- What Examiners Reward in EE Writing
- Build a Clear Line of Argument
- Analyse, Do Not Describe
- Build Each Paragraph Around One Point
- Use Sources to Support Your Argument, Not Replace It
- Make Discussion and Evaluation Run Through the Essay
- Use Terminology and Concepts Precisely
- Aim for Precision, Not Pretence
- How EE Writing Differs by Subject
- Edit in Layers, Within the Rules
- What Help Is Allowed
- Common EE Writing Mistakes
Quick Answer
Write your Extended Essay as a formal, analytical argument rather than a report. Answer your research question with a clear position, build each paragraph around one point backed by evidence, explain what that evidence shows, and weigh strengths and limitations as you go. Use your subject's terminology and concepts precisely, signpost each step of the argument, and stay within 4,000 words.
What You'll Learn
- Examiners reward analysis, a sustained line of argument and balanced discussion, not description
- Under the new criteria used from May 2027, Discussion and evaluation is the largest criterion, worth 8 of 30 marks
- Evaluation belongs throughout the essay, not in one section at the end
- Accurate, consistent use of subject terminology and concepts is assessed directly in Criterion B
- Only your supervisor may comment on your draft, once, and proofreading is your responsibility
What Examiners Reward in EE Writing
Both EE guides ask for a clear, formal academic style suited to your subject, but the marks come from what your writing does. Under the new criteria (essays assessed from May 2027), three criteria judge your writing directly: Knowledge and understanding (6 marks) looks at how you use research materials, terminology and concepts; Analysis and line of argument (6 marks) at whether your analysis produces relevant findings and a clear argument links your question, findings and conclusions; and Discussion and evaluation (8 marks) at whether you discuss the significance of your findings in a balanced way and evaluate the effectiveness of your essay. Under the 2018 criteria, used up to November 2026, most of these skills sat in Criterion C, Critical thinking, worth 12 of 34 marks.
- Analytical: you break the topic into its parts and show what the evidence reveals.
- Argued: a reasoned thread links every section to the research question.
- Balanced: you consider other factors and perspectives and weigh them against the evidence.
- Evaluative: you judge the strengths and limitations of your sources, data and method.
- Precise: you use the subject's terms and concepts accurately and consistently.
Pro Tip
If a sentence sounds impressive but does not make your point clearer, simplify it.
Build a Clear Line of Argument
The new guide describes a line of argument as a reasoned thread running through the essay that links its parts and supports the position you take. In practice it connects three things: your research question, your research findings and your conclusions. You do not need an extra section to create it. You need explicit links: signposts that show where each part starts and ends, and sentences that show how each finding moves the answer forward. A useful test: if an examiner could reasonably ask how two sections fit together, the link is missing, and making that link is your job, not the reader's.
- 1Before drafting, write your provisional answer to the research question in one or two sentences. This is your working position.
- 2List the steps needed to reach that answer. Each step becomes a section.
- 3Open each section by saying what it will establish and how it follows from the previous one.
- 4Close each section by stating what it has shown and what that means for your answer.
- 5If the evidence points somewhere else, change your position, then update the introduction and conclusion to match.
Analyse, Do Not Describe
The most common weakness in EE writing is description: retelling events, summarising plots or restating what sources say. Both guides warn that a largely descriptive or narrative essay cannot show the analysis examiners reward, and under the new criteria an essay that is descriptive rather than analytical sits in the lowest band for analysis. Some context is necessary, but keep it short and make it serve the argument. Ask of every paragraph: so what? If the paragraph cannot answer that, it is probably describing.
- Descriptive (illustrative economics example): 'The government introduced a tax that raised the price of the product by 10%.'
- Analytical version: 'Because demand for the product is price inelastic, the tax raised revenue but reduced consumption only slightly, which weakens the government's claim that improving health was its main aim.'
- Swap summary verbs (describes, tells, shows) for analytical ones (suggests, implies, undermines, depends on, outweighs).
- After every quotation, statistic or result, explain what it shows and why it matters for your question.
- Link back to the research question at the end of each paragraph.
Watch Out
If most of a paragraph could be removed without changing your argument, it is description, not analysis.
Build Each Paragraph Around One Point
The new guide's model of an academic essay says each body paragraph makes one main point. A reliable pattern is point, evidence, analysis, evaluation, link. For example, a paragraph in an illustrative history essay might open by claiming that economic pressure, not ideology, drove a government's change of policy; present trade figures and an extract from a minister's speech; explain why the timing of the two supports the claim; note that the speech was written for a public audience; and end by showing how this narrows the answer to the research question.
- 1Point: one sentence stating the claim of the paragraph.
- 2Evidence: a quotation, data, example or result, with its citation.
- 3Analysis: what the evidence shows and why, using the subject's terms.
- 4Evaluation: how reliable or limited the evidence is, or what weighs against it.
- 5Link: what this means for the research question and the next step of the argument.
Use Sources to Support Your Argument, Not Replace It
Your knowledge should be visible in your own writing. The new guide warns against over-extensive quoting, and it expects you to use other people's words and ideas to support your own conclusions rather than to say what you want to say for you. In language A, for example, an essay that only repeats the views of established critics will not score well. Use sources to support, test and challenge your claims.
- Quote only when the exact wording matters, such as a line of a poem or a key phrase in a speech; otherwise paraphrase and cite.
- Introduce sources with phrases that show their authority or stance, for example 'the economist X argues' or 'a government report claims'.
