- Geography IA at a Glance (Exams From 2026 to 2029)
- Choose a Fieldwork Question That Is Actually Investigable
- Geography IA Ideas by Theme
- Geography IA Structure and Word Count
- Geography IA Criteria: What Each One Rewards
- Sampling and Data Collection Need to Be Justified
- Strong Geography Analysis Goes Beyond Presentation
- Evaluation Should Be Specific and Geographic
- Common Geography IA Mistakes
Quick Answer
The IB Geography IA, often called the geo IA, is a fieldwork report of up to 2,500 words based on primary data you collect yourself, built around one focused fieldwork question. It is marked out of 25 across six criteria, from the fieldwork question (3 marks) to written analysis (8 marks), and is worth 25% at SL and 20% at HL. The task is the same at both levels.
What You'll Learn
- One fieldwork report of up to 2,500 words, marked out of 25, for both SL and HL
- Worth 25% of the final grade at SL and 20% at HL
- The question must be geographical, focused on a precise location and answerable with primary data
- Quality and treatment of data (6 marks) and written analysis (8 marks) carry more than half the marks
- You can collect data in a group, but the report, method justification, analysis and conclusion must be your own
Geography IA at a Glance (Exams From 2026 to 2029)
The Geography IA is a written report on a fieldwork investigation. You choose a fieldwork question linked to the syllabus, collect primary information in the field, then present, analyse and evaluate it. These rules come from the current Geography guide, first assessed in 2019, which applies to exams in November 2026, May 2027 and May 2028. The IB has not announced a new Geography guide for first teaching in 2027, so students starting in August 2027 (May 2029 exams) follow it too.
- Word limit: 2,500 words. All main text counts, including the fieldwork question, analysis, conclusion and evaluation; references and appendices do not
- Marks: 25 in total across six criteria (A to F)
- Weighting: 25% of your final grade at SL, 20% at HL
- Time: the IB recommends 20 hours for the fieldwork and write-up
- Data: based on primary information collected in the field, with secondary data only where it supports your fieldwork
- Group work: you may collect data with classmates, but the writing must be individual
- Marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB
Choose a Fieldwork Question That Is Actually Investigable
Criterion A expects a fieldwork question that is geographical, focused and answerable through primary data collected in a precise location. You must also state which part of the syllabus it relates to (an optional theme, the core or the HL extension), explain the geographic context, and include a map of your study area. A brief prediction or hypothesis is optional but helps structure the analysis. Most weak questions fail on focus: they ask about a whole city or river instead of one measurable relationship.
- Too broad: "How does tourism affect the Lake District?" Focused: "How does footpath erosion change with distance from the main car park at one Lake District site?"
- Too vague: "Is the city centre polluted?" Focused: "How does environmental quality vary with distance from the central business district along one transect in your city?"
- Not answerable with primary data: questions that rely mainly on census or online statistics
- Good sign: a clear independent variable (such as distance, time or land use) and something you can measure or score
Pro Tip
A strong fieldwork question usually names a location, a process or pattern, and a measurable focus, and links to a geographical theory or model you can test.
Geography IA Ideas by Theme
These illustrative ideas show the kind of question that works. Each has a clear variable, can be measured in a day or two of fieldwork, and links to a recognised theory or concept you can use in the analysis.
- Freshwater: how channel width, depth and velocity change downstream along a short stretch of river, compared with the Bradshaw model
- Oceans and coastal margins: how beach sediment size and roundness change along a beach, and whether the pattern suggests longshore drift
- Urban environments: how environmental quality or land use changes with distance from the city centre, linked to urban land-use models
- Urban environments: whether air temperature readings across a town show an urban heat island effect
- Leisure, tourism and sport: how visitor pressure and footpath erosion vary across a honeypot site, linked to carrying capacity
- Food and health: how access to fresh food shops varies between neighbourhoods with different characteristics
- Geophysical hazards: how residents' perception of flood or landslide risk changes with distance from a hazard zone, using questionnaires
Geography IA Structure and Word Count
Organise the report around the six criteria so the moderator can find evidence for each one. The IB guide expects the presentation of data and the written analysis to be integrated, so put graphs and maps where you discuss them rather than in a separate results section. The word guide below is a suggestion that follows the marks.
