Extended Essay

Curriculum Review update for EE coordinators and

supervisors
Diploma Programme Development

March 2015

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2015

International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato Internacional®
The revised version of the extended essay will begin first teaching in September 2016 (northern
hemisphere) and January 2017 (southern hemisphere) with the first assessment taking place in 2018. A
summary of the main changes will be made available in December 2015 with the final digital publication of
the guide available in February 2016.

The following represents decisions that have been made with regard to the extended essay across all
subjects.
Change Rationale
All research questions must Enables students to maintain their focus more easily throughout
be posed as a research the essay and to make a judgment as to whether they have
question. responded to the research question.

Reference to external The extended essay is an entity in itself and any argument made
sources or supplementary must be in the body of the essay. Supplementary information
information is not permitted provided in the form of CDs or DVDs or links to external sources
and examiners will not such as YouTube clips are not permitted and examiners will not
access them. refer to them.
The abstract will no longer The abstract will no longer be a formal requirement in response to
be a requirement of the feedback from teachers and examiners. While the extended essay
extended essay. models an academic research paper, it does not mirror it. Writing
an abstract is a skill that students can develop at a later stage in
their respective studies. This decision also helps to mitigate the
effects the introduction of criterion E might have on student
workload.

The use of footnotes, Greater clarification will be given over the use of footnotes,
endnotes and appendices is endnotes and appendices to ensure parity across subjects.
clarified. Additionally, this is to mitigate against students attempting to
circumvent the word limit.

Footnotes and endnotes are not an essential part of the extended

essay and examiners will not read them, or use any information
contained within in the assessment of the essay. Students must
take care to ensure that all information with direct relevance to the
analysis, discussion and evaluation of their essay is contained in
the main body of it. An essay that attempts to evade the word limit
by including important material in footnotes or endnotes risks
losing marks under several criteria. Furthermore, examiners are
instructed to stop reading and assessing work once the 4000-word
limit has been reached. Any argument presented after this will not
form part of the assessment of the essay and this is likely to result
in criterion C in particular being affected.
Footnotes and endnotes may be used for referencing purposes and
if this is the case will not be included in the word count of the
essay. If information is contained in a footnote or endnote and is
not a reference then this must be included in the word count. In
order to avoid confusion and unwittingly exceeding the word limit,

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 students are advised to avoid using footnotes or endnotes other
than for referencing purposes.

Role of external mentors is The conditions under which work can be undertaken outside the
clarified. school with an external mentor have been clarified.
Ideally, students should carry out the research for the essay solely
under the direction of a school supervisor and within the school.
However, in circumstances where the school deems it appropriate,
students may undertake their research at an institute or university,
under the guidance of an external mentor. This must be with the
agreement of the school, and the external mentor must be
provided with a letter outlining the nature of the extended essay
and clear instructions as to the level of guidance that is
permitted.Schools are responsible for ensuring that these external
mentors are aware of the limits of their role in providing this
service. It is important to note that if this is the case the student
must be allocated a supervisor within the school and undertake
their reflection sessions with this person. Only a supervisor within
the school is permitted to complete the reflection process for the
extended essay with the student and provide both signature and
comments on the Reflections on planning and progress form (RPPF).
The nature of these comments may be informed by the external
mentor but must not be provided by them.

The letter, which must be electronically signed by the external

mentor, must be inserted in the appendix of the essay as part of
the document file rather than as a scanned document. If a student
has had an external mentor, this signed letter is an important part
of the authentication of the essay.

As the extended essay is an independent task and a formal

assessment component, students must not receive assistance with
any aspect of their research, writing or proofreading of the
extended essay beyond that which is permitted through their
supervisor. If a supervisor suspects that the extended essay
submitted for assessment by a student could not have been
completed without assistance, they are required to bring this to
the attention of the DP or extended essay coordinator, who in turn
must inform the IB. This will then be investigated as a possible case
of academic misconduct.

