23 Jul IB ESS Assessment Preparation: IA Criteria and Exam Skills
ESS preparation should connect the current assessment criteria to your actual learning needs. Begin with a focused question or a specific exam skill, then use evidence and feedback to choose what to practise.
Current IA requirements
The IA has 30 marks: research question and inquiry (4), strategy (4), method (4), treatment of data (6), analysis and conclusion (6), and evaluation (6). The report has a maximum of 3,000 words. Both levels use the same criteria.
Read the full descriptors; criterion names are not a checklist that automatically earns marks. The strategy discussion examines an issue central to the investigation and tensions between perspectives. It is distinct from the method.
Gather suitable evidence
Explain what you will measure or select and why it can answer the question. Choose sampling effort according to variability, feasibility and the intended analysis. There is no universal IB rule requiring five trials per independent-variable value.
Primary investigations and suitable secondary-data approaches can both be valid. Choose calculations, graphs and tests that suit the question and data rather than inserting a particular statistical test into every IA.
Interpret and evaluate
Answer the research question using your results. Explain what the evidence supports and what it cannot establish. Evaluate how specific methodological limitations or weaknesses affect the conclusion, how suitable improvements would address them, and which unresolved questions affect interpretation. Listing generic errors without connecting them to your evidence is less informative.
Practise exam skills
Read command terms, use appropriate units and interpret unfamiliar graphs. Develop supported arguments for relevant essay questions. Follow the question instructions rather than a universal minutes-per-mark or sentence-count rule.
Keep a record of actual errors and revisit them. No preparation routine guarantees a particular grade. See the ESS IA workflow for planning help.
Official reference: IB ESS guide, first assessment 2026. Updated 19 October 2026.
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