The New ToK Exhibition Explained

What Is the ToK Exhibition?

The Theory of Knowledge Exhibition is the internal assessment component of the IB Diploma Programme's ToK course. Introduced with the updated curriculum that first applied to the class of 2022, the exhibition replaced the previous presentation format and accounts for one-third of your overall ToK grade. The remaining two-thirds come from the externally assessed ToK essay. For more on this, see our guide on writing a TOK essay. (This guide has been updated for 2025.)

The core task is straightforward in concept but challenging in execution: you must select three objects and write a commentary (maximum 950 words total) explaining how each object connects to one of 35 prescribed IA prompts. The objects should demonstrate how ToK concepts manifest in the real world around you, moving the subject beyond purely abstract philosophical discussion into something tangible and personal. You may also find our resource on the ultimate TOK survival guide helpful.

Connecting abstract ToK concepts to concrete real-world objects is genuinely challenging, and many students find the leap from classroom discussion to personal exhibition difficult. A ToK tutor can help you develop a philosophical lens for viewing everyday objects and connect your thinking to the prescribed prompts with greater clarity and depth. Get matched with a ToK exhibition specialist →

This assessment structure reflects the IB's commitment to developing critical thinking through engagement with authentic knowledge questions. Rather than asking you to memorise philosophical concepts, the exhibition asks you to perform as a philosopher yourself—to notice knowledge problems in everyday life and to analyse them using the frameworks you have learned in class.

Understanding the Assessment Criteria

The ToK Exhibition is marked out of 10 by your teacher and then externally moderated by the IB. It is assessed against a single holistic criterion that evaluates the quality of your work across several dimensions.

At the highest level (9-10 marks), examiners expect to see three objects that are clearly identified with specific real-world contexts, a strong and explicit connection between each object and the chosen IA prompt, effective use of ToK concepts and terminology, and a commentary that shows genuine personal engagement with knowledge questions. Essentially, examiners want to see evidence that you are genuinely thinking about knowledge, not simply recycling class notes.

At middle levels (5-6 marks), the connections between objects and the prompt may be present but underdeveloped, the objects might lack specific context, or the ToK analysis may remain surface-level. At the lowest levels, the link to the IA prompt is weak or absent, objects are generic, and there is minimal engagement with ToK concepts.

Understanding this scale is essential because it reveals what examiners truly value: specificity, genuine ToK thinking, and a clear connection to the prompt throughout every paragraph of your commentary.

The 35 IA Prompts and How to Navigate Them

Your exhibition must respond to one of the 35 prescribed IA prompts provided in the ToK guide. These prompts are knowledge questions that explore the nature, production, and application of knowledge. You cannot create your own prompt or modify the wording of an existing one—this constraint actually liberates you by ensuring all students work within the same parameters.

The prompts cover a wide range of knowledge themes. Some focus on the reliability and certainty of knowledge, such as "What makes a reliable source?" or "To what extent can we have certainty about the past?" Others examine the relationship between knowledge and power, asking questions like "How can we know whether our sources are trustworthy?" Several prompts explore how knowledge is shaped by perspective, culture, or technology. When choosing your prompt, look for one that genuinely interests you and that you can connect to three specific, personally meaningful objects.

Take time to read all 35 prompts carefully. Many students fixate on the first few prompts that catch their attention, but you may discover that a prompt towards the end of the list resonates more deeply with your thinking. The right prompt should feel like a genuine question you want to explore, not a constraint you are trying to satisfy.

It is perfectly acceptable for multiple students in the same ToK class to choose the same IA prompt. However, no two students may use the same object, so coordinate with your classmates early to avoid overlap. This coordination actually becomes a learning exercise in itself—comparing how different objects can illuminate the same knowledge question deepens everyone's understanding.

How to Choose Your Three Objects

Object selection is the most critical step in the exhibition process. The quality of your objects largely determines the quality of your entire exhibition, so invest significant time in this stage. Many students who score poorly on the exhibition have done so because their objects were weak, not because their ToK analysis was lacking.

What Counts as an Object?

Objects can be physical or digital, but they must be specific items that exist in a particular time and place. A photograph of your grandmother's handwritten recipe book is an appropriate object. A generic stock image of "a cookbook" from the internet is not. The specificity of your objects and their real-world contexts is what separates strong exhibitions from weak ones.

Examples of suitable objects include personal photographs, newspaper articles from specific dates with identified sources, social media posts by identified users, scientific instruments from your laboratory, historical artefacts seen in museums, artworks in specific galleries, government documents, advertisements from particular campaigns, film stills from identified films, and maps from defined time periods. The principle is always the same: your object must have a concrete existence in time and space that you can describe and verify.

