How long should an IB Extended Essay be?

The IB Extended Essay has a strict 4000-word upper limit, excluding the title page, contents, references, and appendices. This builder allocates an approximate word budget across the introduction, body, and conclusion so your sections stay in proportion.

What makes a good IB EE research question?

A strong EE research question is focused, arguable, and answerable within 4000 words — usually phrased as "To what extent…" or "How does…". The tool turns your topic and angle into a question of this form rather than a broad descriptive title.

Does the outline include a methodology section?

Yes. The methodology describes how you will gather and analyze evidence — primary sources, experiments, close reading, or data — appropriate to your subject. A clear methodology is one of the IB assessment criteria, so it is included by default.

Is this aligned to the IB assessment criteria?

The structure maps to the IB EE criteria: focus and method, knowledge and understanding, critical thinking, and presentation. The outline labels where each criterion is addressed so you can self-check against the rubric while drafting.

Can I use it for any IB subject?

Yes. The methodology and lens adapt to the subject you pick, whether that is History, Biology, English, Economics, or another. Sciences emphasize experiment and data, while humanities emphasize sources and argument.

IB Extended Essay Outline Builder

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A 4000-word essay needs a 4000-word plan

The IB Extended Essay is assessed as much on focus and method as on content, and a vague research question sinks the whole project. This builder turns your subject and topic into an arguable research question and a full outline — introduction, theoretical lens, methodology, body sections, and conclusion — sized to the 4000-word limit.

How it works

The tool takes your IB subject and topic and frames a research question in the standard IB form (To what extent… or How does…), which is focused enough to answer within the word count. It then builds the outline against the IB assessment criteria: an introduction that establishes context and scope, a theoretical or critical lens appropriate to the discipline, a methodology describing how evidence is gathered and analyzed, two to three body sections that each advance the argument, and a conclusion that answers the question and acknowledges limitations. An approximate word budget is distributed so the introduction stays lean and the analysis dominates.

Tips and example

A History EE topic the impact of railways on Indian colonial trade becomes a question like To what extent did railway expansion reshape colonial Indian trade between 1860 and 1900?.
Keep the scope tight — narrow the time period, region, or text so 4000 words can do it justice.
Sciences should foreground a testable hypothesis and data analysis; humanities should foreground sources and argument.
Use the conclusion’s limitations note to show critical awareness, which the IB rewards under the critical-thinking criterion.