EXTENDED ESSAY
EXTENDED ESSAY
The Extended Essay is the most substantial written assignment that students will complete during the Diploma, and it is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding
The Extended Essay is a unique opportunity for students to engage in independent research. Each student chooses a topic that interests them and writes an in-depth 4000-word study.
The scholarly apparatus that the essay demands – citations, bibliography, abstract – is a very effective preparation for university dissertations. It helps to develop expertise in researching, writing and developing a sustained argument.
Teachers provide a structured approach to the process, taking time to guide students through their first intuitive ideas about what they would like to explore, then on to the initial reading and research stage, and finally to the point where the students develop clear research questions which they explore in considerable depth.
It is a distinctive feature of the IB Diploma, and universities regularly comment positively on the scope, level of research and structure of argument that the Extended Essay inspires.
Examples of recent Extended Essay titles include:
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To what extent is there causal comorbidity between autism and the development of schizophrenia?
To what extent did biological differences in Plasmodium species compared to transmission over the China-Myanmar border affect the malaria elimination rate in Yunnan province( 2012-21)?
To what extent did working at the Barnbow munitions factory during the First World War allow women to improve their social conditions 1914-19?
l How effective are aluminium, luminol, iron( III) oxide and silver nitrate powders on detecting latent fingerprints on varying porosities of surface?
THE IB AT SEVENOAKS | EXTENDED ESSAY 9