English B Extended Essay: What Changed for 2027
By Michael Thompson · Education Specialist; 10 years teaching the IB at Bromsgrove School · Published 4 October 2026 · Updated 6 October 2026
The English B extended essay looks different from May 2027 - and if you were planning to use older guides or examples, you need to know what has changed before you commit to a research question. The IB has replaced the previous 34-mark model with a new five-criterion framework worth 30 marks, and - critically for Language B students - the category system has been removed entirely. This guide covers what the new criteria mean for an English B essay, how to shape a research question that works without categories, and how each criterion plays out in practice. Students sitting November 2026 or earlier are assessed on the previous model; everything here applies from May 2027 onwards.
Key Takeaways
- Categories are gone: Language B essays are no longer written under Category 1, 2A, 2B, or 3 - the IB removed the category system for all Language A and Language B extended essays from May 2027.
- A new 30-mark model applies: Five criteria - Framework for the essay (6), Knowledge and understanding (6), Analysis and line of argument (6), Discussion and evaluation (8), and Reflection (4) - replace the previous 34-mark scale.
- The 4,000-word limit and required structure remain: Your essay must stay within 4,000 words (introduction, body, conclusion, and quotations) and include a title page, contents page, introduction, body, conclusion, and references and bibliography.
- Three reflection sessions are mandatory: These include two supervisory meetings during the process and a final 20-30 minute viva voce, with a 500-word reflective statement submitted on the Reflection and Progress Form.
- An interdisciplinary pathway is available: If your research question genuinely requires a second DP subject - such as Psychology or History alongside English B - you may take the interdisciplinary route rather than a subject-focused one.
- No grade boundaries yet: The IB will not publish grade boundaries for the 30-mark scale until after the May 2027 results are released on 6 July 2027.
In This Article
- What the English B extended essay is - and what changed for 2027
- The five criteria for the English B extended essay
- What an English B extended essay can focus on
- How to build and test an English B research question
- How each criterion plays out in an English B essay
- The interdisciplinary pathway for English B extended essay topics
- Structure, reflections, and submission requirements
- What to do this week
1. What the English B extended essay is - and what changed for 2027
The English B extended essay is a compulsory, externally assessed component of the IB Diploma Programme core. Every DP student writes one: a 4,000-word research paper, produced independently under the guidance of a school supervisor, then sent to the IB for external marking. The 4,000-word count covers the introduction, body, conclusion, and any quotations. According to the IB EE subject brief, students choose either a subject-focused pathway (normally within one of their six DP subjects) or an interdisciplinary pathway combining two DP subjects.
The assessment model changed for May 2027. The updated EE applies to every student sitting the May 2027 session or later. A note for anyone on the older timeline: November 2026 is the last session marked on the previous 34-mark model.
One of the clearest structural changes affects Language B. Per the IB EE updates page, categories have been removed from Language B essays from the new EE onward. Previously, English B essays were written within one of three categories. Those labels are gone from May 2027.
The practical consequence is worth noting early: exemplars and guides written before the 2027 update may describe a category framework that no longer applies. If a resource refers to Category 1, Category 2, or Category 3 as live requirements, it is describing the old model.
The rest of this article covers the five criteria, what English B essays can focus on, how to build a research question, and the interdisciplinary option.
2. The five criteria for the English B extended essay
The English B extended essay is marked against five criteria, the same five used across every subject, from English B to the chemistry extended essay, and on both pathways (subject-focused and interdisciplinary). Per the IB's EE updates page, the criteria and their marks are:
| Criterion | Label | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Framework for the essay | Criterion A | 6 |
| Knowledge and understanding | Criterion B | 6 |
| Analysis and line of argument | Criterion C | 6 |
| Discussion and evaluation | Criterion D | 8 |
| Reflection | Criterion E | 4 |
| Total | 30 |
Discussion and evaluation carries the highest weighting at 8 marks - more than any other single criterion. That matters for how you allocate effort: a tight framework and solid knowledge base will not make up for an essay that describes rather than weighs.
