IB History IA: Structure, Criteria and 50+ Example Questions

The IB History IA is the one piece of History you get to design yourself. You pick the question. You pick the sources. You write the argument. Nobody hands you a topic.

That freedom is why students love it and also why they stall for weeks. A blank page is harder than an exam paper.

This guide fixes that. It covers what the IA is, how it's marked, how each section is built, and — the part most students actually come for — over 50 example investigation questions you can adapt.

One important note before we start. The IB launched a new History course in February 2026, for first teaching in August 2026 and first exams in May 2028. The IA changed. We cover both versions below, so check which one you're on before you plan anything.

Quick answer: The IB History IA (Internal Assessment) is a historical investigation of your own choosing, written up in a maximum of 2,200 words. On the new course (first exams May 2028) it is marked out of 24 across three sections — historical inquiry question (6 marks), sources and perspectives (6 marks), and synthesis and evaluation (12 marks) — and is worth 30% of your grade at Standard Level and 20% at Higher Level. On the current course (final exams 2027) it is marked out of 25 across identification and evaluation of sources (6), investigation (15), and reflection (4), and is worth 25% at SL and 20% at HL. Both versions get 20 hours of class time, are marked by your teacher, and are moderated by the IB.

What is the IB History IA?

The IB History IA is a research essay on a historical question you choose yourself, worth up to 30% of your final History grade.

IA stands for Internal Assessment. "Internal" means your own History teacher marks it. The IB then checks a sample of marks from your school to keep every school fair. That check is called moderation. If your school marks too generously, everyone's marks come down.

The task itself is called the historical investigation. You choose a question about the past. You find sources. You weigh up what different historians say. Then you write a reasoned answer.

Two things make it different from a normal school essay:

• You are judged on how you use evidence, not on how much you know.

• You have to show that historians disagree, and explain why.

You get 20 hours of class time for it. That is the same at Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL). The task is identical at both levels — HL students do not get a harder IA. They just carry more content in the exams.

If this is your first IB coursework piece, it's worth reading our broader guide on how to write an IB Internal Assessment first. The habits carry across every subject.

Which History IA rules apply to you?

Use the new rules if you started History in August 2026 or later. Use the current rules if you sit your exams in 2026 or 2027.

This matters more than it sounds. The two versions have different section names, different mark totals, and different rules about sources and dates. Old exemplars from Clastify or your school library were written under the old rubric. They can still teach you good writing. They will not teach you the new mark scheme.

The headline change: the reflection section is gone. Students used to write 400 words on "the challenges facing the historian". Many confused it with a CAS reflection and lost easy marks. The IB replaced it with a much bigger analysis section instead.

The second big change: you may now use a maximum of seven sources. That is a hard cap. It pushes you to choose fewer, better sources rather than padding a bibliography.

How much is the IB History IA worth?

The IB History IA is worth 30% of your final grade at SL and 20% at HL on the new course, and 25% at SL and 20% at HL on the current one.

Here is the full picture on the new course, taken from the official IB subject brief.

Look at the SL column again. Almost a third of an SL History grade is decided by a 2,200-word essay you write at home, with your teacher's feedback, over several months. No exam nerves. No time pressure. No surprise question.

That is the single best mark-per-hour deal in the whole subject. Students who leave the IA to the last fortnight are throwing it away.

The IB History IA structure (new course, first exams 2028)

The new IA has three sections in one document, plus a bibliography that doesn't count toward the 2,200 words.

Your headings, footnote references and bibliography are all outside the word count. So is the title page. You must state your total word count at the start of the document.

Here's how the marks and words break down.

Section 3 is half the marks. Plan your words accordingly.

Section 1: Historical inquiry question

State the question. Explain why it is a genuinely historical question. Then name the concept driving it.

The new course has four specified concepts: cause and consequence, continuity and change, perspectives, and significance. You are not limited to these four, but they are the safest starting point. Pick one and explain how it shapes your inquiry.

A strong Section 1 does three things in about 400 words:

1. States the exact question, word for word.

2. Explains why historians disagree about it, and names the main lines of disagreement.

3. Names the concept and explains how it frames the investigation.

Section 2: Sources and perspectives

Group your sources by the perspective they represent, not one by one.

This is where students most often go wrong. They write a source-by-source list: "Source A was written by… Source B was written by…" That reads like a catalogue and scores poorly.

Do it the other way round. Lead with a perspective. Then bring in the sources that hold it.

Aim for about three perspectives, each with two supporting sources. As you go, weigh each source's origin, purpose, value and limitations. That's the old OPVL habit, used inside an argument rather than as a standalone exercise.

