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IB IA Guidelines for Students

Wojtek

By Wojtek

•

15 Aug 2025

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Are you a student looking for information on the Internal Assessment (IA)? You've come to the right place! In this post we will provide you with all the necessary guidelines for the IA so that you ca approach your's with confidence. 

 

IB IA Guidelines for Students

 

Independent work

 

  • Your IA is your own work – it should reflect your independent research, thinking, and analysis. 
  • Teachers can guide you in understanding the requirements and give general advice, but they cannot tell you exactly what to write or make detailed corrections. 
  • Collaboration is not allowed unless the subject guidelines specify shared data collection (e.g., group work in sciences), and even then, the analysis and writing must be entirely your own.

 

 

Teacher feedback rules

 

  • You are allowed to submit only one complete draft to your teacher for formal feedback before the final version. 
  • After this draft, you may still ask small, specific questions (e.g., “Is this graph formatted correctly?”), but teachers cannot give detailed feedback on sections or suggest improvements. 
  • Any additional feedback must be verbal and brief – no line-by-line edits.

 

 

Subject-Specific requirements 

 

  • No two IAs are the same – every IB subject has its own criteria, structure, and conventions. 
  • For example: 
    • Sciences require a clear research question, method, data collection, and evaluation. 
    • Humanities emphasize source analysis and argument development. 
  • To best understand the subject-specific requirements make sure to check out our wide array of exemplars with all subject-specific requirements broken down
  • You may also check out our blog for subject-specific IA requirements. 

 

 

Word count/page limit

 

  • Each subject specifies its own maximum word count or page limit (e.g., ~2,500 words for most essays, different for math explorations). 
  • Exceeding the limit may result in parts of your work not being read or assessed. 
  • Make sure to check out our exemplars and blog for details for all subjects.

 

 

Referencing and Citations 

 

  • You must follow a consistent academic referencing style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago) throughout. 
  • All sources – text, images, data, graphs – must be cited both in-text and in a bibliography. 
  • Plagiarism, even unintentional, can result in zero marks for the IA and possibly loss of the entire IB Diploma.

 

 

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity 

 

  • Copying or closely paraphrasing work from books, the internet, or other students is strictly prohibited. 
  • The IB uses plagiarism detection software – you will be caught if you attempt to copy work. 
  • Always write in your own words and give credit where credit is due.

 

 

Deadlines 

 

  • IA deadlines are set by your school, usually well before the official IB submission deadline. However, missing an internal deadline may mean losing your chance for teacher feedback. Hence, it's best to stick to these deadlines to avoid stress and maximise your time for refining your work. For more details on the IA Deadline, check out this post.

 

 

IA Timeline (Typical IB Schedule) 

 

  • The IA writing process begins with the selection of a topic in which a student wishes to pursue their IA. This should be a topic that genuinely interests you as you'll be spending a considerable amount of time on this project. Students then formulate a research question. This usually takes place in the second half of DP1. 
  • Students then begin researching their topic, reviewing sources, and creating outlines. It is at this stage, that students often refine their research question to a more suitable one.
  • After gathering a sufficient amount of information, knowledge and source materials, students begin writing their first full IA draft. Students usually work on this draft during the summer holidays between DP1 and DP2. 
  • After coming back to school, students submit their first full draft and receive feedback from their teacher based on which they complete their final IA version. For an added layer of support, you can also upload your IA to receive personalised feedback and guidance from official IB examiners.

 

 

 

We hope that you now have thorough understanding of the IB Extended Essay. Be sure to check out our IB EE exemplars for valuable EE resources. Good luck!