Environmental systems and societies 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 (ESS) 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. Enter ESS as your subject; ESS is allowed on the subject-focused pathway only.
5. Insert the word count from the counter.
6. Add the footnote statement if you used explanatory notes.

2. 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.

3. Introduction

Required by the IB · Criterion: A, B

The research question with both its environmental-system context and its societal context.

1. State the environmental issue.
2. State the societal viewpoint paired with it.
3. State the research question that joins them.
4. Choose a question other than your ESS IA research question.

4. Literature review and system background

Required by the IB (Required as content; a separate heading is Convention) · Criterion: A (methods), B

Published research on the issue and a description of the system involved.

1. Summarise the most relevant research from both lenses.
2. Describe the system: its stores, flows and boundaries.
3. Note gaps your essay addresses.

5. Methodology

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: A

Field, lab, survey or secondary data, with sampling and ethics.

1. Describe each data source.
2. Justify the method from both lenses.
3. Record consent, anonymity and risk steps for any practical or survey work.
4. Follow the IB experimentation guidelines for any practical work.

6. Results and systems analysis

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: C

Findings analysed with a systems approach.

1. Present each dataset in its best table or graph.
2. Run and report the statistical tests.
3. Interpret the results as interactions within the system and with society.

7. Discussion and evaluation

Rewarded by a criterion (Criterion D rewards evaluation that is woven through the body) · Criterion: D

The ESS context applied to the findings, what the ESS lens added, and the essay's limits.

1. Weigh the environmental and societal sides of each finding.
2. Assess what the ESS lens revealed.
3. Question the reliability of each source and method.

8. Conclusion

Required by the IB · Criterion: C, D

The answer, its limits and the unresolved questions.

1. Answer the research question.
2. State the limits of your evidence.
3. Name the questions that remain open.

9. 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. Add URLs and access dates for online sources.
4. Check that each in-text citation has an entry.

10. 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

Sample raw data, questionnaires and the mentor form; nothing the argument depends on.

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

11. 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.

12. 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

• Systems diagram of stores and flows Drawn, common
  A systems approach is recommended; the frequency is an estimate. Label every diagram; diagrams sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Data tables Table, very common
  An estimate. Number each table and refer to it in the text.
• Graphs with statistical tests Plotted, very common
  An estimate. Report the test next to the graph.
• Survey result charts Plotted, common
  Common in questionnaire-based essays, one of the guide's examples.
• Diversity indices Math, occasional
  An estimate. Show the working.
• Study-site map Map, common
  Common in field-based essays (an estimate). Give a scale, key and north arrow.
• Site photos Image, occasional
  An estimate. No exemplar counts exist. Maps, charts, diagrams and tables sit outside the 4,000 words.

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

Citations

The IB sets no style. Structural conventions come from both parent disciplines, and author-date styles are typical.

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

• Writing a purely biological or purely socio-economic essay, which drops a side of the system and society interaction.
• Registering ESS as 1 of the 2 subjects of an interdisciplinary essay, which the latest edition of the guide bars.
• Basing the essay on your ESS IA research question.
• Handling secondary data without a systems analysis.
• 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 2027 (published Feb 2025; updated May, Aug, Nov 2025), hosted at chmsib.com
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (published February 2025)
• IB, Environmental systems and societies guide, first assessment 2026 (published February 2024), full guide (the IB's university-admission copy)

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 →