Extended Essay

• The  Extended  Essay  is  intended  to  promote  high  level  research  and  writing  skills.
• Personal research is emphasized and students will choose a research focus from any of the six subject areas.
• It is written outside of the classroom during the student’s own time.
• Students should begin their extended essay during the fall of their junior year (11th grade) and submit it during the fall of the senior year (12th grade).
• Each student is provided with the opportunity to have a supervisor which is usually a teacher in the school.
• All Extended Essays are assessed by an examiner on the International Baccalaureate grading team and can earn, together with the TOK result, up to three bonus points.

The extended essay, including the world studies extended essay, offers the opportunity for IB students to investigate a topic of special interest, in the form of a 4,000-word piece of independent research. Students select an area of research from Diploma Programme subjects, or in the case of the interdisciplinary world studies essay from two subjects, and become acquainted with the independent research and writing skills expected at university. This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the subject or subjects chosen. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity. As an authentic learning experience, the extended essay provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research on a topic of choice, under the guidance of a supervisor (source: Extended Essay Guide).

The students’ performance, according to the merit of the work, will into one of the following bands:

A              Work of an excellent standard

B              Work of a good standard

C              Work of a satisfactory standard

D              Work of a mediocre standard

E               Work of a poor standard