Extended Essay Feedback Playbook for IB Supervisors

The IB Extended Essay is assessed across five criteria (A-E) for a total of 34 points, which means supervisors need consistent, criterion-level feedback at every checkpoint.

This playbook gives you a repeatable structure to guide students while keeping grading aligned to the rubric.

Map your feedback to the EE criteria

• Focus and method: Is the research question clear, specific, and feasible?
• Knowledge and understanding: Does the student use sources accurately and appropriately?
• Critical thinking: Is there analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of evidence?
• Presentation: Is the structure coherent and academic conventions followed?
• Engagement: Does the student reflect on the research process?

Feedback checkpoints by stage

1. Proposal stage: Check the research question, scope, and method alignment.
2. Outline stage: Identify gaps in evidence and missing analytical sections.
3. Draft stage: Score against criteria and give revision priorities.
4. Final stage: Confirm presentation, citations, and reflective engagement.

Supervisor meeting structure

• Start with one strength tied to a criterion.
• Highlight the biggest risk to the final score.
• Agree on 2-3 concrete revisions before the next draft.

Comment stems that drive revision

• "Narrow the research question so the method can be executed within your word limit."
• "Add analysis explaining why this evidence supports your argument, not just what it shows."
• "Include a short reflection on the limitation of your method in the engagement section."

Next steps

Use the Extended Essay Grader for criterion-level scoring and the Rubric-Aligned Feedback Tool to generate revision-ready comments faster.