TOK EXHIBITION


​The TOK Exhibition is an individual project that accounts for 33% of your final Theory of Knowledge grade. You will select one of 35 prescribed prompts and explore it using three real-world objects as your evidence. This guide will help you achieve the highest marks.
​
The exhibition consists of two components:
  1. Presentation/Display – Each school organizes this differently.
  2. Written Commentary (950 words) – This is the part assessed for your final IB grade.

To help you succeed, I’ve created a 7-video course with detailed guidance and brand-new notes for every TOK theme. These resources are available to IBMastery subscribers, and you can access them through a free trial.

Below is a recommended structure for writing a high-scoring commentary. It’s not mandatory, but it works effectively. For illustration, we’ll use Prompt 1: “What counts as knowledge?”. The full sample is available in the video mini-course.

(Note: Earlier versions of this guide suggested optional Introduction and Conclusion sections, which most students could skip. You may still include them if you wish, but they’re generally not recommended.)
Reference Links

Knowledge Questions

The IA prompts are a set of 35 high-level knowledge questions. Students must select one of the following IA prompts on which to base their exhibition, and all three objects must be linked to the same prompt. These IA prompts apply for all examination sessions for the life of this guide—they do not change from session to session. Students are required to create an exhibition of three objects that connect to one of the following IA prompts. 
​
If it is clear that the TOK Exhibition is not based on one of the IA prompts listed, the TOK exhibition should be awarded a score of zero, in accordance with the TOK Exhibition assessment instrument.
​

Guidelines and tips for selecting objects:
​

  1. Objects should be connected to you or that you understand well: specific (not generic) things that you have encountered in school or in your life beyond the classroom.  This connection will keep your assignment original and prove your engagement with TOK. 

  2. Objects can be digital, such as a photograph of an object or a Tweet or a particular article.  The source of an object must always be referenced!

  3. Objects can be physical, or even something you have created, such as a piece of writing or a work of art (but do not create something for this assignment.)  Take a picture of the object to include in the assignment.  As with above, the source of the object must always be referenced, even if it is an object of your own creation!

  4. In selecting objects for a particular IA prompt, it may be helpful to think about the objects as curated for a museum exhibition:  The object is the means through which the question prompt is explored.

  5. It may also be helpful to think about what objects have changed or shaped you as a knower.

  6. Objects should NOT relate to the prompt in the same way; in fact, the more different the objects, the more ways you will be exploring the prompt and the more interesting your IA will be.

  7. Avoid choosing objects that require so much explanation that they risk ignoring the TOK aspects of the assignment.

TOK Essay titles May 2025


  1. Do historians and human scientists have an ethical obligation to follow the directive: “do not ignore contradictory evidence” Discuss with reference to history and the human sciences.
  2. Is our most revered knowledge more fragile than we assume it to be? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge.
  3. How can we reconcile the relentless drive to pursue knowledge with the finite resources we have available? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
  4. Do the ever-improving tools of an area of knowledge always result in improved knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
  5. To what extent do you agree with the claim “all models are wrong, but some are useful” (attributed to George Box)? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
  6. Does acquiring knowledge destroy our sense of wonder? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.​
​

videos