In reply to bigleggedboi:
That's a can of worms you've opened there . . .
Before I start, let me say that the closest I've come to Everest is reading books about it or watching programmes on TV. Armchair pundit, that's me. Nevertheless, and with a warning to bear that previous sentence in mind, here's my two pennorth.
The balance of evidence suggests that they didn't make it. The second step is at a high altitude and tackled directly, isn't easy. The chink of light for those in favour of an ascent comes with an alternative explored (though by whom I can't recall) to the right of the direct approach which was described as, I think, exposed, balancey climbing not unlike some routes Mallory had put up in Britain. Otherwise, no; they didn't get there.
And if you're doing a project about this, perhaps that 'balance of evidence' approach is the right one to take. For the naysayers there's a ton of evidence; you'll have come across this already, I presume. For those who hold out a romantic hope that maybe, just maybe they did there isn't a lot; Odell may have seen them on the skyline above the second step but probably didn't and no-one else seems to have seen hide nor hair of them until Mallory's corpse was discovered. The camera they carried is missing and, after nearly a century, the film within may well be beyond salvation even if it is recovered.
So, did they climb it? Case not proven. The balance of evidence suggests to my mind that they did not but you must weigh the evidence yourself and come to your own verdict. It's a little out of date now, but Walt Unsworth's 'Everest' has lots of detail about the expedition and good analysis around the question you seek to answer. Worth a read if you haven't done so already (and worth a read in any case).
T.