Extended Essay Supervisors

Using the assessment criteria

The method of assessment used by the IB is criterion-related. That is to say, the method of assessment judges each student in relation to identified assessment criteria and not in relation to the work of other students.

• The aim is to find, for each criterion, the descriptor that conveys most adequately the achievement level attained by the student. The process, therefore, is one of approximation. In the light of any one criterion, a student’s work may contain features denoted by a high achievement level descriptor combined with features appropriate to a lower one. A professional judgment should be made in identifying the descriptor that approximates most closely to the work.

• Having scrutinized the work to be assessed, the descriptors for each criterion should be read, starting with level 0, until one is reached that describes an achievement level that the work being assessed does not match as well as the previous level. The work is therefore best described by the preceding achievement level descriptor and this level should be recorded.

• Only whole numbers should be used, not partial points such as fractions or decimals.

• The highest descriptors do not imply faultless performance and assessors and teachers should not hesitate to use the extremes, including zero, if they are appropriate descriptions of the work being assessed.

• Descriptors should not be considered as marks or percentages, although the descriptor levels are ultimately added together to obtain a total. It should not be assumed that there are other arithmetical relationships; for example, a level 4 performance is not necessarily twice as good as a level 2 performance.

• A student who attains a particular achievement level in relation to one criterion will not necessarily attain similar achievement levels in relation to the others. It should not be assumed that the overall assessment of the students will produce any particular distribution of scores.

All extended essays are externally assessed by examiners appointed by the IB, and are marked on a scale from 0 to 36. This maximum score is made up of the total criterion levels available for each essay. The total score obtained on the scale 0 to 36 is used to determine in which of the following bands the extended essay is placed. This band, in conjunction with the band for theory of knowledge, determines the number of diploma points awarded for these two requirements. See the following “Award of diploma points” section for further details.

The band descriptors are:

A Work of an excellent standard

B Work of a good standard

C Work of a satisfactory standard

D Work of a mediocre standard

E Work of an elementary standard.

Award of diploma points

The extended essay contributes to the overall diploma score through the award of points in conjunction with theory of knowledge. A maximum of three points are awarded according to a student’s combined performance in both the extended essay and theory of knowledge.

Both the extended essay and theory of knowledge are measured against published assessment criteria. According to the quality of the work, and based on the application of these assessment criteria, a student’s performance in each of the extended essay and theory of knowledge will fall into one of the five bands described previously.

The total number of points awarded is determined by the combination of the performance levels achieved by the student in both the extended essay and theory of knowledge according to the following matrix.

The diploma points matrix

A student who, for example, writes a good extended essay and whose performance in theory of knowledge is judged to be satisfactory will be awarded 1 point, while a student who writes a mediocre extended essay and whose performance in theory of knowledge is judged to be excellent will be awarded 2 points.

A student who fails to submit an extended essay will be awarded N for the extended essay, will score no points, and will not be awarded a diploma.

Performance in both the extended essay and theory of knowledge of an elementary standard is a failing condition for the award of the diploma.

* From 2010 onwards, 28 points overall will be required to be eligible for the diploma if a student attains an “E” grade in either the extended essay or theory of knowledge. As previously, a grade “A” in one of the requirements earns an extra point even if the other is a grade “E”. Attaining a grade “E” in both the extended essay and theory of knowledge continues to represent an automatic failure.