IB History IA
The IB History Internal Assessment is a Historical Investigation of 2200 words that requires you to investigate a historical question using primary and secondary sources, evaluate two specific sources in detail, and write an analytical argument supported by evidence. It is worth 25% of your final grade at SL and 20% at HL. Most students find the IA less difficult than Paper 2 or Paper 3 — but the specific structure and the source evaluation sections trip up a significant number of students who don't understand exactly what each section requires.
The Three-Section Structure of the IB History IA
The History IA must follow a precise three-section structure. Understanding what each section requires is more important than general writing skill.
Section 1 — Identification and Evaluation of Sources (approx. 500 words)
This section focuses on two sources specifically relevant to your research question. For each source, you must analyse it using the OPCVL framework: Origin, Purpose, Content, Value, and Limitation.
What examiners want: Not a description of what the source says, but an analysis of what its origin and purpose mean for its value and limitations. A speech by a government minister on the eve of a controversial decision is valuable as evidence of the official government position — but limited because it was designed to persuade, not to inform, and likely omits inconvenient facts. That is the level of analysis required.
Common mistake: Students summarise what the source says (content) instead of evaluating what its origin and purpose tell us about its reliability and usefulness. The mark scheme explicitly says that describing the content without connecting it to value and limitation earns minimal credit.
Source selection: One primary source (a document, speech, photograph, or statistical record produced at the time) and one secondary source (a historian's analysis) works well. Both must be specifically relevant to your research question — not just to the general topic.
Section 2 — Investigation (approx. 1300 words)
This is the analytical body of your IA. It should directly answer your research question using evidence from multiple sources. Think of it as a mini-essay with a clear argument, organised into thematic or chronological subsections.
What distinguishes a 7 from a 5 here: Students who score 5–6 on Section 2 typically present evidence chronologically and describe what happened. Students who score 7 organise their argument thematically, weigh competing interpretations, and maintain a consistent answer to the research question throughout. Every paragraph should either advance or qualify the argument — not just add more information.
Use a minimum of 8–10 sources in the Investigation. Footnote or parenthetically cite every piece of evidence you use. Do not quote at excessive length — short, precise quotations with analysis are better than long block quotes that consume word count.
Section 3 — Reflection (approx. 400 words)
This section asks you to reflect on the methods historians use and the challenges involved. It is the most misunderstood section of the History IA.
What it is not: A summary of your findings. A comment on how interesting your topic was. A restatement of your conclusion.
What it is: A genuine methodological reflection on what you learned about historical investigation by doing this project. Specifically, examiners look for engagement with questions like:
- What kinds of sources were available to you — and what kinds were not? How did this shape what you could know?
- How did the perspective of your sources affect the conclusions you could draw?
- What does the existence of contradictory historical interpretations tell you about the nature of historical knowledge?
- How would a historian with access to different archives or sources approach this question differently?
Students who score 5–6 on Section 3 write a paragraph about their personal experience ("I found it challenging to find primary sources, but it was rewarding"). Students who score 7 engage with specific methodological questions raised by their investigation.
How to Choose a Good Research Question
The research question determines how achievable a high score is. Good History IA research questions have these properties:
- Narrow enough to answer in 1300 words of analysis. "What caused World War One?" cannot be answered in 1300 words. "To what extent did the Schlieffen Plan's failure determine Germany's military strategy in 1914?" can.
- Debatable — requiring evaluation of evidence, not just description. A question that can be answered by reciting a sequence of events is not suitable. A question where historians disagree — where you must weigh evidence and come to a justified position — is ideal.
- Supported by accessible sources. You need primary sources for Section 1. Topics where primary sources are available in translation, digitised, or held in a local archive are preferable to topics where all relevant sources are in an archive in another country.
- Distinct from Paper 2 and Paper 3 topics. The IB prefers (though does not strictly require) that your IA topic is different from your examined topics. Using the same topic risks formulaic writing; using a genuinely new topic demonstrates independent historical thinking.
Source Evaluation: What OPCVL Actually Means
OPCVL is the framework for Section 1 source evaluation. Many students memorise the acronym without understanding what the evaluation should achieve.
| Element | Question to answer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Who produced this? When? Where? Under what conditions? | Context affects what the source could and could not contain. |
| Purpose | Why was this produced? For what audience? | Purpose shapes what is included, what is omitted, and how it is framed. |
| Content | What does it say that is relevant to the research question? | Brief — the main value/limitation analysis flows from content, not from it. |
| Value | What makes this source useful for investigating the research question? | Value comes from origin + purpose, not just content. |
| Limitation | What does this source not tell us, or tell us unreliably? | All sources have limitations — pretending they don't is a mark loss. |
Word Count Management
The 2200-word limit is strict. The most common distribution problem is an overlong Investigation (1700+ words) at the expense of the Reflection (200 words instead of 400). Examiners notice when the Reflection is thin. Plan your word count by section before you start writing:
- Section 1: 450–500 words (250 per source)
- Section 2: 1250–1350 words
- Section 3: 380–420 words
Getting Feedback That Actually Helps
Your History teacher can give you one full draft review. General feedback ("your analysis could be more developed") does not tell you which paragraphs in Section 2 are describing instead of arguing, or which aspect of the Reflection is missing methodological depth.
IBLens analyses your History IA against the official IB marking criteria and provides criterion-by-criterion feedback — so you know exactly what to change before you submit the final version.
Upload your History IA draft to IBLens for rubric-based feedback →