Section 3: Synthesis and evaluation

Build one sustained argument that answers your question, then land a clear judgement.

Section 3 is not a longer copy of Section 2. If Section 2 is organised by perspective, organise Section 3 by factor — political, economic, social, military — and let each factor pull in evidence from more than one perspective.

Every claim needs evidence from your seven sources. Every source you lean on needs a quick word on how reliable it is. Then finish with a judgement that actually commits.

Examiners are blunt about this: "to a medium extent" is not a judgement. Pick a side and defend it.

The IB History IA structure (current course, final exams 2027)

On the current course the IA is marked out of 25 across three named criteria.

A common word split is roughly 500 words for Criterion A, 1,300 for Criterion B, and 400 for Criterion C. The IB doesn't fix those numbers, but the mark weighting makes them sensible.

The date rule on this course is strict: your topic must not cover events from the last 10 years. If you are on the current guide and you want to write about something recent, you can't.

How to choose an IB History IA topic

Choose a topic where historians already argue, sources are in a language you read, and the scope is small enough to finish in 2,200 words.

Run any idea through these five tests before you commit.

1. Is there a real debate? If every source says the same thing, you have a report, not an investigation.

2. Can you access the sources? Seven sources is the cap on the new course. You need seven you can actually get and read.

3. Is it narrow enough? "The causes of the Second World War" is a book. "Why Britain rearmed slowly between 1934 and 1937" is an IA.

4. Does it invite judgement? Your question should start with a command term like "to what extent", "how far", "how significant" or "how successful". Our guide to IB command terms explains what each one demands.

5. Is it different from your Extended Essay? You cannot investigate the same question in both. If you're writing a History EE, keep the two well apart — our Extended Essay support page covers how to separate them cleanly.

Two more rules worth knowing. On both courses, your topic must fall after 750 CE. On the new course, contemporary topics from the last 20 years are allowed, but must be handled historically. In practice that means you can investigate the causes of a recent event. You cannot investigate its consequences, because they haven't finished happening yet.

Stuck for a starting point? Our free IB IA topic generator throws up subject-specific ideas you can narrow down.

What makes a good IB History IA question?

A good question names a specific event, a specific timeframe, and a claim you can argue against.

Compare these two.

Weak: "What caused the Rwandan genocide?"

It has no timeframe, no command term, and no argument. It invites you to list causes. Listing scores badly.

Strong: "To what extent was colonial-era administrative policy the main cause of the 1994 Rwandan genocide?"

Look at what changed. There's a command term ("to what extent"). There's a named factor to test ("colonial-era administrative policy"). There's a claim you can dispute — a historian could argue the answer is "hardly at all" and point to 1990s political choices instead. That disagreement is your essay.

Here's the pattern that works nearly every time:

To what extent was [specific factor] the main cause of — or the most significant reason for — [specific event, dated]?

Swap "to what extent" for "how successful", "how significant" or "how useful" depending on what you're testing.

50+ IB History IA example questions

Below are more than 50 example investigation questions, grouped by theme and region. Treat them as starting points. Adapt the dates, swap the country, or narrow the factor to fit the sources you can actually reach.

Cause and consequence

• To what extent was economic hardship the main cause of the 1789 French Revolution?

• How far was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand responsible for the outbreak of war in 1914?

• To what extent did the Treaty of Versailles cause the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany?

• How significant was the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in causing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war?

• To what extent was British economic policy the main cause of the Bengal famine of 1943?

• How far did the 1929 Wall Street Crash cause the political instability of the Weimar Republic?

Continuity and change

• To what extent did the position of women in Japan change between 1945 and 1960?

• How far did the Meiji Restoration change the role of the samurai class in Japanese society?

• To what extent did the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888 change the lives of former slaves?

• How much did the Reformation change religious practice in ordinary English parishes between 1530 and 1570?

• To what extent did Indian village life change under British rule between 1858 and 1914?

• How far did the role of the Catholic Church in Spanish society change under Franco?

Perspectives and interpretation

• To what extent do Soviet and American accounts differ on the causes of the Berlin Blockade?

• How far do historians disagree on the reasons for the fall of Constantinople in 1453?

• To what extent has the reputation of Emperor Aurangzeb been shaped by later nationalist writing?

• How do British and Kenyan accounts of the Mau Mau uprising differ, and why?

• To what extent do orthodox and revisionist historians disagree about the origins of the Cold War?

• How far has the memory of the Spanish Civil War been shaped by post-Franco politics?

Significance of individuals

• How significant was Emmeline Pankhurst in winning votes for women in Britain?

• To what extent was Mikhail Gorbachev responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union?

