Note: Information in this article mostly applies for the ongoing ESS syllabus (first assessment 2017, ending 2025). Some guidance may still apply for the new syllabus (first assessment 2026), but please carefully filter through the information in case of any differences.
Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) is one of IB’s most intriguing subjects. An interdisciplinary subject, it combines the social science elements of Group 3 and the natural science aspect of Group 4. Its all-encompassing nature brings an extra challenge as you work on your internal assessment (IA).
What is an ESS IA All About?
An ESS SL internal assessment involves writing a report, which will be worth 25% of the final grade. In the HL curriculum (first assessment 2026), it’ll be worth 20%. It aims to investigate a specific ESS issue and apply found results to a broad environmental and/or social context. For the current syllabus, the report must be between 1500 and 2250 words long, excluding the bibliography. In the new syllabus, you have up to 3000 words to write.
Unlike writing a Group 3 or Group 4 IA, ESS IAs have a unique set of expectations, as they mix these 2 subject groups together. This may be difficult to navigate for many students. As such, we’ll break it down step by step.
Beginning from your topic to the structure of your IA, all the way to your style of writing, let’s cover all the essentials needed to get that 7 for your ESS IA.
Deciding on Your Topic
To get started with any IA, you must decide on a topic. As the core of ESS lies in environmental studies, your topic should reflect that—by focusing on a particular environmental concern.
Per the objective of an ESS IA, your topic must not only be an environmental issue of interest to you; it should allow you to critically suggest effective applications that can address the problem in real life.
Ask yourself these critical questions as you brainstorm possible ESS IA topics:
- Which environmental issue in my syllabus needs the most urgent fixing right now?
- Which type of data collection do I prefer; primary or secondary research?
- Do I have a genuine interest in my topic of choice?
- How applicable will the findings of this research be in real-world contexts?
Once a topic is decided, creating a research question should come next. The research question acts as a focused inquiry that will guide your investigation from start to finish.
Structuring Your IA
Creating the structure of your ESS IA is (unexpectedly) very straightforward. All you need to do is follow the assessment criteria! Yes, just set each criterion (except for Communication, of course) as a heading in your IA. Refer to the subject guide for information on the criteria!
The big outline is as follows:
- Identifying the Context: Explain the background of your research topic and its link to the environment
- Planning: List and explain your hypothesis, methodology, and ethical considerations
- Results, Analysis, and Conclusion: Recap your data, analyze it, and conclude your findings
- Discussion and Evaluation: Examine your conclusion in relevance to an environmental issue and assess the quality of your investigation
- Applications: Create and evaluate solutions for the problem explored in your research
Before the 1st section, add a cover page with your topic and research question written. In addition to this, don’t forget to include a bibliography to cite and credit all the resources used!
Each main section should have certain components. Here’s a brief breakdown of each:
Identifying the Context
Starting the paper, this section should give background information regarding your topic. In addition to that, it must explain how your investigation is correlated to a real-life environmental issue. Not only is this section important to the grading of your IA, but it also serves as a baseline for your research process.
To achieve maximum marks in this criteria, meet these points:
Planning
Up next, you should expand all about your hypothesis, variables, equipment, methodology, sampling strategy, and preliminary testing. This section should ensure that your teacher and IB examiners will understand the direction of your investigation and what methods you are using to collect data.
There’s one more element to include: safety, environmental, and ethical considerations! Your plan must be made in consideration of possible risks. If you see an issue in terms of safety, environment, or ethics, make sure to mention ways to address the problem. On that note, ensure that your investigation does not violate the IB Animal Experimentation Policy.
Fulfill these points to get maximum marks:
Results, Analysis, and Conclusion
This section acts as the core of your paper. Here, organize and showcase all the data you’ve gained, whether that comes from primary or secondary research. Afterward, analyze the raw data by processing the data (e.g.: calculating averages), creating diagrams, and identifying relationships in the data.
Once you’ve got a clear answer through your analysis, write a conclusion containing a summary of your investigation’s process and your answer to the hypothesis.
These are the details needed to get maximum marks:
Discussion and Evaluation
It’s time to reflect! In the Discussion and Evaluation section, explain how your conclusion relates to an environmental issue. Do also discuss your execution of the investigation, by diving into the strengths, weaknesses, areas of improvement, possible modifications, and further research opportunities you’ve identified throughout your IA-writing process.
Keep these factors in mind to score well:
Applications
Lastly, you should use your findings to brainstorm possible real-world improvements. With the help of other resources, think of solutions that can resolve the environmental issue at hand and how effective the solutions would be.
The IB provides these benchmarks for top marks:
Other Tips You Should Keep in Mind
Apart from your research topic and structure, there are other strategies you must apply to optimize your IA quality.
- Use Specialized Vocabulary: Utilize any and all relevant terms you’ve studied in your ESS classes and beyond! Tailor your linguistic delivery to your topic.
- Create Sub-Headings: Break down the big headings. For example, under ‘Applications’, you can make sub-headings titled ‘Possible Solutions’ and ‘Evaluation of Solutions’.
- Keep it Neat: The content isn’t everything! Make sure your paragraphs are set to the “justify” alignment and your text is visually legible.
- Standardize Your Numbers: How many decimal points are you using? Try to keep that regulated across your entire paper.
These tips can help you communicate your ideas better. In fact, these will be your backbone to getting marks in the ‘Communication’ criteria! These are the points you have to meet:
Completing an ESS IA is a one-of-a-kind process. It mixes all the elements you meet in other IAs into one. Regardless, if you master the technique needed and know what is expected, scoring high is 100% doable.
Through this article, you’ve learned how to start, structure, and write your IA, which can secure the best ESS grade for you. Seek your teacher’s guidance to up your chances of scoring that 7!
Do your best and be proactive throughout the process. We wish you all the best with your IA!
