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Internal Assessment10 min read

Global Politics IA Guide: Structure and Criteria

How the IB Global Politics IA (the engagement project) works for exams from May 2026: word limits, the five criteria plus the HL recommendation, a working structure, engagement ideas and the mistakes that cost marks.

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Quick Answer

The IB Global Politics IA is the engagement project. You explore a political issue through one or more engagement activities and complementary research, then write a report of up to 2,000 words. For exams from May 2026 it is marked out of 24 at SL; HL students add a recommendation of up to 400 words, making 30 marks. It counts for 30% at SL and 20% at HL.

What You'll Learn

  • Applies to exams from May 2026 onwards, under the new Global Politics guide
  • SL: a report of up to 2,000 words, five criteria, 24 marks, 30% of the final grade
  • HL: the same report plus a recommendation of up to 400 words (criterion F), 30 marks, 20% of the final grade
  • Analysis and synthesis (criterion C) carries 8 marks, the largest share
  • Engagement must involve real interaction with people, organisations or political processes, not just reading about an issue

Global Politics IA at a Glance (Exams From May 2026)

The new Global Politics course was first taught in August 2024 and first examined in May 2026, so it applies to everyone now taking the subject. The IA is called the engagement project. You identify a political issue that interests you, explore it through engagement with people and groups involved and through documentary research, and write a report that analyses what you found. Your teacher marks it and the IB moderates it.

  • Report: up to 2,000 words at SL and HL
  • HL recommendation: a separate section of up to 400 words, on top of the report
  • Marks: 24 at SL (criteria A to E), 30 at HL (criteria A to F)
  • Weighting: 30% of your final grade at SL, 20% at HL
  • Same issue, same report and same criteria A to E at both levels; only the recommendation is HL-only
  • The full subject guide is on the IB's Programme Resource Centre, which your teacher can access

What Changed From the Old Engagement Activity

Many online guides still describe the previous course, which was examined for the last time in 2025. If a source describes an "engagement activity" or asks HL students to give oral presentations as part of the IA, it is out of date.

  • The task is now called the engagement project and puts more weight on the process of planning, engaging and researching
  • The HL oral presentations have been removed. HL students now sit Paper 3 on global political challenges instead
  • HL students write a recommendation based on further research, assessed by a new criterion F
  • Communication is now assessed as its own criterion
  • Rather than explaining why the issue interests you, you are expected to show awareness of your own positions and biases
  • At SL the IA is now worth 30% of the final grade

Choose One Political Issue and a Focused Inquiry Question

A political issue is a question about power: who has it, how it is used or contested, and who gains or loses. Broad themes such as human rights, development or climate change are not issues on their own. Narrow them to a specific place, set of actors and time, then turn that into an inquiry question your engagement and research can answer. The best issues are local or personal enough for you to engage with real stakeholders, but connected to wider concepts such as power, sovereignty, legitimacy and interdependence.

  • Too broad: "Climate change policy". Focused: "How far do local residents' groups influence decisions about a proposed wind farm in their area?"
  • Too broad: "Refugee rights". Focused: "To what extent do volunteer-run language classes help asylum seekers in your city access public services?"
  • Too broad: "Youth and democracy". Focused: "Why do students at your school vote in school elections but not in national ones, and what do local parties do about it?"
  • Check that the issue has identifiable stakeholders with different perspectives you can reach
  • Check that it connects to course concepts and content, not just to current events

Pro Tip

If you cannot name at least two groups who disagree about the issue, it is probably not political enough to analyse.

Engagement Activities: What Counts and How Many

Engagement means interacting with people, organisations, institutions or political processes connected to your issue, so that you gain perspectives you could not get from reading alone. There is no fixed number of activities: what matters is that your engagement gives you real insight into the issue and that you combine it with research. Reading articles, watching documentaries or attending a talk as a listener are research, not engagement.

  • Interviewing stakeholders, such as campaigners, officials, community leaders or people directly affected
  • Volunteering with an organisation working on the issue, such as a charity, NGO or campaign
  • Observing a council meeting, public consultation, court hearing or debate, then following up with participants
  • Helping with a non-partisan initiative, such as a voter registration drive or community forum
  • Running a survey and discussing the findings with the groups involved

Watch Out

Agree your plans with your teacher before you contact anyone. Get consent before recording or quoting people, take care with vulnerable groups, and never put yourself in an unsafe situation for the sake of the IA.

Global Politics IA Structure: A Working Plan

The IB does not prescribe headings, but your report must let the moderator find evidence for each criterion. The structure below follows the criteria in order. The word guide is a suggestion based on where the marks sit, so the biggest share goes to analysis and synthesis.

