic.
• Imposing modern values, or speculating about an author's intentions.
• Reading a literary work only in translation.
• Writing past 4,000 words, or past 500 in the RPF statement: examiners read no further.

The workspace is free with an account, and it never writes or rewrites your text. What we will and will not do with your coursework →

Sources

• Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (IB; published Feb 2025, updated May, Aug, Nov 2025)
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (published Feb 2025; updated May, Aug, Nov 2025)
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2018 (published Feb 2016, updated May 2019), including subject-specific guidance
• IB, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)

The IB documents behind this page, checked 29 October 2026. The linked ones are on ibo.org; the others are IB documents we read in copies hosted elsewhere, so we name them without a link. Everything above is in our own words: the official wording is in your subject guide, which your coordinator can give you. LimeAdmissions is independent of the International Baccalaureate Organization, which has not endorsed this page. Every coursework structure →