- 1Fieldwork question and geographic context, criterion A (about 300 words): the question, any hypothesis, the syllabus link, why this location, and a locational map
- 2Method(s) of investigation, criterion B (about 300 words): what you collected, where, when and how, the sampling strategy, and why these methods suit the question
- 3Treatment and analysis of data, criteria C and D together (about 1,300 words): graphs, maps and statistics placed alongside the written interpretation
- 4Conclusion, criterion E (about 200 words): a clear, supported answer to the fieldwork question
- 5Evaluation, criterion F (about 300 words): strengths and weaknesses of the methods, question, presentation and location, with specific improvements
- 6References and appendices: sources and representative raw data, outside the word count
Geography IA Criteria: What Each One Rewards
The six criteria use level descriptors. The summaries below paraphrase what the top band of each rewards.
- Criterion A, Fieldwork question and geographic context (3 marks): a focused, geographical question about a precise location, a described link to the syllabus or geographical theory, and one or more locational maps that follow mapping conventions
- Criterion B, Method(s) of investigation (3 marks): methods, instruments and sampling techniques described and used correctly, with a clear explanation of how the data collected is relevant to the question or hypotheses
- Criterion C, Quality and treatment of information collected (6 marks): data that is all relevant and sufficient in quantity and quality, presented with the most appropriate techniques and correct conventions such as titles, labels and numbering
- Criterion D, Written analysis (8 marks): appropriate descriptive and, where suitable, statistical techniques, with trends, patterns and anomalies explained and linked to the question, theory, location and methods
- Criterion E, Conclusion (2 marks): a clear conclusion that answers the fieldwork question and is supported by the analysis. It is fine if the findings do not match your prediction
- Criterion F, Evaluation (3 marks): the most relevant strengths and weaknesses explained, covering data collection, the question, presentation and choice of location, with improvements and their likely impact
Sampling and Data Collection Need to Be Justified
Criterion B rewards methods that are described, justified and able to produce enough good-quality primary data to answer the question. Explain where and when you collected data, why those sites, which sampling strategy you used and what limits it created. Plan for enough data points to show a pattern and, if you want to use a statistical test, enough to make it meaningful.
- Choose a sampling strategy and say why: random, systematic (for example every 50 metres along a transect) or stratified (for example by land-use zone)
- Combine quantitative data (measurements, counts, scores) with qualitative data (field sketches, annotated photos, interviews) where it helps the question
- Use the same method, equipment and timing at every site, and record conditions such as weather
- Use secondary data only for context or comparison, not as a replacement for fieldwork
- Keep a clear record of who collected what if you worked in a group
Watch Out
If your method changes between sites without a reason, your comparisons lose reliability, and moderators will notice when criterion C and D rely on uneven data.
Strong Geography Analysis Goes Beyond Presentation
Criterion D is worth 8 marks, the most of any criterion. Graphs and maps earn credit in criterion C when they are the right technique for the data, but marks in criterion D come from interpreting them: describing the trend, explaining why it happens with reference to geographical theory and your location, and dealing with anomalies. Use statistics where they fit the question, such as Spearman's rank correlation for a relationship between two variables or a chi-squared test for differences between categories, and state significance levels.
- 1Choose presentation techniques that suit the data: line graphs for change along a transect, scatter graphs for relationships, choropleth or proportional symbol maps for spatial patterns
- 2Place each graph or map next to the paragraph that interprets it, with a figure number and title
- 3Describe the pattern with numbers, then explain it using theory and local context
- 4Identify anomalies and suggest specific reasons, linked to the site or the method
- 5Check whether results support or contradict your hypothesis and say why
- 6Keep the fieldwork question visible throughout
Evaluation Should Be Specific and Geographic
Criterion F rewards evaluation that explains the most important strengths and weaknesses, not a list of everything that went wrong. Cover data collection, the wording of your question, how you presented data and your choice of location. Explain how each weakness affected the reliability or validity of your conclusion, then suggest realistic improvements and say what difference they would make.
- Explain how sampling size or site choice limits how far you can generalise
- Discuss timing, such as season, weather or time of day, and how it may have shaped the data
- Consider personal bias, for example in scoring environmental quality
- Suggest improvements with their likely impact, such as more sites, repeated visits or a calibrated instrument
Common Geography IA Mistakes
These issues regularly hold Geography IAs back. An IB Geography tutor can explain what makes a fieldwork question workable and how sampling strategies work, so you can design your own before you go out to collect data.
- A fieldwork question that is too broad, not geographical or cannot be answered with primary data
- A copied online map with too much detail and no mapping conventions
- Sampling or site choice that is not justified
- Too little data to show a pattern or support a statistical test
- Graphs without titles, labels or units, or techniques that do not suit the data
- Results described but not explained using theory and the local context
- A conclusion that does not directly answer the question
- Evaluation that lists problems without explaining their effect or giving specific improvements
- Going over 2,500 words