- Put sources in conversation: show where they agree, where they disagree and why.
- Consider each author's stated or implied position and whether it limits how far you can rely on them.
- When a source quotes another, check the original, and cite it if you use it.
Make Discussion and Evaluation Run Through the Essay
Under the new criteria, Discussion and evaluation is worth 8 marks, more than any other criterion. Discussion means a balanced review of the significance of your findings, considering a range of factors or perspectives and supporting each judgement with evidence. Evaluation means appraising your research materials and the effectiveness of your essay, weighing strengths and limitations. In a May 2025 update the IB clarified that evaluation should be integrated throughout the essay rather than placed in a separate section.
- After each major finding, ask how far it answers the question and what the strongest counter-argument is.
- Weigh perspectives explicitly: which is more convincing, and why?
- Evaluate sources where you use them: author, date, purpose, method, sample or bias.
- In science and data-based essays, discuss uncertainties, anomalies and how the method limits your conclusions. Negative results are as valid as positive ones.
- Use measured language for judgements, such as 'largely', 'suggests' or 'on balance', rather than absolute claims you cannot support.
Use Terminology and Concepts Precisely
Criterion B rewards accurate, consistent use of subject-specific terminology and concepts in both guides. Terminology is the vocabulary of the discipline; concepts are the key ideas that knowledge in the subject is built around, such as causation and consequence in history or marginalisation in social and cultural anthropology. Using a concept well means explaining it and applying it to your evidence, not just naming it.
- Define key terms briefly the first time you use them, in the sense you intend.
- Use each term consistently; do not switch between near-synonyms for variety.
- Show how the concept explains what you found, rather than dropping it in.
- In literature essays, name techniques precisely, then explain their effect on meaning.
- In science essays, define your variables and use SI units throughout.
Aim for Precision, Not Pretence
Academic style means clear, formal and precise, not long or complicated. Short, controlled sentences usually sound more authoritative than inflated ones, and writing that is too informal can weaken an essay in any language. The new guide does not ban the first person: follow your subject's conventions and your supervisor's advice, and make sure every judgement rests on evidence rather than opinion.
- Prefer precise verbs: 'reduced', 'reinforced', 'contradicts' rather than 'had an effect on'.
- Cut filler such as 'it is interesting to note that' or 'throughout history'.
- Avoid absolute claims such as 'proves' or 'always' unless the evidence really is conclusive.
- Avoid emotive or promotional language; let the evidence carry the weight.
- Vary sentence length, but keep to one main idea per sentence where you can.
How EE Writing Differs by Subject
Examiners judge your writing in the context of your subject, so good academic writing looks different in each. Read the subject-specific guidance in the EE guide and recent examiner reports for your subject, and follow its conventions.
- English and other language A essays: ground every claim in close reading of the text, with quotations, before giving your own view of how the author treats the subject. The text must not be used as documentary evidence for a real-world issue.
- History: build the argument from evidence, weighing primary sources against historians' interpretations.
- Economics: apply theory and diagrams to a specific real-world case, and explain every diagram in the text.
- Sciences: report method and results in a standard, repeatable format, then analyse the data and evaluate the method against the research question.
- Mathematics: explain what each piece of mathematics is for and give an illustrative example to show your understanding.
- Psychology: under the new guide the essay is a review of peer-reviewed research, and collecting primary data is not permitted.
Edit in Layers, Within the Rules
Your supervisor can read and comment on one draft only and must not edit it; under the new guide this happens between the interim and final reflection sessions. The next version they see is your final one, and once you hand that in before your viva voce you cannot change it. So the editing is yours: the new guide states that proofreading, checking spelling, grammar and formatting, and staying within 4,000 words are your responsibility. Work in layers, from the biggest problems to the smallest.
- 1Argument: does every section answer the research question, in a logical order?
- 2Paragraphs: one point each, with evidence, analysis, evaluation and a link.
- 3Length: cut description, repetition and filler until you are under 4,000 words.
- 4Sources: every borrowed idea cited, in one consistent style.
- 5Surface: spelling, punctuation, figure labels, page numbers and the contents page.
Pro Tip
To cut words, delete whole sentences that summarise rather than analyse before you start trimming phrases. It is faster and protects your argument.
What Help Is Allowed
The EE must be your own, authentic work. Beyond the support permitted through your supervisor, you may not receive help with the research, writing or proofreading of the essay, and collusion with other students is not allowed. Spelling and grammar checkers are acceptable, but you must check their suggestions. AI may support your research as a cited source, but presenting AI-written text as your own is academic misconduct and puts your diploma at risk.
- Allowed: discussing your ideas with others, help from the library with research skills, your supervisor's questions and written comments on one draft.
- Allowed: building academic writing skills on other work, such as practice paragraphs on a different topic.
- Not allowed: anyone editing, rewriting or proofreading your EE, or writing any part of it.
- Not allowed: reusing content from your IA or any other assessed work.
Common EE Writing Mistakes
These issues make essays feel weaker even when the research behind them is good. Outside your supervisor, help has to stay at the level of skills: our Extended Essay support practises academic writing with you on other material and never edits or proofreads your essay.
- Long descriptive or narrative passages with little analysis
- Quotations or data dropped in without commentary
- An evaluation section bolted on at the end instead of evaluation throughout
- Sections that read as separate notes, with no links between them
- Inflated vocabulary that hides the point
- Subject terms named but not explained or applied
- Important material moved into footnotes or appendices to save words