Formatting of the extended Strong recommendations will be made in relation to fonts used,
essay is clarified. font size and line spacing for the extended essay. This is to

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 promote the idea that the extended essay is an academic piece of
work and as such should be formatted appropriately, including
font choice.
World studies extended There will be no change to the current six world studies themes
essay themes are clarified. used for the registration of these essays. The guide will, however,
provide greater clarification and guidance on these themes.
The number of assessment The reduction in the number of assessment criteria is in response
criteria has been reduced. to comments and feedback from schools and examiners about the
current criteria. It is also in line with developments in research in
this area, using a more holistic or global impression marking
approach. A review of the current assessment criteria indicated
that essays were marked in a very fragmented way and that it was
felt that, at times, the overall impression of the level of the essay
was not necessarily reflected in the mark awarded. After much
consultation, review, evaluation and trialling the decision was
made to reduce the criteria to five: four to be applied to the essay
itself and one to the Reflections on planning and progress form.
The “best-fit” approach has The aim of the “best-fit approach” is to find the descriptor that
been adopted for the conveys most accurately the level attained by the student's work.
assessment of extended A best-fit approach means that compensation should be made
essays. when a piece of work matches different aspects of a markband at
different levels. The mark awarded should be one that most fairly
reflects the balance of achievement against the markband. It is not
necessary for every indicator of a level descriptor to be met for
that mark to be awarded.
Reflection has been This recognizes that the process of completing the extended essay
included in the assessment is important in terms of skills development. Reflection is an
of the extended essay. important aspect of the DP core, with each element providing a
different kind of reflection. In the extended essay, reflection
focuses on progress during the research process. It is intended to
help candidates with their planning and completion of the
extended essay, as well as allowing them the opportunity to
consider the effectiveness of their choices, to re-examine their
ideas and decide whether changes are needed in order to
complete the task. It also allows candidates to engage in a more
summative reflection of their achievements and challenges while
completing the extended essay.
The Reflections on planning This has been introduced to allow examiners to gain an insight into
and progress form has been students’ thinking throughout the process of undertaking their
introduced. research and writing. It will allow for the application of criterion E,
engagement. This will be completed by students after each of their
mandatory reflection sessions. Supervisors must sign after each
reflection is completed and at the end of the process once the viva
voce has taken place and write their summative comment. The
form is submitted along with the essay for external assessment.
Three mandatory reflection In order to support students through the process of undertaking
sessions must take place. independent research they must be allocated an appropriate
supervisor. It is recommended that students be given between
three and five hours of supervision time and this must include the

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The Researcher’s Reflection
Space has been created.
three mandatory reflection sessions. Supervision sessions may
vary in length of time and nature of discussion to meet the needs
of individual students. This may include a 10-minute check-in to
discuss a timeline or clarification of a comment made by the
supervisor. It may also include a more lengthy discussion about
particular issues related to access to resources, for example. The
three mandatory reflection sessions must be allocated an
appropriate length of time and it is recommended that this be at
least 20 minutes per session.
The use of the Researcher’s Reflection Space (RRS) is strongly
recommended as it will allow the student to more clearly articulate
and understand their decision-making process as it relates to the
critical and evaluative elements of the essay. It supports learning,
thinking, critical analysis and evaluation and contributes not only
to the development of a successful extended essay but also to
skills and competencies for pathways beyond the Diploma
Programme.
The RRS is a personal learning environment that can be either a
physical or virtual support tool. It is a space in which students are
able to record reflections on what they are reading, writing and
thinking. The use of a RRS will help students to prepare for their
reflection sessions with their supervisors and inform the
discussions that take place. In preparing for their reflection
sessions students could use their RRS to:
 record their reflections
 respond to artefacts, such as photos, newspaper clippings,
twitter feeds, blogs, and so on
 respond to prompts and questions that may arise in the
students’ subject areas, TOK classes or other aspects of
the DP
 create Mind Maps®
 record emerging questions.

The idea of the RRS is not new and many students already keep
research journals in the planning, researching and writing phases
of their extended essay. Encouraging students to develop a RRS
will provide benefits in terms of the management of their workload
and focus on their extended essay.

Administrative
 Schools must provide organizational structures that allow
responsibilities are
for three mandatory supervision (reflection) sessions.
explained.
 Extended essay/DP coordinators must introduce, explain
and support the reflection process and provide supervisors
and students with the general and subject-specific
information and guidelines for the extended essay
 Extended essay/DP coordinators must ensure that the
Reflections on planning and progress form (RPPF) is
completed and signed by the student and supervisor and
submitted to the IB with the essay for assessment under

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 criterion E.

Schools are strongly recommended to:

 ensure that students are taught the necessary research
skills, including those related to academic honesty and e-
awareness

 support the introduction and use of the Researcher’s

Reflection Space (RRS) as an integral part of the extended
essay process

 limit the number of students one supervisor is allocated to

ensure the appropriate level of supervision can be provided
for each student

 provide appropriate training and ongoing support for

supervisors.

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© International Baccalaureate Organization 2015