Check your extended essay idea before committing

Identify the guide and research pathway

The extended essay is independent research culminating in a 4,000-word paper. Before choosing an approach, confirm your examination session with your supervisor. First assessment in 2027 introduces revised guidance, including subject-focused and interdisciplinary pathways. A plan suited to an earlier cohort may need changes.

Name the subject or approved pathway through which you will investigate the topic. Ask what methods, kinds of evidence and restrictions apply. This is an early feasibility question: an interesting issue still needs an appropriate disciplinary approach and a research question that the available evidence can address.

Narrow the topic through boundaries

Write down the place, period, material and relationship you want to investigate. Replace a broad theme such as 'public parks and social change' with a possible question about one decision, location and period. Each boundary reduces the evidence you need and makes the intended analysis easier to describe.

For an illustrative history proposal, you might investigate how a local council justified a park-access decision during a defined period. Before using any such question, your supervisor would need to confirm its suitability and whether sufficient relevant historical evidence exists.

Test access rather than assuming it

Find and inspect a small starter set of sources or data. Record where each item is available, whether you can access the complete material, and what it contributes. A catalogue entry proves that a document exists; it does not prove you can obtain it in time or that it contains the evidence you need.

For the park example, council minutes might reveal stated reasons, while contemporary reporting might reveal competing reactions. Read actual material before deciding that these sources will support the investigation. Keep missing evidence visible on your planning sheet.

Explain how the method could produce an answer

Describe what you will do with the evidence. Comparing sources, analysing textual choices, modelling a relationship and conducting an experiment involve different methods. Explain why your method fits the question and what limitations it has. A list of sources or apparatus is not yet a research method.

Try one small analytical task. For the hypothetical council investigation, compare how two sources describe the same decision and examine their authorship and purpose. If the pilot only produces a summary, consider whether the question needs a more analytical focus.

Make the uncertainty explicit

Create a short feasibility record with your provisional question, available evidence, proposed method and main risk. Choose a next action that could resolve the risk. If a key archive is inaccessible, identify a realistic alternative or reconsider the scope before investing in a full draft.

• Check permissions, safety and ethics where the method requires them.
• Estimate collection and analysis time alongside school milestones.
• Record source details and distinguish your ideas from borrowed material.
• Keep notes on decisions and what you learned for cohort-appropriate reflection.

Use the supervisor meeting to make a decision

Bring the pilot result and source-access evidence to your supervisor. Ask for guidance on the unresolved methodological or scope issue within the permitted support arrangements. Leave with a revised question and a concrete next step. A feasibility check can lead you to proceed, narrow the investigation or change direction; each outcome is useful when it is based on evidence.