Here is what each criterion demands in an English B context:
- Criterion A - Framework for the essay. Does your essay have a clear, focused research question, an appropriate methodology for a language acquisition study, and a structure that serves the argument? The "framework" is not just presentation - it covers whether your approach fits the subject.
- Criterion B - Knowledge and understanding. This covers both your command of the linguistic or cultural material you are examining and your understanding of its broader cultural context. An essay on media language about immigration, for example, needs to show familiarity with the social setting, not just the texts.
- Criterion C - Analysis and line of argument. How well do you break down your evidence and build a coherent argument from it? Analysis means more than identifying features - you need to explain what they do and why they matter for your research question.
- Criterion D - Discussion and evaluation. The highest-weighted criterion asks you to consider different interpretations, acknowledge limitations, and reach a reasoned conclusion. Descriptive writing will not score well here, however detailed it is.
- Criterion E - Reflection. Worth 4 marks, this criterion has been refocused for the 2027 model to emphasise student growth and the transferable skills gained through the research process, rather than a summary of what you did.
One practical point worth knowing: the subject-specific guidance that tells you how these criteria apply to English B in detail sits in the full EE guide on the IB Programme Resource Centre, which is accessible to teachers and coordinators. Check that guidance with your supervisor rather than relying on general EE materials - the subject nuances are there, not in the public subject brief.
3. What an English B extended essay can focus on
An English B extended essay sits within the Language Acquisition subject group, which means the research question must stay rooted in language itself: how English functions, how it reflects or shapes culture, or how it appears in literary texts. The subject is not sociology, history, or politics, even when those fields provide useful context. The essay is written in English, which cannot be a language you study as Language A, and every text you analyse must have been originally written or spoken in English, not translated into it; a cultural topic must be specific to a country where English is a main language.
Three broad areas tend to generate strong questions.
Language focuses on English as a living system: vocabulary change, register variation, discourse patterns, phonological shifts, or how a specific community uses English in a defined context. A question written for this guide might look like: How do AI companies use metaphor to frame automation in public press releases aimed at English-speaking audiences? The focus is on language choices, not on AI policy.
Culture and society examines how English reflects or mediates social relationships: gender and language, code-switching in bilingual communities, tourism discourse, or how a particular institution communicates with the public. A question written for this guide: What linguistic strategies do UK travel companies use to construct the idea of "authenticity" in destination marketing? Again, the driver is the language, not the marketing industry.
Literature uses English-language literary texts as primary sources, examining how language is deployed for effect: narrative voice, imagery, stylistic patterns, or the way a text positions a reader. A question written for this guide: How does the narrator's shifting register in a contemporary British novel signal changes in social identity?
The sharpest risk to watch: a question focused mainly on English-language reports about a social issue can turn into a sociology or politics essay rather than a Language Acquisition one. If you could answer the question without analysing language at all, the framing needs to change.
Discuss your chosen focus area with your supervisor before you commit. Subject-specific guidance for the 2027 EE sits in the full guide on the IB Programme Resource Centre, which your supervisor and coordinator can access.
4. How to build and test an English B research question
Without categories to slot into, the research question does more structural work than it used to. It signals the disciplinary home of your essay, sets the scope, and determines whether your analysis stays inside Language Acquisition or drifts into sociology, history, or politics. A question about immigration policy, for instance, is not automatically a language question. The same topic becomes a Language Acquisition question only when the investigation is about how language works: the vocabulary choices, discourse patterns, framing devices, or rhetorical strategies used to discuss that topic.
The test for any English B research question is whether it can be answered through language analysis. If the answer to your question would look the same whether you analysed the texts closely or just summarised their content, the question is too descriptive.
Quick checklist for testing your question
Run your draft question through each of the following:
- Analytical rather than descriptive? Does it ask how or why language functions in a particular way, rather than what a text says?
- Language, culture, or text at the centre? Is the focus on language use, rather than on the social issue the texts happen to discuss?
