Learn
IB publishes the EE 4,000-word cap and the exclusions list in the official subject brief. IB Extended Essay page.
Learn
Extended Essay Word Count
4,000 words. The count is enforced. What counts, what does not, and how the strongest EEs use the budget.
The rule
The IB Extended Essay caps at 4,000 words. Examiners stop reading beyond the ceiling. There is no minimum, but strong essays land 3,700 to 3,950 words; anything under 3,000 struggles to develop the research question at the required depth.
What does not count
- Contents page
- Maps, charts, diagrams, tables, calculations, equations, formulas (the caption or label counts if it forms part of the argument)
- Bibliography and references
- Footnotes and endnotes (unless used to extend the argument beyond a citation)
- Acknowledgements
- Appendices
- Title page and reflections on planning
What does count
The main body. Introduction, argument, methodology summary, analysis, evaluation, conclusion. Direct quotations inside the body count. Headings count. Words inside charts and tables do not.
How the strongest EEs distribute 4,000
- Introduction and research question framing: 400 to 500 words
- Methodology and approach: 400 to 600 words
- Analysis and body: 2,400 to 2,700 words
- Evaluation of sources or methods: 300 to 400 words
- Conclusion: 200 to 300 words
Try the counter
Paste the main body into the live counter (excluding the sections that do not count). Aim for 3,900 to 3,970 to give yourself a tokenizer buffer between your counter and the IB’s.