Extended Essay Examples: Annotated by Subject

Why original annotated examples, not real student essays

Most people searching for Extended Essay examples want to see a finished essay with a mark attached. The trouble is that real student essays belong to the student, the IB does not give out marked samples for you to copy, and a pasted essay teaches you the wrong lesson: it shows what a finished product looks like, not how it is built.

So the examples below are outlines I wrote myself. Nobody submitted them and they carry no marks. What they show is the part that is hard to see from a finished essay: the shape. Each has a research question, a section plan with word budgets that stay safely under the limit, and notes on where each criterion is earned. If you are unsure how the criteria work, read our Extended Essay rubric explained first.

Do not copy

Use the pattern, not the question

Examiners and your school expect your own question, sources and argument. Rebuild a pattern around something you can reach. Neither these notes nor the IA and EE Coach will write any part of your essay: the coach gives feedback and asks questions.

What every strong Extended Essay outline has in common

A limit built into the question. A case, a period, a text or a dataset, so the essay can finish.
Something to weigh. At least one competing explanation, reading or method.
Evaluation in the body. Not just a last section. See criterion D in the rubric post.
A budget below the cap. Outlines that total 3,600 to 3,750 words leave room for edits under the 4,000-word limit.

Word budgets, scaled. Evaluation gets a large block in every outline, and each total stays under 4,000.

Anatomy of the physics research question above.

Extended Essay examples for Physics

Pathway: subject-focused, Physics. Research question: How does the angle of a ramp affect the speed at the bottom for a solid and a hollow cylinder, and how closely do the results match a rolling-without-slipping model?

This is a practical essay: the student collects data and tests a physical model against it. Note the "how closely" in the question, which builds a judgement into the title.

Section	Words	What happens here
Introduction and question	300	The question, why rolling objects test a model well, the plan.
Theory and prediction	600	Energy and rotational motion, the equation for each cylinder, the predicted trend with angle.
Method	500	Variables, apparatus, how timing uncertainty was reduced, safety, why five or more angles.
Results and analysis	1,000	Processed data with uncertainties, graphs, comparison with the prediction.
Evaluation	900	Slipping, timing error, ramp flexing: which mattered most and how you can tell.
Conclusion	300	How far the model works, its limits, confidence in the answer.

A: a narrow question and a method chosen to test it, introduced in the first two sections.
B: accurate physics in theory and prediction, with correct terms and units.
C: each graph leads to a claim about the model, not just a description of the line.
D: the evaluation weighs error sources by size; some evaluation also sits in the results section.
E: notes on changing the range of angles after the first trial.

If your EE is in a science, our guide to uncertainties in IB Physics covers the error treatment that makes a section like this convincing, and the Physics IA topic explorer is useful for finding a measurable system.

Extended Essay examples for History

Pathway: subject-focused, History. Research question: How far did the 1950s transistor radio change how teenagers in one country got their music, compared with changes in record sales?

A source-based essay: the student weighs two kinds of evidence and two possible causes.

Section	Words	What happens here
Introduction and question	350	The case, the period, the two competing explanations.
Context and sources	500	Short background, then the sources chosen and why: sales figures, magazines, oral histories.
Argument 1: the radio	900	Evidence for the radio's effect, weighed for reliability.
Argument 2: other factors	900	Record sales, television and prices as alternative explanations.
Evaluating sources and weighing	700	Gaps, bias, what the evidence cannot show, which explanation is stronger.
Conclusion	300	Answer the question and say how sure you are.

A: a case, a period and a source plan stated near the start.
B: accurate context and correct historical terms, in the student's own words.
C: each argument section moves from evidence to explanation.
D: the rival explanation and source reliability are weighed throughout.
E: reflection on moving from a single source to a mix after a first session.

Extended Essay examples for Economics

Pathway: subject-focused, Economics. Research question: To what extent did exchange-rate movements explain changes in import prices in one economy between two named years, compared with changes in wages?

A data essay: the student tests two explanations against published statistics.

Section	Words	What happens here
Introduction and question	300	The economy, the years, the two explanations.
Theory	500	How exchange rates and wages should affect import prices.
Data and method	450	Which series, from where, how adjusted, the comparison used.
Analysis: exchange rates	800	Evidence for the link and how strong it looks.
Analysis: wages	700	Evidence for the rival explanation.
Evaluation	700	Data limits, other factors, whether correlation shows cause.
Conclusion	300	A weighed answer.

The criteria fall as before: A from the named years and source plan, B from accurate theory, C from a line from theory to data to claim, D from the evaluation of data limits and the weighing of two explanations, and E from a reflection on narrowing the time period. A student who liked this pattern in Maths or Biology can try the Maths and Biology topic explorers for measurable systems and models.

Extended Essay examples: an interdisciplinary essay

Pathway: interdisciplinary, Physics and Music. Research question: How do physics and music theory together explain why a violin and a guitar playing the same note sound different?

A two-lens essay: each subject answers something the other cannot. The pathway allows two subjects, but the essay must show that combining them is what makes the answer possible.

Section	Words	What happens here
Introduction and question	350	Why two subjects are needed and what each contributes.
Lens 1: the physics	800	Harmonics, vibrating strings, resonance, recorded spectra.
Lens 2: the music	700	Timbre, technique, how listeners describe sound.
Bringing them together	800	Linking spectrum features to what listeners hear; where each lens falls short alone.
Evaluation	700	Limits of recordings, judging sound, whether the lenses agree.
Conclusion	300	What combining them explains that neither does alone.

The weakness to avoid is two subjects placed side by side with no integration. The "bringing them together" section is where C is earned, and D should judge the integration itself.

Where each criterion is earned: the pattern

Solid squares: the main home of each criterion. Faded squares: where it also shows up. A teaching pattern, not an IB rule.

Notice D lights up in three columns. That is the point of the earlier timeline in the rubric post: weigh as you go.

How to use these examples with your own supervisor

When students bring me a first plan, the commonest problem is not the topic, it is that no section is labelled with what it earns. Try this: copy one outline, replace every word with your own plan, and write a criterion letter beside each section. Any letter with no section next to it is a gap. If D has nothing, you have no evaluation yet.

Take the outline to your supervisor and your three reflection sessions as a working document. Our topics guide helps with the question, and the Extended Essay hub and IA and EE guide pull the whole process together. The IA and EE Coach can give feedback on your own plan, though an EE draft check needs your school's OK first. For wording your question, our command terms guide shows why "to what extent" works and "describe" does not.

Teaching IB at Photon Academy since 2015, I have seen students recover a stalled essay simply by redrawing the budget. For the official requirements, see the IB Extended Essay page.

Next step

Draw your own budget

Pick a question, split 3,700 words across sections, and label each with a criterion letter. Then read the rubric to test it.

Extended Essay rubric →

Extended Essay examples: annotated by subject