Extended Essay grade boundaries: out of 30 from May 2027, out of 34 until November 2026

There are no grade boundaries for the new 30-mark Extended Essay yet. The 30-mark model is first assessed in May 2027, and the IB sets EE boundaries after each session, so the first ones will exist only after that session is marked. Any website printing "A = 25+ out of 30" today is guessing. If you submit in November 2026, you are on the old 34-mark model, whose boundaries also changed from session to session.

What you can know now: how the A to E grade is set, where the 30 marks sit, and exactly how your EE grade turns into Diploma points.

Which model are you on?

If you started the Diploma in August or September 2025, you are almost certainly on the 30-mark model. Retake candidates moving between models should check with their coordinator, because the IB's guidance on that case is thin.

How is an EE grade set?

Your supervisor does not grade the essay. An IB examiner marks it against the five criteria, and the total is turned into a letter from A to E using grade boundaries.

• Boundaries are set after marking, every session. Senior examiners decide them using the EE grade descriptors, short descriptions of what an A, B, C, D and E essay looks like.
• The descriptors stay fixed; the numbers can move. If essays in one session were harder to score highly on, the mark needed for an A can drop, and the reverse. That is why a boundary from one session is not a promise for the next.
• Your coordinator sees them. The IB sends each session's boundaries to schools. They are not published on a public IB page.

Where are the 30 marks?

Two things follow for planning:

• Discussion and evaluation is the biggest single criterion. Weighing evidence, methods and other views runs through the whole essay, not a limitations list at the end. The EE criteria explained shows what lifts criterion D.
• Reflection is small but cheap to lose. Four marks rest on 500 words written after the viva voce. A narrative of what happened scores low; decisions and what they taught you score well. See EE reflection and the viva voce.

Markers use best fit and mark positively, so the top band does not need a flawless essay. That is a better target than any guessed boundary: an essay that sits in the top band on each criterion will be at the top of the scale whatever the numbers turn out to be.

How does your EE grade become Diploma points?

Your EE letter combines with your Theory of Knowledge letter on a matrix that gives 0 to 3 core points. This is the matrix as schools publish it (the EE guide prints it as a figure):

• An E in either one fails the Diploma, however many points you have elsewhere.
• The matrix has plateaus. EE B with TOK C gives 2; so does EE B with TOK B. If you know roughly where you stand, put extra effort where it moves you up a row or column that actually changes the points.
• Core points can decide the Diploma. With 23 subject points, the core is the difference between 24 and failing. The full rules are in how IB scoring works.

When will 30-mark boundaries appear?

After the May 2027 session is marked, at grade awarding, shortly before results are released in early July 2027. They reach schools through coordinators. Until then, the only honest answer to "what do I need for an A out of 30?" is: nobody knows, including your supervisor.

What should you do instead?

• Get your supervisor's read on each criterion, not a predicted letter alone. "Your criterion D is mid-band because the evaluation only appears in the conclusion" is something you can fix.
• Fix the research question first. Criterion A, and a lot of C and D, depend on a question narrow enough to answer in 4,000 words. 33 research question examples show the level of focus that works.
• Stay under 4,000 words. Examiners stop reading at the limit, so a conclusion past it earns nothing on any criterion.
• Keep notes for the reflection from day one: decisions, dead ends, changes of plan, with dates. They are the raw material for criterion E.

For how boundaries work in your subjects (where the same logic applies to 1 to 7 grades), read IB grade boundaries explained.