IB EE examples by subject
The IB Extended Essay is a 4,000-word independent research project that every Diploma candidate must complete. It is one of the most significant pieces of academic writing most students have produced, and one of the most variable in quality. The difference between a grade A and a grade C EE is not usually the quality of the research. It is how clearly the research question is focused, how rigorously the evidence is analysed, and how honestly the limitations are discussed. This guide provides concrete extended essay examples across major subject areas and explains what each high-scoring version does that lower-scoring versions don't.
IB EE marking overview
From May 2027 the Extended Essay is marked out of 30 on five criteria (A to E); through November 2026 it is marked out of 34 on older criteria. Combined with the TOK grade, the EE grade decides up to 3 bonus points on your Diploma total. In recent sessions on the 34-mark scale, an A has been 27 to 34, a B 21 to 26, a C 14 to 20, a D 7 to 13 and an E 0 to 6; boundaries for the 30-mark scale are set only after the May 2027 session is marked.
- Criterion A: Framework for the essay (6 marks). Is the research question clear, focused and appropriate for the subject? Do the method and the structure serve it?
- Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding (6 marks). Does the student demonstrate subject-specific knowledge and understanding, including appropriate use of subject terminology and concepts?
- Criterion C: Analysis and line of argument (6 marks). Is the research analysed, with findings relevant to the question and a coherent argument throughout?
- Criterion D: Discussion and evaluation (8 marks). Is the significance of the findings discussed in a balanced way, with evidence, and does the essay evaluate its own strengths and limitations?
- Criterion E: Reflection (4 marks). Marked on the reflective statement in the RPF: does it evaluate, with specific examples, how the EE changed the student as a learner?
Through November 2026 the criteria are Focus and method (6), Knowledge and understanding (6), Critical thinking (12), Presentation (4) and Engagement (6, marked on the RPPF).
IB Extended Essay examples by subject
Economics Extended Essay
Strong research question: "To what extent has the 2023 expansion of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone changed consumer surplus for outer-London commuters?"
What makes this work: it is specific (one policy in one city), it uses Economics concepts precisely (consumer surplus, externalities, cost-benefit analysis), and it has a debatable answer: the charge's costs and the benefits of cleaner air fall on the same group. The student can use Transport for London data, academic studies of ULEZ impacts, and newspaper reports as sources.
What a top-band version does: defines the market clearly, draws and explains supply and demand diagrams with welfare triangles, uses real data to quantify the effects on at least two stakeholder groups, and evaluates limitations (data quality, counterfactual problem, distributional assumptions).
What a middle-band version does: describes the policy and its effects without applying diagrams or welfare analysis, uses broad claims without data, and concludes vaguely that "the ULEZ had both positive and negative effects."
History Extended Essay
Strong research question: "To what extent was Stalin's collectivisation policy the primary cause of the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine?"
What makes this work: it asks a causal question with a debatable answer (historians disagree), it is narrow enough to answer in 4,000 words (one policy, one famine, one country, one time period), and it requires evaluating multiple sources including Soviet archives, demographic data, and historiographical debate.
A top-band History EE weighs competing causes (collectivisation policy, grain quotas, kulak deportations, deliberate targeting by Soviet authorities) against the evidence for each, uses primary sources critically, and reaches a justified but qualified conclusion, not a simplistic "yes" or "no".
Biology Extended Essay
Strong research question: "To what extent does soil pH affect the concentration of anthocyanin in red cabbage leaves?"
What makes this work: it asks one question, as the guide advises (a question that combines two is usually too broad for 4,000 words), it is experimentally testable (the student can grow red cabbage in soils of different pH and measure anthocyanin spectrophotometrically), it connects to plant biology theory, and the role of anthocyanin as a stress response gives the discussion its context.
For Biology, the methodology section must be detailed enough to replicate; the analysis should use statistical methods where they suit the data (for example means, standard deviations and, where appropriate, a significance test); and the evaluation must discuss whether the observed effect is physiologically plausible given the literature on anthocyanin biosynthesis.
English A: Literature Extended Essay
Strong research question: "How does Kazuo Ishiguro use unreliable narration in 'Never Let Me Go' to critique institutional complicity in human rights violations?"
What makes this work: it links a specific literary technique (unreliable narration) to a specific thematic claim (institutional complicity, human rights). The student can analyse close textual passages, compare critical interpretations, and develop an original argument that is not simply "Ishiguro uses symbolism to convey themes."
English EEs score poorly when they substitute plot summary for analysis or when the argument is too broad ("Ishiguro explores memory and identity"). A top-band English EE makes a specific, arguable claim and defends it through close reading of selected passages, with engagement with secondary critical sources.
