Geography IA structure: sections, criteria and word count

At a glance

The structure, section by section

1. Title page and contents

Common practice · Outside the word count

Title, fieldwork question, total word count, contents; optional acknowledgments; all excluded from the count. The 2011 guide suggested word counts per section.

1. Enter the title and the fieldwork question.
2. Insert the live word count.
3. Generate the contents from your headings.

2. Fieldwork question and geographic context

Rewarded by a criterion (Holds Required elements: the question phrased as a question, the named syllabus link, a brief geographic context and a locational map) · Criterion: A

The question; optional hypotheses or prediction; the syllabus topic or sub-topic; the theory or model behind it; why this site; locational map(s); about 300 words.

1. Phrase the fieldwork question as a question that names the place and the scale.
2. Name the syllabus option or unit and the sub-topic it tests.
3. Outline the theory or model and derive hypotheses or a prediction from it.
4. Explain why the site suits the question, from its physical and human background.
5. Insert a locational map you made, with an inset and full conventions.

3. Method(s) of investigation

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: B

Each method with its instruments, sampling design, timing, sites and conditions, each justified; the statistical tests planned; about 300 words.

1. List the data each hypothesis needs.
2. Describe each method with its equipment, timing and sites; a sampling-site map or annotated photo saves words.
3. Justify the sampling strategy and sample size.
4. Name the planned tests and why they fit.
5. Justify how the methods together answer the question and hypotheses.
6. Say what was collected as a group and what alone, and note ethics and safety steps (inference).

4. Treatment and display of information, with written analysis

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: C, D

Data displays and written analysis integrated in one section, as the guide requires; subsections by hypothesis are teacher practice; about 1,350 words.

1. Process the raw data into means, indices or percentages.
2. Choose the best display for each dataset and use a genuinely diverse range; number and title each one and refer to it in the text.
3. Run the statistical tests and report each result with its significance level.
4. Describe, then explain, each trend, spatial pattern and anomaly.
5. Link every finding to its hypothesis, the theory, the site and the method.

5. Conclusion

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: E

A clear answer supported by the analysis, drawn only from section 4; it may contradict the prediction; about 200 words.

1. Answer the fieldwork question directly.
2. Summarize the evidence for each hypothesis and say whether it was accepted or rejected.
3. Note where results differ from the prediction.
4. Add no new material.

6. Evaluation

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: F

Strengths and weaknesses of the data collection, the question's formulation, the data presentation and the choice of location; threats to validity; improvements and their likely effect; about 300 words.

1. Weigh each data-collection method you actually used.
2. Assess how the question was formulated, your presentation choices and the choice of location.
3. Identify threats to validity: bias, weather, timing, sample size.
4. Propose specific improvements and say how each would change the results.

7. References

Required by the IB (Required whenever secondary information is used) · Outside the word count

All secondary information in an author-date style such as Harvard; internet sources with title, URL and date visited.

1. Build the list from your source entries.
2. Check every citation has an entry.

8. Appendices

Common practice · Outside the word count · Only when it applies

A representative sample of raw data or calculations only; nothing the reader needs to follow the analysis.

1. Add one sample data sheet or questionnaire translation at most.
2. Keep every figure in the body.

What counts toward the limit

Counts: all main text, including the fieldwork question, every annotation over 10 words, every footnote over 15 words and qualitative information written out as prose. Does not count: the title page, acknowledgments, contents, titles and subtitles, references, footnotes of 15 words or fewer, map legends and keys, labels of 10 words or fewer, data tables, calculations and appendices that hold only raw data or calculations.

The limit: 2,500 words. Examiners stop reading at the limit.

Graphs and visuals

• Locational map of the study area Map, very common
  Essential under criterion A. Make it yourself or adapt a downloaded base map to your own information. Give it a title and figure number, a scale and a key, a north arrow and a locator inset as standard practice, and a source credit. Mark every place named in the text and keep it uncluttered.
• Sampling-site, transect or route map Map, very common
  Site numbers match the data tables.
• Located charts or proportional symbols on a base map Map, common
  Mini bars or pies, or scaled circles, anchored to sites, with a single legend for the symbol scale and leader lines.
• Choropleth, isoline or flow-line map Map, occasional
  State the class intervals. Label isolines with value and unit. Draw flow width in proportion to the flow, with arrows and a width scale.
• GIS output Map, occasional
  Import as an image with a caption and source line, with the legend, scale and north arrow on the export.
• Annotated photograph Image, very common
  Annotations of 10 words or fewer stay out of the count, and longer ones count in full. Give the place, date and direction of view.
• Field sketch or sketch map Image, common
  Title, orientation and labelled features, with the same 10-word rule for annotations.
• Scatter graph with trendline and Spearman's rank Plotted, very common
  Common in quantitative reports. Axis titles with units, n, rs, the critical value at the 95% (and 99%) level and the decision on the null hypothesis, with outliers marked. A regression line and equation are optional.
• Chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U, t-test Table, occasional
  Observed and expected table, degrees of freedom, critical value and significance level. Calculations stay out of the count.
• Bar, compound or divided bar graph Plotted, very common
  Axis titles, units and category labels, with consistent colours across figures.
• Line graph of change with distance or time Plotted, common
  Distance or time on the x axis, with site numbers marked.
• Pie chart Plotted, common
  Percentages labelled and n stated.
• River cross-section, long profile, beach or slope profile Plotted, common
  Common in river and coastal reports. Distance against depth or height in m or cm, vertical exaggeration stated and water level shown.
• Bipolar or semantic-differential graph Plotted, common
  Common in perception and environmental-quality surveys. Paired opposite descriptors on a symmetric score scale.
• Histogram, box plot, kite diagram, radar chart or development diamond, rose diagram Plotted, occasional
  Class intervals for histograms, median and interquartile range for box plots, a width scale for kite diagrams, the same scale on every radar axis and north marked on rose diagrams.
• Triangular graph, Lorenz curve with Gini, logarithmic graph, population pyramid Plotted, rare
  Triangular axes sum to 100%, a Lorenz curve has a line of equality, and a log axis is labelled.
• Nearest-neighbour index, location quotient, diversity measures, Gini coefficient Math, occasional
  Show the formula and an interpretation scale.
• Raw and processed data tables; matrix Table, very common
  Numbered, titled and with units. Raw data go in an appendix only as a representative sample.
• Flow diagram of the method sequence Drawn, occasional
  Text inside follows the 10-word label rule.

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 asks for a standard author-date system such as Harvard, with the title, URL and date visited for internet sources. Harvard is the style the guide names, and APA is another author-date option.

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

• A question that names no place, works at a global scale, cannot be answered with primary data or has no stated syllabus link.
• A copied, cluttered or convention-free map caps criterion A at 2, and no map at all caps it at 1.
• Figures moved to an appendix, left unnumbered or never referred to in the text.
• Description without explanation, and statistical tests that are irrelevant or wrong, which keep criterion D in a low band.
• Annotations over 10 words and footnotes over 15 words count without warning, and text past 2,500 words is not read.
• An evaluation of teamwork or of how smoothly the day went, or of methods you never used.

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

• IB, Geography guide, first examinations 2019 (published February 2017), full guide
• IB, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Individuals and societies: Geography, first assessments 2019
• IB, Examiner Instructions 2027: Geography
• IB, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (published Feb 2025; updated May, Aug, Nov 2025)
• IB, Geography guide, first examinations 2011

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 →