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Computer science and Design technology Extended Essay structure: sections, criteria and word count

The Computer science and Design technology Extended Essay follows the shared Sciences guidance, using primary data, secondary data or both in up to 4,000 words, marked out of 30 on 5 criteria. This structure has 15 sections, including methodology, results, analysis and a separate evaluation, plus the 500-word RPF statement and a reflection log.

At a glance

TaskThe independent research essay
GuideExtended essay guide, first assessment 2027, Sciences section
SessionsMay 2027 onward
LevelsCore
AssessmentExternal, assessed by IB examiners and graded A to E
WeightingWith TOK, 0 to 3 diploma points
HoursAbout 40 hours of student work, plus 3 to 5 hours of supervision
Limit4,000 words, plus a 500-word RPF statement. Examiners stop reading at the limit. RPF statement: up to 500 words, counted apart from the rest.
CriteriaA Framework for the essay (6), B Knowledge and understanding (6), C Analysis and line of argument (6), D Discussion and evaluation (8), E Reflection (4): 30 marks. Criteria A to D are marked on the whole essay by best fit. Criterion E is marked only on the RPF statement, which is uploaded separately.
What is changingFrom May 2027 Computer science and Design technology follow the shared Sciences guidance, and the old subject chapters no longer apply.

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 your subject: Computer science or Design technology.
  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 (Variables must be defined and justified) · Criterion: A

A focused research question, its variables and its context.

  1. State a focused research question.
  2. Define and justify each variable.
  3. Use SI units for every quantity.
  4. State a hypothesis if your method tests one.
  5. In Design technology, frame the study around how new technologies influence existing ones.

5. Background theory

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: B

The theory, algorithms or design principles the question rests on.

  1. Explain the theory with correct terminology.
  2. Use peer-reviewed sources where you can.
  3. Cover only what the question needs.

6. Methodology, or data sources and selection

Required by the IB (Required for primary data (a replicable method); Implied for secondary data (explicit criteria)) · Criterion: A

A method someone else could repeat, or how the secondary data were chosen.

  1. Describe the method in enough detail to repeat.
  2. Control the independent variables.
  3. In Computer science, record the hardware, software versions and data sets.
  4. In Design technology, set out the interview, survey and user-testing procedures, with consent.
  5. For secondary data, state your inclusion criteria and check that the sources' methods are comparable.

7. Results

Required by the IB (A standard format with headings, units and numbering) · Criterion: A

Processed data in numbered tables and graphs.

  1. Number and title every table and graph.
  2. Put units in each heading.
  3. Show 1 sample calculation with its uncertainty.
  4. Move long raw data to an appendix.

8. Analysis

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: C

Your own analysis, with statistics where they fit.

  1. Analyse the data yourself, even when it comes from a source.
  2. Use statistics where they fit.
  3. Keep every step on your line of argument.

9. Discussion

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: D

What the results mean in scientific context.

  1. Tie each finding to the research question.
  2. Set the findings against your sources.
  3. Treat a negative result as a finding.

10. Evaluation

Required by the IB (Evaluation must link to the question and the method; evaluative comment also runs through the essay) · Criterion: D

Strengths, weaknesses, unresolved issues and improvements.

  1. Evaluate the method and the data against the question.
  2. Support each strength and weakness with evidence or sources.
  3. State what is unresolved.
  4. Suggest specific improvements.

11. Conclusion

Required by the IB · Criterion: C, D

An answer that follows from the data.

  1. Answer the question from your evidence.
  2. Draw the findings together.
  3. State what remains open.

12. 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, with a reference list or a bibliography.
  2. List every source you cited, including data sets, software, images and AI output.
  3. Add URLs and access dates for online sources.
  4. Check that each in-text citation has an entry.

13. 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

Material examiners need not read: full code, raw data, questionnaires, and the mentor form.

  1. Put full code, raw data or questionnaires here only if the essay stands without them.
  2. Keep anything the argument needs in the body.
  3. Insert the signed mentor form if you had a mentor.

14. 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.

15. 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

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 style is prescribed; the Sciences guidance favours peer-reviewed sources. The EE needs a reference list or a bibliography, so the footnote-only rule from the Design technology IA does not carry over.

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

Pitfalls

Write it in the workspace

These sections in order with their steps, a word counter that counts the way this page says, your sources and a bibliography, and graphs from your own data. Export to Word or PDF.

Open this structure in your workspace

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

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 →