SEHS IA structure: sections, criteria and word count

Some details on this page are still being checked against the IB guide.

At a glance

The structure, section by section

1. Header block

Required by the IB · No criterion (formal requirement) · Outside the word count

Title, candidate code or codes and word count, as in the other sciences.

1. Enter a working title.
2. Add your candidate code and any group members' codes.
3. Insert the counted word total from the counter.

2. Research question

Required by the IB · Criterion: Research design

1 focused question with the IV and DV (or 2 correlated variables), the population and the setting; each student answers their own. A sport, exercise or health setting fits the course.

1. Name the IV with its levels or range.
2. Name the DV and the test that measures it.
3. State the population and the setting.
4. Check you can recruit enough willing participants in the time you have.
5. In a group, make sure your IV or DV differs from the others'.

3. Background and context

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design, Conclusion

The theory the question depends on, and the published findings or norms to compare with later.

1. List the concepts your question relies on.
2. Explain each one briefly and cite it.
3. State the expected effect or relationship.
4. Record the published values or norms you will compare with.

4. Hypothesis

Common practice · No criterion directly

The expected direction of the effect.

1. State the expected direction of the effect.
2. Justify it from your background section.

5. Variables

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design

The IV, the DV and each controlled variable with how it was held constant.

1. Define the IV and its levels.
2. Define the DV, the test and its units.
3. List each control variable and how you held it constant.
4. Note any factor you could not control.

6. Participants

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design

Sample size and why; recruitment; inclusion and exclusion criteria; anonymised characteristics; allocation to groups, randomised for an intervention.

1. State the sample size and justify it.
2. Give inclusion and exclusion criteria.
3. Describe how you recruited participants.
4. Tabulate their characteristics under participant codes, with age bands.
5. Explain how you allocated participants to groups.

7. Methodological considerations

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design

Why this test or protocol, the number of trials and participants, the design, and what the pilot changed.

1. Justify your test or protocol against the alternatives.
2. Justify the number of trials and participants.
3. Say whether each participant did every condition or each group did 1 condition.
4. Summarise what your pilot changed.

8. Consent, screening and welfare

Required by the IB · Criterion: Research design

Written informed consent; written parent or guardian consent for anyone under 16; voluntary participation; the right to withdraw; anonymous results. The 2027 examiner instructions restate that human volunteers need consent. Earlier EE guidance recommended readiness screening, such as a PAR-Q, before strenuous exercise.

1. Describe how you obtained written consent, without giving names.
2. Confirm parent or guardian consent for anyone under 16.
3. Name your screening tool and your exclusion rule.
4. Describe the warm-up, the stop criteria and the supervision.
5. State that participants could withdraw at any time.

9. Safety, environment and data handling

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design

Equipment hazards, any environmental effect, and how data were anonymised and stored; no body fluids except your own saliva or sweat.

1. List each hazard and its control.
2. Explain how you anonymised and stored the data.
3. Confirm you used no body fluids beyond your own saliva or sweat.
4. Note any environmental effect.

10. Equipment

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design

Each instrument with its resolution or uncertainty, and how it was calibrated.

1. List each instrument with its model and resolution.
2. Say how you calibrated it.
3. Name the facility or data source.

11. Testing protocol

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Research design

A standardised protocol: warm-up, familiarisation trials, time of day, surface or equipment, verbal encouragement, food and drink before testing, and the number of trials.

1. Write the protocol as numbered steps.
2. Standardise the warm-up, familiarisation and time of day.
3. Fix the surface, equipment and encouragement.
4. Set rules for food and drink before testing.
5. State the number of trials per participant.

12. Raw data

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Data analysis

Every trial by participant code, with units and ± uncertainty.

1. Tabulate every trial by participant code.
2. Put units and ± uncertainty in the column headers.
3. Flag anomalies and keep them in the table.

13. Data processing and statistics

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Data analysis

Means and SD per group or condition, change scores, and a test that fits the design, typically a paired or unpaired comparison or a correlation.

1. State each processing step and its purpose.
2. Show 1 worked example per calculation type.
3. Choose a test that matches your design and say why.
4. Report the result with its significance level.
5. Justify how you treated outliers.

