Which Internal Assessment limit applies to your subject?
Most Diploma Programme Internal Assessments use a maximum word count or page guidance set in the subject guide. What counts varies: usually the argument and analysis in the body; often not raw data tables, equations, captions, references, or appendices. If a footnote contains argument rather than a citation, it usually counts. When in doubt, check the guide for your session - not a third-party blog.
Find your subject's limit
Pick your coursework subject to see its listed cap, session, and what to check before submitting. This is a reference, not a substitute for the guide your school uses.
Your subject-specific reference appears here. The full comparison table remains available below.
| Subject | Commonly cited limit |
|---|---|
| Biology / Chemistry / Physics | 3,000 words maximumScientific investigation (first assessment May 2025). Same four criteria at SL and HL. Tables of raw data, calculations, citations, and appendices are handled per the subject guide - confirm the exact list. |
| Environmental Systems & Societies | 3,000 words maximumIndividual investigation (first assessment 2026; course now SL and HL). |
| Sports, Exercise & Health Science | 3,200 words maximumScientific investigation format (first assessment 2026), aligned to the sciences model. |
| Mathematics AA / AI | 12–20 pages (no fixed word count)Exploration IA - assessed on mathematical quality, not length. |
| Psychology | 2,200 words maximumResearch proposal IA (first assessment May 2027) - plans an investigation; does not report experiment results. |
| Economics | 3 × 800 words (commentaries)Each commentary max 800 words; plus a 300-word rationale for the portfolio. |
| History | 2,200 wordsHistorical investigation - all sections combined. |
| Geography | 2,500 wordsFieldwork report. |
| Business Management | 1,800 words maximum (SL & HL)Research project; supporting documents are separate from the word count. |
| Global Politics | 2,000 words (report)Engagement project written report (HL adds a separate recommendations section). |
| Language A (Lang & Lit / Literature) | HL essay 1,200–1,500 wordsThe oral component has no word count. |
| Language B | No written IAThe individual oral is assessed live, not by word count. |
| Visual Arts | Comparative study 10–15 screensPlus the process portfolio; screen counts, not words. |
| Computer Science | ~2,000 words (documentation)Computational solution documentation; program code and appendices are separate. |
What word limit applies to current science IAs?
The current scientific-investigation IA (first assessment May 2025) uses four criteria × 6 marks (24 marks total, 20% of the final grade). SL and HL share the same rubric. The investigation has a 3,000-word maximum - not an open-ended page count with no cap.
What is the Business Management IA word limit?
The Business Management research project (SL and HL) must not exceed 1,800 words. Under the IB subject guide, moderators assess only the first 1,800 words. Supporting documents, reference lists and the bibliography are excluded, but explanatory text and quotations in the body count. Footnotes and endnotes are for references only. Business Management IA guide →
Worked check: If your Business Management research project has 1,845 countable words, the last 45 are outside the assessable limit. Edit the argument in the main text rather than moving essential evaluation into supporting documents. This example illustrates the published 1,800-word cutoff; it is not a universal rule for other subjects.
What does not count toward an Internal Assessment word limit?
There is no safe universal exclusion list. Tables, equations, captions, citations, footnotes, bibliographies, appendices, and supporting documents are treated differently across assessment components. Use the current subject guide to decide what counts before moving material out of the main body.
What happens if you go over the IA word limit?
The consequence is assessment-component specific. If your current guide sets a hard maximum, do not plan on material beyond that limit carrying assessed reasoning. Check the exact rule for your subject and session before trimming or moving analysis into an appendix.
Trimmed to the limit and worried you cut the wrong thing?
iBacalao reviews your IA using the configured criteria for your subject and assessment session and flags where thin analysis or evaluation may be limiting the draft. Signed-in free accounts refill continuously toward 60 Shells over 7 days.
Choose your subject →Which word-limit edge cases should you check?
Check the current guide for your subject and session because word limits and exclusions vary across assessment components.
What counts toward the Internal Assessment word limit?
Generally: the main body of your writing. Generally not: the title page, contents, tables of raw data, calculations and equations, labels and captions, citations and the bibliography, and appendices - but the exact list is subject-specific. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics (first assessment 2025) use a 3,000-word maximum on the scientific investigation; Business Management uses 1,800 words. Always confirm in your current subject guide.
What happens if my IA is over the word limit?
For subjects with a strict maximum (Psychology, History, Economics, Business Management, Geography, and others), examiners or moderators are instructed to stop at the limit - anything after it is not marked. For Diploma sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, first assessment 2025), the investigation has a 3,000-word maximum; content beyond it is not assessed. Do not hide analysis in appendices to dodge the cap.
Do appendices count?
Content that is essential to the argument should be in the body, and examiners are not required to read appendices. Putting analysis in an appendix to dodge the word count does not work - it just means that analysis is not marked.
Is there a minimum word count?
No formal minimum, but an IA far below the guidance almost always means the analysis or evaluation is too thin to reach the top mark bands.
What is the Biology, Chemistry, or Physics IA word count for 2025?
The current scientific-investigation IA (first assessment May 2025) has a 3,000 words maximum for Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. SL and HL use the same criteria. See each subject guide for what counts toward the limit.
What is the Business Management IA word count?
The Business Management research project must not exceed 1,800 words (SL and HL). Moderators stop reading beyond 1,800 words.
Sources & verification
Primary-source references used to verify key assessment facts on this page. Last source check: October 9, 2026.
Targeted current-session source check covered the main science, Business Management and Mathematics examples; this is not an individual re-verification of every subject row. Word-count rules remain assessment-component specific. Confirm the guide for your exam session.
- IB - Biology in the Diploma ProgrammeCurrent Biology curriculum page and first-assessment-2025 subject brief.
- IB - Chemistry guide (first assessment 2025)Primary subject guide for the current scientific-investigation assessment model.
- IB - Physics guide (first assessment 2025)Primary subject guide for the current scientific-investigation assessment model.
- IB - Business Management guide (first assessment 2024)Primary subject guide for the Business Management internal assessment.
- IB - Business Management examiner instructions 2026Confirms moderators stop reading and marking beyond 1,800 words.
- IB - Mathematics: analysis and approaches guideThe mathematics exploration is approximately 12–20 double-spaced pages; this is guidance, not a fixed word limit.
- IB - Mathematics: applications and interpretation guideThe current Applications and Interpretation exploration also uses approximately 12–20 double-spaced pages, not a fixed word count.
- IB - current curriculum updatesUsed to distinguish current and upcoming assessment sessions such as ESS, SEHS, Psychology, Computer Science and Visual Arts.