*This article is part of the TOK Roadmap — a visual, all-in-one guide I created to help you ace Theory of Knowledge. [View the full roadmap here.]

In this post,

• I break down the TOK essay rubric, sentence by sentence, to give you final tips for a 10/10 essay

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TOK Essay Rubric

Does the student provide a clear, coherent and critical exploration of the essay title?

source: IBO

Breakdown of each Criteria

I’ll use May 2023 title #1 “Is replicability necessary in the production of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge” as an example title (as done in previous posts of the roadmap).

1) The discussion has a sustained focus on the title and is linked effectively to areas of knowledge.

—This means you referred to the title throughout your essay, directly using keywords or key phrases that are in the title.

—My example title has three keywords: “replicability”, “necessary” and “production of knowledge.” A 10/10 essay would have these keywords mentioned many, many times. Some titles don’t have clear-cut keywords, but you still need to break down the title into smaller parts.

—This criteria also means you don’t misinterpret the keywords. My arguments shouldn’t be about “replication,” but rather about “replicability.”

—You can also link to AoKs effectively by choosing specific disciplines within each AoK to talk about. Read more about this here.

2) Arguments are clear, coherent and effectively supported by specific examples.

—This means every paragraph follows a One paragraph, One argument structure, and follows a logical flow of ideas: Point, Evidence, Explain, and Link. Read about TOK PEEL structure here.

—Avoid examples that are too general, abstract, or hypothetical.

3) The implications of arguments are considered.

—Implications are ