06 Jul ESS IA Guide for SL & HL: Criteria, Planning and Examples
This ESS IA guide helps SL and HL students check the current criteria and plan a focused, feasible investigation using evidence they understand.
Reviewed 4 October 2026 · Current ESS SL and HL course, first assessment 2026.
A strong ESS IA is a focused investigation you can carry out and explain yourself. Use an environmental issue, a workable question and evidence that can answer it. The ideas below are starting points to adapt, not marked exemplar reports or guaranteed high-scoring questions.
Current ESS IA requirements
The individual report has a maximum of 3,000 words. The IA contributes 25% at SL and 20% at HL. Your school teacher assesses it and the IB moderates it. See the IB subject brief.
The six assessment criteria
| Criterion | Maximum marks |
|---|---|
| A: Research question and inquiry | 4 |
| B: Strategy | 4 |
| C: Method | 4 |
| D: Treatment of data | 6 |
| E: Analysis and conclusion | 6 |
| F: Evaluation | 6 |
| Total | 30 |
Source: official IB ESS guide. The previous version of this article gave an incorrect 24-mark rubric. A title page is not an assessment criterion.
Choose a question you can investigate
Start with an issue that interests you, then check access to data, equipment, sampling sites and permissions. A manageable question with evidence you understand is more useful than an ambitious topic you cannot investigate reliably.
- Urban heat: compare a defined temperature measure at shaded and exposed sites, accounting for time and surface differences.
- Biodiversity: compare an ecological measure across accessible habitats using consistent sampling.
- Waste: investigate a clearly specified relationship using comparable records or carefully designed collection.
These are planning ideas. Specify the variables or comparison, context, method and analysis for your own question. Do not treat a correlation as proof of causation. For a feasibility checklist, read how to choose an ESS IA topic.
Plan strategy and perspectives
Research an existing or developing response to your environmental issue and consider the tension it creates between perspectives. For example, a tree-planting programme might bring cooling benefits while raising concerns about maintenance costs or street space. Use evidence from the actual context rather than inventing stakeholder opinions. The IB course update explains this addition.
ESS IA guide: a practical investigation checklist
- Explain the environmental issue and why your question matters.
- Try a small pilot or inspect a sample of the available data.
- Record a method that another person could follow.
- Keep units, sources and processing steps clear.
- Choose graphs and calculations that answer your question.
- Distinguish what the evidence shows from what it cannot establish.
- Explain limitations and realistic improvements.
- Check safety, permissions and your school’s requirements with your teacher.
Use examples critically
An older investigation can illustrate a sampling technique or data presentation, but its rubric and structure may be outdated. Check the date and assessment framework before copying its approach. Your research question, analysis and writing must remain your own.
Explore individual ESS IA guidance if you need help understanding your next step.
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