The Extended Essay

This offers you the opportunity to investigate a topic of special interest and to become acquainted with the kind of independent research and writing skills expected at university. You may choose to write on any subject area offered in the diploma programme, but are advised to focus on one of your HL subjects. It should be about 4,000 words (about 10 sides of A4) and should take about 40 hours in total - covering research, discussion with your supervisor and actual writing time.

All extended essays are marked externally on a scale of A (excellent) to E (elementary) and are assessed according to various criteria, some relating to general aspects of the essay, such as presentation and having a suitable introduction and conclusion, while others relate to subject-specific areas, such as correct use of subject terminology and appropriate analytical and evaluative skills.

"Theory of Knowledge, a core segment of the IB, strips your knowledge down to the bone and rearranges it in a way you have never thought about certain issues before. For theory of knowledge, you don't just think outside the box; you think outside of the outside of the box."
(Alex Hides)

"At the end of 9 or 10 nights he realised, with certain bitterness, that he could expect nothing from those students who accepted his teaching passively, but he could of those who sometimes risked a reasonable contradiction."
(Jorge Luis Borges)