Geography 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 your subject: Geography.
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, the geographic and theoretical context, and usually 1 or more annotated locational maps.

1. State the research question with its place and scale.
2. Set out the geographic context of the area.
3. Introduce the theory or model behind the question.
4. Insert an annotated locational map.
5. Check that the topic has a clear spatial component and, if it is global, narrow it to a local scale.

4. Literature review and theory

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

What published research says about the topic and the place.

1. Summarise the most relevant studies.
2. Explain the theory or model you will test.
3. Note gaps your essay addresses.

5. Methodology

Rewarded by a criterion (The Geography guide calls a methodology account essential) · Criterion: A

Data sources, any field data, sampling, GIS processing and limitations.

1. Describe each primary or secondary data source.
2. Justify sampling and site choice.
3. Explain any GIS or statistical processing.
4. State the limits of each method.
5. Base the essay on your own research and published data, and leave out data from group fieldwork.

6. Results and analysis

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: C

Findings organised by sub-question or hypothesis, with maps, graphs and statistics.

1. Present each dataset in its best map or graph.
2. Run and report the statistical tests.
3. Explain the spatial patterns and anomalies.
4. Link each finding to the theory.
5. Give every map a scale and key, and refer to every figure in the text.

7. Discussion and evaluation

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

The reliability of data and methods, other interpretations, and the essay's strengths and limitations.

1. Question each dataset where you use it.
2. Weigh other explanations for your patterns.
3. Assess how far your methods support the conclusions.

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, including map and image sources, in 1 style.

1. Use 1 style throughout.
2. List every source you cited, including map, image and dataset sources 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, survey instruments 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

• Annotated location or context map Map, very common
  Give a scale and key, and a north arrow (an estimate); label the map and refer to it in the text. Maps sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Choropleth or thematic map of published data Map, common
  An estimate. Give a scale and key.
• GIS output Map, occasional
  Label the layers and give a scale and key.
• Satellite, aerial or ground photos Image, common
  Cite each one and refer to it in the text.
• Graphs with statistical tests Plotted, very common
  Report the test and the result next to the graph. Charts sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Statistical test workings Math, very common
  Calculations sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Data tables Table, very common
  An estimate. Tables sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Diagrams and models Drawn, occasional
  Label every diagram. Frequencies here rest on guide expectations and estimates, with no exemplar counts.

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. Harvard author-date, the style the Geography IA rules name, suits the essay, and some study guides suggest it for humanities essays. Give map, image and dataset sources references like any other source.

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

• Asking a question that is too broad, not geographic, lacking a spatial component, or set at a global scale.
• Reusing or extending the IA, or relying on group fieldwork data.
• Weighting data collection over argument, or building the essay only on published texts.
• Drawing maps without a scale or key, and leaving figures unreferenced in the text.
• 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, Geography guide, first examinations 2019 (published February 2017), full guide
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (published February 2025)
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2018 (published Feb 2016, updated May 2019), including subject-specific guidance

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 →