• How significant was Simón Bolívar in the independence of Gran Colombia?

• To what extent was Kwame Nkrumah responsible for Ghana's independence in 1957?

• How significant was the role of Vallabhbhai Patel in the integration of India's princely states?

• To what extent was Deng Xiaoping responsible for China's economic growth after 1978?

Wars and conflict

• How successful was the policy of appeasement in preventing war in Europe between 1936 and 1939?

• To what extent did air power decide the outcome of the Pacific War?

• How significant was the Battle of Midway as a turning point in the Second World War?

• To what extent was the Vietnam War lost because of American domestic opposition?

• How far did the Iran-Iraq War change the balance of power in the Gulf?

• To what extent was superior technology the main reason for Spanish victory over the Aztec Empire?

Authoritarian rule and protest

• To what extent did Mussolini's use of propaganda secure his hold on power in Italy?

• How significant was the role of the secret police in maintaining Stalin's rule?

• To what extent was economic failure the main cause of the fall of the Marcos regime in the Philippines?

• How successful was non-violent protest in ending apartheid in South Africa?

• To what extent did student protest change government policy in Mexico after 1968?

• How significant was the Solidarity movement in ending communist rule in Poland?

Europe

• To what extent was Bismarck the architect of German unification in 1871?

• How significant was the Black Death in changing the English feudal economy?

• To what extent did the Marshall Plan drive Western European recovery after 1948?

• How far was the Irish Famine of 1845–1852 worsened by British government policy?

• To what extent did printing change the spread of ideas in Europe between 1450 and 1520?

The Americas

• To what extent was the Mexican Revolution a genuine social revolution?

• How significant was the New Deal in ending the Great Depression in the United States?

• To what extent was the US Civil Rights Movement successful in achieving economic equality?

• How far did the Cuban Revolution change the position of women in Cuba?

• To what extent was foreign intervention responsible for the 1973 coup in Chile?

Asia and Oceania

• To what extent was Partition in 1947 the result of British policy rather than Indian politics?

• How significant was the Great Leap Forward in shaping later Chinese economic policy?

• To what extent did the Korean War change Japan's post-war economy?

• How far did the Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu end French rule in Indochina?

• To what extent was the White Australia policy driven by economic rather than racial motives?

Africa and the Middle East

• To what extent was the Suez Crisis of 1956 a turning point for British influence in the Middle East?

• How significant was the discovery of oil in changing Saudi society between 1938 and 1970?

• To what extent was the Algerian War of Independence won by military rather than political means?

• How far did Ethiopian resistance shape the outcome of the Italian invasion of 1935?

• To what extent was the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 responsible for later conflict in Central Africa?

Source-focused and local history

• How useful are oral testimonies in understanding civilian experience during the Partition of India?

• To what extent do declassified documents change our understanding of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• How useful is wartime film propaganda to a historian studying British morale in 1940?

• To what extent do local parish records change our picture of poverty in Victorian Britain?

• How useful are company records to a historian studying working conditions in colonial mining?

• To what extent can family migration records tell us about the causes of post-war movement to Britain?

That's 62 questions. Most can be trimmed or re-dated to match the sources available to you. The date and the named factor are the parts you should change first.

Choosing your sources

On the new course you may use a maximum of seven sources, so every choice has to earn its place.

A good spread usually looks like this:

• Two or three academic secondary sources — books or journal articles by historians. These give you your perspectives.

• Two or three primary sources — documents, speeches, letters, photographs, statistics, oral testimony.

• One or two that disagree with the rest. Disagreement is what you're being marked on.

Skip Wikipedia, general encyclopaedias, and revision sites. They give you no perspective to analyse and examiners notice immediately.

JSTOR, Google Scholar and Google Books will cover most students. Many schools have JSTOR access through the library — ask before you pay for anything.

One practical tip: keep a running bibliography and page numbers from day one. Reconstructing footnotes three months later is miserable and it's where citation errors creep in.

How the IB History IA is marked

Your teacher marks the IA against the published criteria. The IB then moderates a sample from your school.

Moderation means an IB examiner re-marks a selection of your school's IAs. If the school's marking is generous, every student's mark is adjusted down. If it's harsh, marks go up. Your position within your school stays roughly the same, but the whole class can move.

There's one rule about drafts that students often learn too late. Your teacher may read and comment on one draft only. They can tell you what to improve. They cannot edit your work or line-correct it. The next version you hand in is the one that gets marked. Use that single draft well — hand in something complete, not a half-finished skeleton.

Common mistakes that cost marks

• Writing a narrative. Telling the story of an event scores far lower than arguing about it. If your paragraphs start with dates, you're narrating.