Selecting Objects That Work Together

Your three objects should each illuminate a different aspect of the IA prompt while working together as a cohesive set. Avoid choosing three objects that essentially make the same point, as this limits the depth of your commentary. Instead, look for objects that offer contrasting perspectives, different contexts, or varied approaches to the same knowledge question.

A practical strategy is to start with one object you feel strongly about, then select two others that complement it by introducing different dimensions of the prompt. Consider objects from different areas of knowledge, time periods, or cultural contexts to demonstrate the breadth of your thinking. For instance, if your prompt concerns how knowledge reflects the perspective of the knower, you might select an artwork, a scientific measurement, and a piece of journalism—three ways that human perspective shapes what we claim to know.

Choosing three objects that genuinely work together while maintaining thematic unity is where many students struggle. The difference between three random objects and three strategically paired objects is the difference between a 5 and an 8. A tutor can help you think through the logical relationships between objects and strengthen the argument your exhibition tells. Find a ToK tutor to refine your object selection →

The Personal Connection Matters

The IB explicitly encourages you to choose objects of personal interest encountered in your academic studies or life beyond the classroom. Objects with a genuine personal connection allow you to write more authentically and demonstrate the kind of personal engagement that examiners reward. If you are writing about an object that means nothing to you, it will show in the quality of your analysis. Your exhibition should feel like something you have genuinely thought about, not a formulaic exercise.

Structuring Your 950-Word Commentary

With a strict 950-word limit for all three objects combined, every sentence must earn its place. Here is an effective approach to structuring your commentary to ensure you make the most of this constraint. Explore our detailed guide on structuring your arguments for more tips.

Begin with a brief introduction (approximately 50-70 words) that states your chosen IA prompt and provides a one-sentence overview of how your three objects relate to it. This orientation helps the examiner understand your overall argument from the outset and provides a framework for reading what follows.

For each object (approximately 270-290 words each), follow this structure: identify the object and describe its specific real-world context (50-70 words), explain how it connects to the IA prompt (80-100 words), and develop your analysis using ToK concepts and terminology (120-150 words). Reference relevant areas of knowledge, ways of knowing, or ToK themes where they naturally arise. Each object discussion should build upon the previous one, adding new dimensions to your exploration of the prompt rather than repeating the same analysis with different examples.

If word count allows, include a brief concluding sentence or two that ties your three objects together, though this is not mandatory. Many strong exhibitions end with the third object rather than adding a separate conclusion, as the integration often happens naturally within the analysis of the final object.

Connecting Your Exhibition to ToK Themes

The IB recommends rooting your exhibition in one of the ToK themes. The core theme, Knowledge and the Knower, encourages reflection on yourself as a knower and the communities of knowers you belong to. This theme invites you to think about questions like: What assumptions do I bring to my knowledge? How does my identity influence what I can know?

The five optional themes are Knowledge and Technology (exploring how technology changes what we can know and how we know it), Knowledge and Language (examining the relationship between words and concepts), Knowledge and Politics (investigating how power affects knowledge production), Knowledge and Religion (considering how religious and secular knowledge coexist), and Knowledge and Indigenous Societies (examining how indigenous knowledge systems differ from Western academic knowledge).

Your teacher will have chosen two optional themes to focus on during the course. While you can base your exhibition on any theme (including the core theme), grounding it in a theme you have studied in depth often produces stronger results because you can draw on classroom discussions and readings to enrich your analysis.

Additionally, consider incorporating concepts from the ToK frameworks for areas of knowledge, specifically Scope (what questions does this area address?), Perspectives (whose knowledge counts?), Methods and Tools (how do we produce knowledge in this area?), and Ethics (what are the ethical dimensions of knowledge production here?). Using these frameworks demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how knowledge operates within different disciplines.

How to Develop Deep ToK Analysis

Moving beyond surface-level description to genuine ToK analysis is what separates strong exhibitions from weak ones. Surface-level work simply describes an object and states that it relates to the prompt. Deep analysis asks why the connection matters and what it reveals about knowledge itself.

To develop this analytical depth, for each object ask yourself: What knowledge question does this object raise? What assumptions are embedded in the object or in how we interpret it? Whose perspective is represented, and whose is missing? What does this object reveal about the limitations of human knowledge? What values are embedded in the knowledge this object contains or represents?

Use ToK vocabulary intentionally. Terms like "knowledge claims," "knowledge questions," "ways of knowing," and "areas of knowledge" should appear naturally where they add analytical value rather than being forced into the text artificially. If you are discussing an object that represents scientific knowledge, discuss methods and tools of science and how those methods shape what scientists can know. If discussing an historical source, consider epistemological issues like bias, reliability, and the reconstruction of the past.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Using Generic Objects

The most frequent mistake is choosing objects without specific real-world contexts. A random image of "a vaccine" is generic; a photograph of a specific COVID-19 vaccination card from a named country's rollout programme, dated March 2021, is specific. Always ground your objects in identifiable times, places, and contexts. Examiners can tell the difference immediately, and generic objects signal that you have not invested sufficient thought in the exhibition.