14. Processed results

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Data analysis

Tables and graphs of group or condition means with SD bars and n per group, all numbered and labelled.

1. Build the processed-data table.
2. Plot group or condition means with error bars.
3. State n per group and what the bars show.
4. Number, title and label every figure.
5. Refer to each one in your text.

15. Analysis

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Data analysis, Conclusion

The size and direction of the effect, its spread and the test result.

1. Describe the size and direction of the effect.
2. Quote the test result and say what it means.
3. Judge whether differences exceed the spread.
4. Link the pattern to your question.

16. Conclusion

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Conclusion

A direct answer supported by the analysis and compared with published findings.

1. Answer the question with your processed values.
2. State how strongly the data support it.
3. Compare with published findings.
4. Explain the agreement or the difference.

17. Real-world implications

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Unverified (Conclusion or Evaluation)

Who the finding applies to and what it means in practice, within the limits of the sample and protocol; an SEHS-only descriptor rewards it.

1. State who the finding applies to: athletes, patients or the general population.
2. Explain the practical consequence.
3. Set its limits by your sample and protocol.

18. Evaluation

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: Evaluation

Specific weaknesses (control, precision, spread) and limitations (sample, protocol, assumptions), the relative impact of each, and a realistic improvement for each.

1. Name specific weaknesses and limitations.
2. Estimate how much each one affects the conclusion.
3. Pair each one with a realistic improvement.

19. References

Required by the IB · Criterion: Conclusion (traceable context) · Outside the word count

Every source in 1 standard style, as in the other sciences.

1. Cite each source where you use it.
2. Keep 1 style throughout.
3. Add access dates for online sources.

20. Appendices

Common practice · No criterion · Only when it applies

Optional; relevant material belongs in the body, as science moderators say.

1. Keep everything that earns marks in the body.
2. Use an appendix only for long raw data.

What counts toward the limit

Counts the running prose from the research question to the evaluation, plus explanatory footnotes. Captions and any appendix prose count as a precaution, and headings, tables, graphs, diagrams, equations, worked calculations, citations, the reference list and the header block are left out, following the other sciences until the SEHS text is checked.

The limit: 3,200 words. No rule on going over has been found, so treat it as a hard cap.

Graphs and visuals

• Bar chart of group or condition means (pre and post, intervention and control) with SD error bars Plotted, common
  State n per group and what the bars show in the caption.
• Scatter graph with r or R² (a physiological against a performance variable, for example) Plotted, common
  Trendline equation and coefficient on the chart.
• Pre-to-post line plot per participant Plotted, occasional
  Participant codes only.
• Box-and-whisker plot of group distributions Plotted, occasional
  Median, IQR and whiskers, as in the Biology chart set.
• Participant characteristics table Table, common
  No names or birth dates; age bands.
• Raw and processed data tables (trials, means, SD) Table, very common
  Units and ± in the headers.
• Statistical test summary (for example a t-test) Table, common
  Test, statistic, p or critical value and decision.
• Photo or diagram of the protocol or equipment Image, occasional
  No face that identifies a participant.

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 prescribes no style for the other sciences, and the SEHS guide is assumed to match; use 1 standard style consistently, and cite published norms and test protocols like any other source.

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

• Use guides, checklists and exemplars written for the 2026 criteria; material for the earlier course rewarded personal engagement and communication.
• Keep each student's data their own in a group, with no shared raw data.
• Get written consent, written parent or guardian consent under 16, anonymous results and a right to withdraw for every participant, and use no body fluids except your own saliva or sweat.
• Screen participants for readiness before strenuous tests.
• Include the real-world implications of your findings.

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Sources

• Sports, exercise and health science updates, IB latest curriculum updates page
• Sports, exercise and health science, IB subject brief PDF
• Sports, exercise and health science guide, first assessment 2026
• Extended essay guide (first assessment 2018), online subject guidance, sports, exercise and health science chapter
• IB, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)
• IB, Examiner Instructions 2027: Sciences, Biology
• Biology guide, Diploma Programme, first assessment 2025 (published Feb 2023, updated May 2023)
• Guidelines for the use of animals in IB World Schools (IB, ©2015; includes human subjects and secondary data)
• Extended essay guide (earlier edition), SEHS subject details page

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 →