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 (or the 2 subjects and the framework) 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. Choose the pathway, then the subject (or the 2 subjects and the framework) from your session's list.
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, the background a reader needs, the focus and scope, your sources and approach, 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. Set out scope, approach and main sources.
5. Preview the line of argument.
6. Revise this section once the body is done.

5. Research methods

Rewarded by a criterion (Criterion A rewards explained, justified methods; whether they get their own section follows the subject's convention) · Criterion: A

Each method, why it suits the question and the subject, and enough detail to repeat any experiment, survey or fieldwork.

1. Name each method.
2. Justify it against the question and the subject's methods.
3. Describe procedures fully enough to repeat.
4. Explain how you chose your sources.

6. Literature review or context

Rewarded by a criterion (The review itself is required in every EE; whether it gets its own section is your choice) · Criterion: A (methods), B

What existing sources establish, and the key terms and concepts.

1. Summarise the most relevant sources.
2. Relate each one to your question.
3. Define key terms in the subject's language.
4. Note where sources agree, disagree or are silent.

7. Body: development, findings, analysis, discussion

Required by the IB (The body is required; subheadings are Convention) · Criterion: B, C, D

An argument built on evidence, with numbered figures and tables referred to in the text and evaluation woven through.

1. Plan subsections that follow the argument.
2. Give each paragraph 1 main point.
3. Present evidence with each figure and table numbered and referred to in the text.
4. Analyse what the evidence shows.
5. Discuss its significance from more than 1 perspective.
6. Evaluate sources and methods as you go.

8. 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.

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

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.

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. Chinese essays are limited to 4,800 characters and Japanese essays to 8,000, without punctuation; Korean essays count words.

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

• Data and summary tables Table, common
  Common in sciences and geography, Occasional elsewhere (an estimate). Number, title and refer to each in the text; tables sit outside the word count.
• Graphs and charts from data Plotted, common
  Common in sciences and geography; the subject structures refine this. Number, caption and refer to each in the text; charts sit outside the count.
• Diagrams, flowcharts, annotated illustrations Drawn, occasional
  Varies by subject (an estimate). Annotated illustrations sit outside the count, so keep argument out of the annotations.
• Maps Map, rare
  Common in geography, Rare elsewhere (an estimate). Label each map, give a scale and a key or legend, and refer to it in the text; maps sit outside the count.
• Artworks, film stills, score excerpts, photos, screenshots Image, occasional
  Very common in visual arts, where images are mandatory in the body; Common in the other arts; Occasional elsewhere (an estimate). Identify and cite each one, list every image at the end in arts essays, and compress images to keep the file under 10 MB (200 dpi or less is recommended).
• Equations, formulas, worked calculations Math, occasional
  Common in mathematics and sciences (an estimate). Equations and calculations sit outside the count; export work with equations as PDF.

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. Your school chooses 1 standard style and you use it throughout, with at least the author, date, title, page numbers where relevant, an access date for electronic sources and a URL for web sources. A reference list holds the sources you cited and a bibliography holds everything you consulted; either is accepted. Cite any AI tool you used, with the tool, the prompt and the date. Quote a source in another language in translation in the body, with the original in an uncounted footnote. Some study guides suggest APA for sciences and mathematics and Harvard for the humanities.

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

• Writing past 4,000 words, or past 500 in the RPF statement: examiners read no further.
• Leaving explanatory footnotes out of the declared word count, or moving essential material into notes or appendices that examiners need not read.
• Phrasing the research question as a statement or hypothesis, or making it double-barrelled, descriptive or obvious.
• Adding an evaluation section at the end, where the guide asks for evaluation throughout the essay.
• Handing in a blank, missing or wrong-language RPF statement, which scores 0 on criterion E. An AI-written reflection counts as fabrication.
• Leaving names, identifiers or supervisor comments in the file, going over 10 MB, or choosing a subject that is not offered in your session.

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, original edition, no updates)
• Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (IB, published February 2025; Figure 4, p. 14; word-count table, p. 87)
• IB, Examiner Instructions 2027: Extended essay
• EE/RPF, Reflection and progress form, "For use from May/November 2027" (© IBO 2023), in IB "Extended essay assessed student work", Chemistry example 2
• Diploma Programme Assessment procedures 2025 (published Sept 2024; updated Nov 2024, Feb 2025, May 2025)
• IB, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)
• IB, "DP extended essay updates" (last updated 19 Feb 2026; also carries the list of courses with updates)
• Diploma Programme Assessment procedures 2025 (IB, April 2025; 282 pp.; sections A2, C3.8, C5.2, C8.2.4 Figure 8, D8 Theory of knowledge pp. 243–249)
• Academic integrity policy, Appendix 6: Guidance on the use of artificial intelligence tools (© IBO 2023)
• Evaluating 13 scenarios of artificial intelligence (AI) in student coursework (© IBO 2024)
• Effective citing and referencing (IB, published August 2014)

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 →