The IB Diploma Program is an international-level educational course offered to high school students. Since it’s an international scale course, a large number of students across the world aim to earn an IB Diploma to get into the university of their dreams. In this article, we will discuss the key differences between two components of this program – Internal Assessment and Extended Essay.
But first, what are the Internal Assessment and Extended Essay components?
The IB Internal Assessment is an assignment evaluated by your teacher and marked accordingly. For each of the 6 subjects taken during the Diploma course, an Internal Assessment is conducted. There’s no particular given type of assessment – it’s up to your school to designate the assessment, which can be anything from a lab report, oral presentation, essay, or experiment.
The IB Extended Essay is an essay of around 4000 words, which you have to complete within a given time by doing your research. For this assignment, you’ll need to choose a topic of your interest and get it approved by the IB. After that, you can proceed with your essay with the help of your IB supervisor.
Here are 5 differences between the two:
- Number Of Subjects
The first major difference between IB Internal Assessment and IB Extended Essay is the number of subjects involved in each.
For your Internal Assessment, you’ll need to select 6 subjects from a list of subject choices. Throughout the two-year course, you’ll be assessed for each chosen subject, i.e., a total of six assessments in two years.
In the case of your Extended Essay, you’ll need to submit just one essay on a topic of your choice during the entirety of the program. You can keep making drafts throughout the year and get them checked by your supervisor.
- Process Of Assessment
The process of assessment varies greatly for the two. For your Internal Assessment, you’ll be assessed by your teacher first. The assessment can be in any form such as a report, essay, etc. Your teacher’s grading will then be furthered to the IB for moderation, if any. This is mainly done to avoid unfair grading practices.
For the extended essay, you’ll be graded externally. Your essay will be sent to the IB for moderation. The IB will then grade your essay between 0-34 all of which falls under the A – E grade scale where ‘A’ represents excellent writing, and ‘E’ represents poor writing.
- Length
The word count of your Internal Assessment is around 2500 words- again, the form of the assessment is not fixed.
The length of the Extended Essay should be around 4000 words. The lengthy discussion implies that it bears more weight and demands specific research.
- Success Probability
From the metrics already discussed, it’s easy to guess the chances of succeeding in the program. The Extended Essay bears more weightage and hence should be written with utmost perfection. You can hire an ib writing service to increase your chances of getting a good grade.
The IA is conducted under the guidance of the same teacher who is responsible for grading your assessment. Therefore, you’ll know exactly what to do and what kind of grade to expect. The EE is graded externally, hence there’s no shortcut to getting a good grade but to give your best.
- Time Needed
The time needed for the Internal Assessment is not fixed. It’ll depend on what type of assignment you’re given and on your IB teacher.
The EE needs to be submitted within a 40-hour time frame. Since the time is fixed and even limited for the 4000-word essay, it’s better to start writing the essay without any delay – ideally you should be devoting around 26-28 hours to your research and the rest to writing the actual essay.
Conclusion
Now that you’re well aware of the differences between the IA and EE, it’s important to start working on your assignments without wasting any time. Remember, kickstarting early is the key to getting good grades in both the IA and the EE.