  1. 1Introduction (about 250 words): the political issue, your inquiry question, why the issue matters, and your own starting position
  2. 2Explanation and justification (about 250 words): why you chose these engagement activities and this research, and what each was meant to reveal
  3. 3Process (about 250 words): how you planned the project, what you did, and how engagement and research fed into each other
  4. 4Analysis and synthesis (about 800 words): the core of the report, where you combine evidence from engagement and research with course concepts and stakeholder perspectives
  5. 5Evaluation and reflection (about 350 words): the strengths and limits of your evidence and methods, and how your positions and biases may have shaped what you found
  6. 6Conclusion (about 100 words): a clear answer to your inquiry question
  7. 7HL only, Recommendation (up to 400 words, separate from the 2,000): a focused, realistic, evidence-based recommendation

Global Politics IA Criteria and Marks

The criteria below apply to exams from May 2026. Each is marked with level descriptors, so you are judged on overall quality in each area. The summaries paraphrase what each criterion rewards; your teacher can share the full descriptors from the guide.

  • Criterion A, Explanation and justification (4 marks): a clearly identified, focused political issue and convincing reasons for your choice of engagement activities and research
  • Criterion B, Process (3 marks): evidence of a planned, integrated process of engagement and research
  • Criterion C, Analysis and synthesis (8 marks): analysis of the issue that connects course concepts, research and stakeholder perspectives, rather than description of what you did
  • Criterion D, Evaluation and reflection (6 marks): evaluation of your evidence, methods and limitations, and critical reflection on your own positions and biases
  • Criterion E, Communication (3 marks): a coherent, well-organised report with accurate referencing
  • Criterion F, Recommendation (6 marks, HL only): a focused, realistic recommendation grounded in evidence from further research

Keep the IA Political and Analytical

Criterion C is worth a third of the SL marks, and it is where strong and average projects separate. Synthesis means bringing different pieces of evidence together to reach a judgement, for example showing how an interview with a council officer and a residents' group survey reveal different understandings of legitimacy in the same decision. Every paragraph should say something about power, not just about events.

  1. 1Use course concepts explicitly and accurately, such as power, sovereignty, legitimacy and interdependence
  2. 2Identify the actors and their interests, resources and influence
  3. 3Compare stakeholder perspectives, explaining why they differ rather than just stating that they do
  4. 4Combine engagement evidence with research, so each supports or challenges the other
  5. 5In evaluation, ask how access, sample, timing and your own views limited what you could learn
  6. 6Keep returning to your inquiry question, so the analysis stays focused

The HL Recommendation

HL students carry out further research and write a recommendation of up to 400 words about how the issue could be addressed. A strong recommendation is specific about who should act and what they should do, is realistic given the actors and constraints you analysed, and is backed by evidence from your research. It should also recognise trade-offs: who might resist the proposal, what it would cost, and what could go wrong. A general wish, such as "the government should do more", will score poorly.

Common Global Politics IA Mistakes

These problems most often hold back otherwise interesting engagement projects. An IB Global Politics tutor can teach the political concepts and theory an engagement project draws on, while the project and how you link it to them stay your own.

  • An issue that is too broad, or a topic that is not really about power
  • Engagement that is passive, such as only reading or attending a talk
  • Long descriptions of what you did, with little analysis of what it revealed
  • Engagement and research presented separately instead of being synthesised
  • Using concepts as labels without explaining how they apply
  • Ignoring perspectives you disagree with, or not reflecting on your own position
  • At HL, a vague recommendation that is not linked to the evidence
  • Following advice written for the old course, such as preparing HL oral presentations

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Global Politics IA is the engagement project. You choose a political issue, explore it through one or more engagement activities such as interviews, volunteering or observing political processes, combine that with research, and write an analytical report. For exams from May 2026 the report is up to 2,000 words and worth 30% of the final grade at SL and 20% at HL.

The report has a limit of 2,000 words at both SL and HL. HL students also write a separate recommendation of up to 400 words, which is assessed by its own criterion. References and a bibliography do not count towards the report's limit, but your analysis, evaluation and conclusion all do, so plan the word count around criterion C.

For exams from May 2026 there are five criteria at SL: explanation and justification (4 marks), process (3), analysis and synthesis (8), evaluation and reflection (6) and communication (3), totalling 24. HL students are also assessed on criterion F, the recommendation (6 marks), for a total of 30. Your teacher marks the project and the IB moderates a sample.

There is no fixed number. You need enough engagement to give you real insight into the issue and access to different perspectives, combined with documentary research. One well-planned activity, such as a series of interviews with stakeholders who disagree, can be stronger than several superficial ones. Passive activities such as reading or watching a documentary count as research, not engagement.

SL and HL students complete the same engagement project and report of up to 2,000 words, assessed on the same five criteria. HL students also carry out further research and write a recommendation of up to 400 words, marked by criterion F. The IA is worth 30% of the final grade at SL and 20% at HL, where Paper 3 adds another external component.

Yes, in most cases. Both are individuals and societies (group 3) subjects, and the IB lets you take a second subject from groups 1 to 4 instead of an arts subject, so you can study History and Global Politics together. Whether you can in practice depends on your school's subject blocks and timetable, so check with your Diploma coordinator.

A good topic is a focused political issue with clear stakeholders who disagree, links to course concepts such as power and legitimacy, and realistic opportunities for engagement. Local versions of global issues work well, for example a planning dispute, a campaign for refugee support or youth participation in local elections, because you can reach the people involved and see power at work.

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