The Higher Level essay in IB English A: Literature asks students to write about a work they have studied, following a line of inquiry they choose themselves. It runs between 1,200 and 1,500 words, which is short for the ambition involved. A text like Heart of Darkness rewards that focus and punishes the urge to cover everything.

Assessment follows four criteria: knowledge, understanding and interpretation; analysis and evaluation; focus and organization; and language. Teachers who know the criteria well can tell students precisely what each one asks. Teachers who rely on a general impression of quality often find their scores drifting from the moderators'.

Conrad's novella has its own challenges within this frame. The line of inquiry has to be narrow enough to develop in a page and a half of argument per idea. A question about how narrative structure shapes the reader's judgment of Kurtz is workable; a question about colonialism in the novella is far too broad.

Help students test their question early. If they cannot state in a sentence what the essay will argue, the line of inquiry probably needs to be sharpened.

Matching feedback to the criteria

The most useful feedback maps to a criterion, so the student knows which part of the assessment is at stake. A note such as "This is analysis of plot, not of technique" points to the second criterion. "The essay drifts from the inquiry in the third paragraph" points to the third.

• Knowledge and interpretation: accurate, personal reading of specific passages
• Analysis and evaluation: attention to how Conrad's choices create effects
• Focus and organization: sustained attention to the line of inquiry
• Language: precise, formal, and consistent academic register
• Citation: quotations from the novella that are short, exact, and integrated

Working within IB rules on drafts

IB guidance limits how much support a teacher can provide on the essay, so check the current subject guide before deciding how to comment on drafts. Generally, the emphasis is on guiding the student's thinking rather than correcting the writing. Confirm what is permitted for the session you are teaching.

Within those limits, questions are your best tool. Asking why a student chose a particular passage, or what it shows about the narrator's position, prompts thinking without doing the work for them.

Consistency across a cohort

If several teachers in a department handle IB English, calibration matters. Score two or three practice essays together against the criteria and note where you disagree. The differences usually turn out to be about how much weight to give attention to technique.

AI feedback tools can support practice grading. GraideMind can apply IB-style criteria to practice essays and provide criterion-level comments that a teacher reviews, which is useful for building a bank of annotated examples for students to study.

Helping students see the standard

Students benefit from reading annotated exemplars. Show them a strong essay on a different text and walk through why it earns its marks. They pick up the standard more quickly than from a list of descriptors.

Then ask them to score a Conrad practice essay against the criteria themselves. The exercise exposes their own habits, and the conversation that follows is often more productive than a set of written comments.