Ahhh… TOK—the dreaded three-letter word that haunts every IB student. With the release of the November 2025 TOK essay titles, the sleepless nights of debating knowledge questions are about to begin.

But fear not! This guide is here to help you decode the cryptic titles, break down key concepts, and master the art of structuring your essay. With the right approach, you can conquer the TOK beast in style—and finally bid farewell to the subject once and for all!

What is the TOK Essay? 

The TOK Essay is a compulsory assessment task for all IB students.  It is a 1600-word essay exploring a specific prompt, with the prompts changing every examination session. It is marked out of 10, and counts for ⅔ of your final TOK mark. This is your time to flex how much of a TOK master you are. 

How do I approach the prompt? 

When you first read the prompt, it may look like jargon. That’s ok! It’s meant to be confusing - after all, you are completing a subject where we are questioning knowledge. 

When approaching the prompt, there are two phases that I like to go through

Phase 1: Understanding and Brainstorming phase

1. Read the prompt several times - Make sure you understand fully what it is asking for. The criteria states that for a 9-10, “The discussion has a sustained focus on the title and is linked effectively to areas of knowledge”. This means that you need to know the prompt back to front
2. Highlight and break down key words - I would recommend mindmapping the prompt. Basically, you highlight the key words and write down your ideas. What does the word mean? What can they mean? Can I interpret this word slightly differently? For example, how would you interpret “sever ties”? “Put aside”?. 

Phase 2 - Development Phase

Great! Now that we’ve understood the question and broken down some of the key words, perhaps even generated some initial ideas, let’s develop them into potential writing points. 

Few pointers for this phase:

• Don’t use AI - Not only will you run the risk of academic dishonesty, AI examples are often overused and generic, which won’t lead to a very good mark.
• Try to generate your own unique ideas/arguments - Uniqueness and personalisation can make your essay score better. Take the time and effort to really sit down and have a deep think. 

Now let’s look at the process

1. Generate a wide range of arguments - multiple perspectives attacking the argument. Think: well, from this perspective it is valid, but from this other perspective, it isn’t. Diversify your arguments by generating more than required - that way, you can select your best ideas. Remember to find arguments that support both sides of the argument. 
2. Think of examples of the arguments through the lens of AOKs - is there an example in maths that illustrates this?  What about science? I would think of broader statements before thinking about specific examples - so that at least you have a direction to explore. 
3. Start researching about the specific examples - need to make sure you use the argument to fit your argument, don’t force the argument to fit the example. 

When you develop ideas, branch off the initial unpacking on your whiteboard scribble. I’ve developed my arguments from my initial brainstorm

Decrypting the N25 TOK Essay Titles

I’m not here to hand you ready-made arguments or tell you exactly what to write. TOK examiners love originality—they want to see your thought process and a unique, personal touch in your essay. Instead, I’ll highlight the key terms, underlying concepts, and potential angles for exploration. By posing thought-provoking questions, this guide will help you generate your own ideas and craft a compelling, well-reasoned response.

For historians and artists, do conventions limit or expand their ability to produce knowledge? Discuss with reference to history and the arts.

Key words:

• Conventions - What do we mean by conventions? Are they methods? Guidelines? Even ethical considerations? 
• Ability - Expand on this word more. Ability as in accurate/unbiased info? Ability as in actually being able to produce knowledge/
• Producing knowledge - What does that look like in history and the arts?

Possible lines of argument:

• Do conventions limit? 
• When do they not limit? Do they instead enhance, perhaps? 

What is the relationship between knowing and understanding? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge. 

Key words:

• Relationship - what kind of relationship? Do we need to know before we understand?  Are they intertwined with each other? Can one be achieved without the other?
• Knowing and understanding - what does it mean to know? To understand?

Possible lines of argument

• What are the different types of relationships? 
• Is one dependent on the other? Are they independent? 
• Are there some scenarios where they are effectively the same thing? 

Should knowledge in an area of knowledge be pursued for its own sake rather than for its potential application? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.

Key words:

• Pursued - what does it mean to pursue knowledge? Produce? Seek? Understand? 
• For its own sake - pursued for interest? To satisfy curiosity? Just because we want to? 
• Potential application - in what ways can we apply knowledge? To solve problems? To convince ourselves? Utility? 

Potential lines of argument

• Pure vs Applied - what are the reasons for doing both of them? Do this for both AOKs
• What are the benefits?
• Do we need to do one or the other? How about both? 

To what extent do you agree that, however the methods of an area of knowledge change, the scope remains the same? Answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Key words:

• Scope - what does this mean for an AOK? Is it the purpose? Does the knowledge it covers fall under its net? 
• Methods…change - how do they change? For what purpose?

Potential lines of argument

• When does the scope change? 
• In what instances does the scope not change? 
• Does it partially change depending on how you define scope? 
• To what extent question - need to address both sides, and then a final conclusion synthesising the arguments

In the pursuit of knowledge, is it possible or even desirable to set aside temporarily what we already know? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.

Key words:

• Set aside - what does this mean specifically? Discarding previous knowledge? Putting another perspective on hold to try and seek another one?  
• Desirable - why is it desirable? Does it benefit us? In what ways? To what extent is it desirable? 

Potential lines of argument:

• Desirable vs not desirable? How desirable? More desirable than not? Consider the consequences of doing so
• When is it possible? Are there some cases where it isn’t possible? 

Is empathy an attribute that is equally important for a historian and a human scientist? Discuss with reference to history and the human sciences.

Key words:

• Empathy - what does that look like in history and the human sciences?
• Historian and Human scientist - consider their roles. What is their purpose? 
• Important - important in what ways? Respecting others? 

Lines of argument:

• Is it equally important? In what cases are they not equally important? 
• Consider the reasons why - is it due to the difference in roles? 

Some Final Tips

• Start Planning EARLY - Ideas take time to generate. It could take over 3 weeks to generate excellent and unique ideas. Sometimes, ideas don’t work, or don't fit the argument. Having fully developed ideas early makes the writing process so much easier. 
• Get feedback from multiple people - everyone has different perspectives in TOK, and it can be a really good idea to ask your friends as well as teachers to read your work. That way, you can hear a range of ideas to improve your work and elevate it to new heights. 
• It’s ok to feel confused! - TOK is a confusing subject! It’s designed to test your critical thinking and evaluation skills. At any phase during the process, if you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath, take a break and return to it later on. Who knows - you might get a genius idea when you are doing homework for another subject! 

Wishing you the best of luck as you tackle your TOK essay! Stay curious, think critically, and trust your unique perspective—after all, that’s what TOK is all about. You’ve got this!

Want personalised study guidance to help drastically improve your marks? A private tutor can make the biggest difference!

Written by KIS Academics Tutor for IB Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Economics, Nick Liang. Nick is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science/Masters of Data Science at the University of Melbourne and has received stellar reviews from her past KIS Academics students. You can view Nick's profile here and request him as a tutor.