2. Losing Focus on the IA Prompt

Every paragraph of your commentary should connect explicitly to your chosen IA prompt. Students who drift into general discussion of their objects without linking back to the knowledge question lose marks quickly. Keep the prompt visible whilst writing and check that each sentence advances your response to it. A good test is to read your commentary and see whether it would work equally well for a completely different prompt—if so, your connection to the prompt is not clear enough.

3. Writing Three Separate Mini-Essays

Whilst each object needs its own discussion, the strongest exhibitions create a sense of progression across the three objects. Each object should add something new to your exploration of the prompt rather than simply repeating the same point with different examples. Consider how the second object complicates or extends the analysis begun in the first, and how the third object brings new perspectives to the knowledge question.

4. Exceeding the Word Limit

The 950-word limit is firm. Words beyond this limit will not be assessed, and examiners may stop reading. Plan your word allocation carefully and edit ruthlessly to stay within the boundary. Use a word counter to track your progress as you write, aiming to allocate words deliberately rather than discovering you are over the limit only when you have finished. Learn more in our guide on write a TOK essay perfect word count.

5. Neglecting ToK Terminology

Your commentary should demonstrate fluency with ToK language. Terms like knowledge claims, knowledge questions, ways of knowing, and areas of knowledge should appear naturally where they add analytical value rather than being forced into the text artificially. If you find yourself struggling to use ToK language, revisit your course notes—you may not yet fully understand these concepts.

Connecting to Your Broader IB Studies

The ToK Exhibition is not isolated from the rest of your Diploma Programme. Strong exhibitions often integrate ideas from your other subjects. If you are studying physics, you might explore an object that raises questions about how we establish certainty in scientific knowledge. If you are studying history, you might examine how historians construct knowledge from fragmentary sources. If you are studying literature, you might explore how fictional narratives shape our understanding of reality.

This integration of ideas across subjects demonstrates the kind of intellectual coherence the IB values. It also makes your exhibition more personally meaningful, as you are drawing on actual learning happening across your entire Diploma Programme.

Get Expert Help Mastering the ToK Exhibition

Our ToK tutors have guided hundreds of students through the exhibition process—from brainstorming and selecting strong objects to refining commentary and maximizing points within the 950-word limit. Whether you need help identifying objects that truly work together, developing deeper ToK analysis, or strengthening your connections to the prescribed prompts, we'll match you with a tutor who specializes in this crucial first-year assessment. Find your ToK exhibition tutor →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many words can I write for the ToK Exhibition?

The maximum word count is 950 words for the entire commentary covering all three objects. This includes your introduction and any concluding remarks. Citations and references do not count toward the word limit. Plan approximately 280-300 words per object with a brief introduction to stay comfortably within the boundary. Most examiners prefer exhibitions that use the full word count effectively rather than falling short.

Can I use the same IA prompt as another student in my class?

Yes, multiple students in the same ToK class may choose the same IA prompt. However, no two students are permitted to use any of the same objects. Coordinate with classmates early to ensure there is no overlap in your object selections. This coordination actually provides valuable learning, as discussing which objects different students might use helps everyone think more deeply about the connection between objects and prompts.

When should I complete the ToK Exhibition?

The exhibition is designed to be completed during the first year of the two-year Diploma Programme. Your school will set specific internal deadlines, but starting the process early gives you more time to select thoughtful objects and refine your commentary through your teacher's permitted feedback on one draft. Many students find that beginning the thinking process several months before the deadline—simply noticing objects during their daily lives that might work—produces stronger results than rushing near the deadline.

Do my objects have to be physical items?

No, objects can be physical or digital. They can include photographs, social media posts, articles, artworks, scientific data sets, advertisements, and many other formats. The essential requirement is that each object is a specific item with a specific real-world context, not a generic example or stock image. A tweet posted by a specific account on a specific date is an appropriate object; a screenshot of "a typical social media post" is not.

How is the ToK Exhibition graded?

The exhibition is marked out of 10 by your teacher using a single holistic assessment criterion, then externally moderated by the IB. It contributes 33 percent of your final ToK grade. The essay component, which is externally assessed, accounts for the remaining 67 percent. The single criterion assesses your overall achievement across all dimensions—personal engagement, exploration of the objects, use of ToK concepts, and quality of your argumentation.

What is the difference between the ToK Exhibition and the ToK Essay?

The exhibition focuses on how ToK manifests in the real world through specific objects and is based on one of 35 prescribed prompts. The essay is a more traditional academic piece responding to one of six prescribed titles released each examination session. The exhibition is internally assessed by your teacher while the essay is externally assessed by IB examiners. The exhibition asks you to show how ToK matters in the real world; the essay asks you to develop a sustained philosophical argument.