The Extended Essay

Students are given almost 10 months to create a 4,000 word (or 8,000 Japanese characters) Extended Essay. The Extended Essay gives students the opportunity to investigate a topic of their choice from one of the subjects they are studying within the Diploma. It will be their first opportunity to write an ‘academic’ essay. Students are expected to show independent research and extended writing skills, which will be vital in their studies at university. The essay is designed to promote intellectual discovery and creativity and should take approximately 40 hours to complete. Students are provided with a teacher supervisor to support them in researching and planning their essay. Meeting with the supervisor is set to be within 5 hours.

The essay will be evaluated by IBO examiners, according to the subject-wide criteria. As it should be proceeded outside of class, students are required to have good writing skills, research skills, thinking skills as well as time management skills etc.

The chosen topic or research question will be explored over approximately a year, which will deepen the student’s understanding of the subject matter. The choice of the subject will be based on the student’s own interest, and it will be still more meaningful if it is related to what the student wants to study at university. If the essay is written in English as a subject, the student will also be required to have an appropriate level of language skills.

Further information on the Extended Essay can be found here