Choosing Your Subject Wisely

Before you can pick a topic you must choose the subject in which your essay will be assessed. This is a consequential decision because your essay is marked against the expectations and methods of that discipline, and examiners are subject specialists. Choosing the right subject aligns your interests, your available evidence, and the way you will be judged.

Register the essay in a real DP subject area

An EE must be registered in an approved subject, and in most cases students choose from among the courses they are studying. You do not have to write in your strongest subject, but you must write in one whose methods you understand well enough to apply. An essay that reads as though it belongs to the wrong discipline, for example a history essay that never engages with historical sources, tend