It's Not About the Essay...
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Well, we’re finally there. Many schools around the world are reaching the point where students have submitted their final Extended Essay drafts. Supervisors are sitting down with their advisees for the final reflection session, the viva voce. I wanted to take advantage of this moment to share some thoughts about how students can write an effective reflection for the new Extended Essay. This is an area where we, as Supervisors, can have a real impact. What is Criterion E Actually Asking? The guiding question in the mark scheme is: Does the student evaluate the effect of the Extended Essay learning experience on them as a learner? As a learner. Not the paper. The student as a human being. Not the paper. Knowing this is huge! The reflection is about the student’s experience of completing a 4,000-word academic essay over the course of a year, alongside the rest of their IB schedule. For many students, this is the longest piece of academic work they have ever completed. So, the reflection is about what each student, as a human being, gained and learned from that experience. How did the process affect them as a learner? What did they learn about themselves, their thinking, or the way they approach academic work? The focus is the student’s learning experience, not the paper itself. Did I mention that? What Does a Strong Reflection Need to Do? The mark scheme assesses two connected things. First, is the reflection evaluative? A student needs to do more than describe what happened during the Extended Essay process. They need to evaluate the effect of that experience, using specific examples. If the reflection is descriptive, it cannot earn more than half the marks. Second, does the reflection show growth and transfer of learning? The student needs to show how they have grown as a learner and how what they learned could be used in other contexts. It says, to earn full marks, "The reflection is consistently evaluative, includes specific examples, and consistently shows evidence of growth and transfer of learning." It’s an evaluation of how the process changed them as learners. The Mark Scheme is Literally an Outline for the Reflection Spoiler alert… Use the mark scheme as the outline for the 500-word piece. Here is what the mark scheme actually says the student should do in their reflection... Evidence in the reflection may be drawn from, but is not limited to:
- Experiences and insights that could shape future thinking.
- Specific examples of how skills learned could be used in other current contexts and in the future.
- Changes in perspective and how those changes affected decision-making.
There. Sit with your advisee and have them construct an evaluative reflection around those three bullet points. For example, students might consider what challenges they faced, how they overcame those challenges, what they learned from it, and how that learning could shape their thinking or decisions in the future. They might explain how a skill developed during the Extended Essay could help with another piece of work in the IB Programme, a future research project, their university studies, or even their work as an adult. Why This is so Critical for Supervisors First, because a high-scoring reflection can solidify the grade the student's paper has earned. The reflection is worth 4 of the 30 marks for the Extended Essay. That is 13.33% of the student’s total mark. Why does that matter? Because the paper is not the only thing being assessed. A student might write an excellent paper that deserves an A for its academic work. But if the reflection earns only one or two marks, the overall result may be lower than the grade the paper itself appears to deserve. The margins for these papers are narrow. A strong reflection, earning three or four marks, can help solidify the grade the paper has earned. Second, the reflection is hugely important to the accuracy of our predicted grade. In the previous iteration of the Extended Essay, which ended with the Class of 2026, reflection was worth 6 of 34 marks, or about 18%. I am sure many teachers, perhaps thousands around the world, over predicted an advisee’s Extended Essay because they did not properly take the reflection into account. The paper may have deserved a higher grade, but a low mark for the reflection pulled down the overall result. The new reflection is worth a smaller share of the total, but 13.33% is still significant. When we read the work and predict a grade, we must consider the whole mark scheme, including the reflection. If not, we are unintentionally predicting the grade for only part of the assessment, and no one wants to do that. Takeaways... So, the key takeaway for you as a Supervisor is that all the answers we need to know about an effective reflection are right there in the mark scheme under Criterion E. If your advisee focuses on evaluating the process and its impact on their growth as a learner, using specific examples along the way, then their reflection should earn near full marks. If they don’t, they won't. And I’ll leave you with one last really important point... Have students literally use as many of the same words from the IB puts in the mark scheme in their reflection. Don’t overcomplicate this. The IB loves their words. Have students use them as much as possible. There’s no cheat code in the IB, but this one comes pretty close. I hope you’re good out there. See you next week. What Else I’m Working On... The KAUST School - I'm super excited to be traveling to The KAUST School in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to work with their IB faculty on the Extended Essay. We’ll spend three days focused on strengthening supervision, building greater consistency across the school, and creating clearer systems to support students throughout the process. Effectively Supervising the Extended Essay in Any Subject- November 7th, 2026 - Once again, this workshop is filling up early this year. It is focused and practical workshop is designed to help teachers confidently navigate the updated Extended Essay framework for the Class of 2027. Together, we’ll explore what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and how to effectively guide students through both the Subject-Focused and Interdisciplinary pathways. In-Person Professional Workshops - If your school would like a tailored training on the updated Extended Essay guidelines, we’d love to help—onsite at your campus or live online—just send me an email at brad@bradcartwright.com and we’ll work together to make it happen. Brad Cartwright |