- Sufficient material? Is there enough actual language to analyse, not just a broad topic to report on?
- Scoped for 4,000 words? The word limit covers introduction, body, conclusion, and quotations, per the IB subject brief. A question spanning five genres across three decades is almost certainly too wide.
Weak and stronger versions (written for the guide)
| Version | Example question | Problem or strength |
|---|---|---|
| Weak | "What do British newspapers say about climate change?" | Descriptive. Could be answered by content summary with no language analysis at all. |
| Stronger | "How do modal verbs and nominalisation construct authority in British broadsheet climate editorials published between 2020 and 2024?" | Analytical. Anchored in specific linguistic features, bounded corpus, clear time range. |
| Weak | "How is English used in advertising?" | Too broad. No defined corpus, no named linguistic focus. |
| Stronger | "How do UK supermarket Instagram campaigns use regional dialect features to construct a sense of local identity?" | Specific platform, defined context, linguistic and cultural question combined. |
A narrower question usually produces a richer essay. Breadth feels safer at the start but leaves little room for close textual analysis within 4,000 words.
Your question does not need to be final on day one
Research question formulation is an iterative process. You will almost certainly refine the wording once you have gathered your corpus and started to see what patterns the data actually contains. What matters at the outset is that the question is firmly in Language Acquisition territory and analytical in orientation. Refining the scope and phrasing as your research develops is expected, not a sign that something has gone wrong.
5. How each criterion plays out in an English B essay
The five criteria are the same across every EE subject and both pathways - the IB EE subject brief says every extended essay, subject-focused or interdisciplinary, is assessed against common criteria. What differs is how each one cashes out when your evidence is language data rather than, say, a chemistry experiment or a history document. Here is what each criterion asks of an English B essay specifically.
Criterion A - Framework (6 marks). Your research question must be answerable through language analysis. A question about whether immigration policy is fair is a politics question; a question about how UK tabloids lexically frame immigration in 2023 headlines is a Language Acquisition question. The structure of your essay should follow directly from how you plan to analyse that language, not from a generic essay template.
Criterion B - Knowledge and understanding (6 marks). This is not a test of how much you know about the topic your texts discuss. It is a test of whether you understand the language material itself and its cultural context. An essay on climate rhetoric needs to show why certain linguistic choices resonate in a particular speech community, not just summarise the climate debate.
Criterion C - Analysis and line of argument (6 marks). Listing observations kills this criterion. The examiner needs to see each piece of language evidence connected to the next by an argument: why does this example support, complicate, or extend the point the previous one made? Evidence without reasoning is description, not analysis.
Criterion D - Discussion and evaluation (8 marks). This carries the highest mark allocation of the five, and an essay that presents only one neat interpretation of its data will struggle here, even if that interpretation is well argued. You need to weigh alternative readings, acknowledge what your corpus cannot prove, and be explicit about the limits of your method.
Criterion E - Reflection (4 marks). This is assessed on the single 500-word reflective statement you write on the Reflection and Progress Form (RPF) at the end of the process, after the viva voce. Describing what you did is not the same as reflecting on what the experience changed about your thinking, so use your three reflection sessions to build up the material that statement will draw on.
6. The interdisciplinary pathway for English B extended essay topics
From May 2027, every English B extended essay sits within one of two pathways: subject-focused (the EE stays within English B) or interdisciplinary (the research question genuinely integrates two DP subjects). Per the IB's EE updates page, the interdisciplinary pathway is also where the former World Studies EE now lives, absorbed into this broader option rather than remaining a separate track.
The critical word is "genuinely." A question that mentions Psychology once while spending 3,500 words on English B discourse analysis is not interdisciplinary. Both subject lenses need to do real work: if you are examining how media coverage of a mental health crisis is framed in English-language news, a Psychology framework should be structurally necessary to interpret the data, not decorative. The same logic applies to combinations with History, Economics, or any other subject in the student's DP timetable.