• Listing sources one by one in Section 2. Lead with the perspective. The sources support it.

• Choosing a topic that's too big. A question spanning 50 years and three countries cannot be argued in 1,400 words.

• Ignoring the concept. On the new course this is worth real marks in Section 1. Name it and use it.

• No clear judgement. An investigation that ends "there were many factors" throws away the top band of Section 3.

• Padding with background. Context is fine in a sentence or two. A page of it eats your word count.

• Breaking the seven-source cap. On the new course this is a rule, not a guideline.

• Missing footnotes. Every source used in your argument needs a Chicago-style footnote. The bibliography lists only the sources you actually cited.

A realistic IB History IA timeline

Most students get their IA at the end of Year 1 and submit early in Year 2. Here's a schedule that works.

That's about eight weeks of unhurried work. Compressing it into two is where the panic and the low marks come from.

If you'd like structured help through those eight weeks, our IB IA support pairs students with subject specialists who've marked coursework before.

Frequently asked questions

What is the IB History IA?

The IB History IA is the Internal Assessment for IB Diploma History: a historical investigation into a question you choose yourself. You research it, weigh up different historians' perspectives, and write it up in no more than 2,200 words. Your own teacher marks it and the IB moderates a sample of the marks from your school.

How many words is the IB History IA?

The IB History IA is a maximum of 2,200 words on both the current and the new course. Your title page, section headings, footnote references and bibliography do not count toward that limit. You must state the total word count clearly at the start of the document.

How much is the IB History IA worth?

On the new course (first exams May 2028) the IA is worth 30% of your final grade at Standard Level and 20% at Higher Level. On the current course (final exams 2027) it is worth 25% at SL and 20% at HL. It's marked out of 24 on the new course and 25 on the current one.

What are the three sections of the new IB History IA?

The new IA has three sections: historical inquiry question (6 marks), sources and perspectives (6 marks), and synthesis and evaluation (12 marks). The old reflection section has been removed. Section 3 carries half the marks, so it should take roughly 1,400 of your 2,200 words.

How many sources can I use in the IB History IA?

On the new course you may use a maximum of seven sources in total, and your bibliography must list only those seven. The current course has no fixed cap. Aim for a mix of primary and academic secondary sources, including at least one that disagrees with the others.

Is the IB History IA the same at SL and HL?

Yes. The task, the word limit, the criteria and the 20 hours of class time are identical at Standard Level and Higher Level. The only difference is how much the IA is worth: 30% of an SL grade against 20% of an HL grade on the new course, because HL students also sit Paper 3.

Can I write my History IA on a recent event?

On the new course, yes — the old 10-year rule has been removed. Contemporary topics from roughly the last 20 years are allowed, but they must be treated historically. In practice that means investigating the causes of a recent event rather than its consequences, which haven't fully played out. On the current course the 10-year restriction still applies. Both courses require topics after 750 CE.

Can my History IA use the same question as my Extended Essay?

No. You cannot investigate the same question in both your History IA and your Extended Essay. You can work in the same broad period, but the questions must be genuinely different. Most students find it easier to choose a different topic area altogether to avoid any doubt.

How many drafts of the History IA can my teacher check?

One. Your teacher may read and comment on a single draft, giving oral or written advice on how to improve it. They are not allowed to edit or correct the draft for you. The next version you hand in is treated as the final submission, so make your one draft a complete one.

What is a good research question for the IB History IA?

A good question names a specific event, gives a timeframe, and uses an evaluative command term such as "to what extent", "how far", "how significant" or "how successful". For example: "To what extent was economic hardship the main cause of the 1789 French Revolution?" It should be a question historians genuinely disagree about, and narrow enough to argue in about 1,400 words.

Do I still need OPVL in the new History IA?

Not as a separate exercise. The standalone OPCVL question has been removed from Paper 1, and the new IA has no dedicated source-evaluation section. But you still need to weigh a source's origin, purpose, value and limitations inside your argument, particularly in Section 2 and Section 3. Think of it as a habit rather than a heading.

How long does the IB History IA take?

The IB allocates 20 hours of class time, but most students spend more than that in total. A realistic plan is around eight weeks: two weeks choosing and narrowing the question, two weeks gathering sources, two weeks drafting, and two weeks on feedback and cutting. Starting late is the single most common reason strong students lose IA marks.

The History IA rewards a small question argued well far more than a big question described. Choose something narrow that historians already fight over, find seven sources worth arguing with, and commit to a judgement at the end.

Educifly's IB specialists coach students through the History IA from first question to final footnote. Book a free trial class to talk through your topic with a tutor who has marked IB coursework.