Mathematics Extended Essay
Strong research question: "Under what conditions does the logistic growth model stop predicting the long-run population of a bounded ecosystem accurately?"
Math EEs succeed when the mathematics is used with real understanding rather than reproduced, when the investigation is genuine (the student tests the model rather than only deriving it), and when the limitations of the model are analysed mathematically rather than vaguely noted.
Common failure: a Math EE that merely solves textbook problems and presents correct answers without any analysis or exploration of where the mathematics comes from or where it breaks down. The exploration must feel like investigation, not a worked-solutions exercise.
Psychology Extended Essay
Strong research question: "To what extent does published research show that heavy social media use predicts depressive symptoms in adolescents?"
Psychology EEs are built on published research with a critical argument, not on data you collect yourself. A high-scoring version examines a focused set of studies closely, evaluates their methods (sample size, how variables were operationalised, cultural context), and reaches a qualified conclusion about what the evidence does and does not establish.
Physics Extended Essay
Strong research question: "How does the drag coefficient of a cycling helmet change with wind speed?"
A Physics EE with original experimental data gives the analysis and discussion criteria plenty to work with, because the analysis can compare experimental results with theoretical predictions. If original experiments are not feasible, a strong Physics EE analyses published datasets critically and applies theoretical models, but must go beyond simply describing the physics.
What all high-scoring Extended Essays have in common
Across every subject, the IB Extended Essays that score grade A share three characteristics that lower-scoring essays lack:
- A research question specific enough to answer. Not "the impact of X on Y" but "to what extent did X influence Y under conditions Z during period P?"
- Analysis that argues rather than describes. Every section that presents evidence should also evaluate it: what does this evidence tell us, how reliable is it, what does it not tell us, and what competing explanation could account for it?
- A conclusion that directly answers the question. Not "in summary, there are many complex factors" but a qualified, evidenced position that the student has earned through the investigation.
Why full Extended Essay examples are hard to find, and what to use instead
Complete, high-scoring Extended Essays are rarely published in full, and for good reason: the work belongs to the student who wrote it, and the marked examples the IB annotates go to teachers in support material rather than onto the open web. What does circulate online usually lacks the two things that would help you: the mark it received and the comments explaining that mark. A PDF with no score attached cannot tell you why it scored what it did.
So what most people want from an example is the answer to this: what separates a top-band Extended Essay from an average one? The difference lies in specific things each criterion rewards:
| Criterion | What an average one does | What a top-band one does |
|---|---|---|
| A: Framework for the essay | The research question restates the topic and could fill a book; scope and method are never stated. | The question is narrow enough to answer in 4,000 words, the method fits it, and every section visibly serves it. |
| B: Knowledge and understanding | Sources are summarised one after another in the order they were read. | Subject terminology is used precisely, and sources are positioned against each other rather than listed. |
| C: Analysis and line of argument | Evidence is described and a claim follows, leaving the reader to assume the link. | Each finding is analysed and tied to the question, building one coherent argument. |
| D: Discussion and evaluation | Findings are restated in the conclusion, and the essay never says where its own sources or method fall short. | The significance of the findings is discussed with evidence and competing readings, and the essay evaluates its own strengths and limitations. |
| E: Reflection | The reflective statement describes the timeline: chose a topic, found sources, wrote it up. | The statement evaluates, with specific examples, what the research changed in the student as a learner. |
If you sit your exams in November 2026, your EE is marked out of 34 on the older criteria (Focus and method, Knowledge and understanding, Critical thinking, Presentation, Engagement), and many older example essays and mark schemes describe that rubric. The table above uses the criteria for May 2027 onward.
See a full marked report
If you want to see what marking against published descriptors looks like on a whole piece of work, we publish three complete IBLens reports on the same TOK-style title at three quality levels, with the commentary explaining each band placement: Sample IBLens Reports. They are our own demonstration essays, so we can show them in full.
The faster route: check your own draft
Reading someone else's work tells you what good looks like in general. It cannot tell you what is missing from yours. IBLens marks your draft against these criteria. Without an account you get a free range for your total and, for most drafts, your weakest criterion with its feedback and the top risks. An AI check is outside help on the EE, so ask your supervisor before you use it.
Check my Extended Essay against the criteria →
Getting your Extended Essay assessed before submission
Reading strong IB extended essay examples helps calibrate what good looks like. But the gap between knowing what good looks like and knowing whether your own essay meets that standard is where most students lose marks.
If your supervisor agrees, IBLens analyses your Extended Essay draft against the published criteria for your exam session and gives criterion-by-criterion feedback, so you can see where marks are being lost before you submit. Ask them first, because an AI check is outside help on the EE.
Paste your Extended Essay draft into IBLens for rubric-based feedback →