One practical point that catches students out: the interdisciplinary route changes how the essay is framed from the start, not just at the end. The IB subject brief confirms that students may combine two DP subjects, but the framing decision affects the introduction, the methodology section, and how knowledge from each discipline is positioned throughout. Leaving this conversation until a draft exists creates structural rework.
The same five criteria and 30-mark total apply on both pathways, with no separate mark scheme for interdisciplinary work. Talk to your supervisor before settling on a question.
7. Structure, reflections, and submission requirements
Every English B extended essay submission must include the same six elements, regardless of topic or pathway: a title page, contents page, introduction, body, conclusion, and references and bibliography. The IB EE subject brief sets the word limit at 4,000 words, covering the introduction, body, conclusion, and any quotations. The title page, contents page, and references and bibliography sit outside that count.
Three formal reflection sessions with a supervisor are mandatory across the process. The final session is a viva voce interview of about 20-30 minutes, used to verify academic integrity and give you a chance to reflect on what the research taught you. That last point matters: the viva voce is not a defence of your argument, it is a structured conversation about your process.
Separately, you submit one 500-word reflective statement on the Reflection and Progress Form (RPF) at the end of the process. This is a distinct document from anything produced during the three sessions.
One practical note on timing: no grade boundaries for the 30-mark scale will exist until after the May 2027 results are published on 6 July 2027. Older boundary tables from the previous 34-mark model do not apply and should be ignored when estimating your score.
Full subject-specific guidance for the English B EE sits on the IB Programme Resource Centre, which is password-protected and accessible via school IBO credentials. Ask your coordinator to pull the relevant pages - they cannot be reached directly by students.
8. What to do this week
Before you settle on a research question, book or confirm your first formal reflection session with your supervisor. That conversation shapes the entire essay, and you only get three mandated sessions, so arriving with a vague idea rather than a focused angle wastes one of them.
This week, ask your supervisor or IB coordinator to share the subject-specific section of the new Extended Essay guide from the IB Programme Resource Centre. The subject-specific guidance sits there rather than in the general criteria, and your supervisor needs access rights to retrieve it for you.
One point worth raising in that meeting: a question that reads as sociological or political in framing risks drifting out of English B, leaving too little English language, culture or text at the centre of your analysis. Check the framing of your draft question before the session, not after.
FAQ
How do I write an English B extended essay without categories?
From May 2027, the IB has removed the category system for Language B essays; instead, frame your essay around a focused research question grounded in language, culture and society, or literature, and assess it against the five universal criteria.
What are the English B extended essay criteria for 2027?
The five criteria are Framework for the essay (6 marks), Knowledge and understanding (6 marks), Analysis and line of argument (6 marks), Discussion and evaluation (8 marks), and Reflection (4 marks), totalling 30 marks - the same criteria apply to all subjects and both pathways.
Can I do an interdisciplinary extended essay with English B?
Yes - the interdisciplinary pathway lets you combine English B with a second DP subject you are studying, provided your research question genuinely requires both subject lenses; the former World Studies EE has been absorbed into this broader interdisciplinary route.
What is the word limit for the English B extended essay?
The word limit is 4,000 words, covering the introduction, body, conclusion, and any quotations; elements such as the title page, contents page, and references and bibliography do not count toward this total.
When do the new English B extended essay rules apply?
The new five-criterion, 30-mark model applies from the May 2027 session onwards; students sitting November 2026 are the last cohort assessed on the previous 34-mark model.
What happens at the viva voce for the extended essay?
The viva voce is a 20-30 minute interview between the student and supervisor at the end of the EE process, used to check academic integrity and give the student a final opportunity to reflect on their research experience.
References
- Diploma Programme Subject Brief: Extended essay, first assessment 2027 (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2024) - https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/university-admission/pdfs/ee_subjectbrief_en.pdf
- DP extended essay updates - International Baccalaureate - https://www.ibo.org/university-admission/latest-curriculum-updates/dp-extended-essay-updates/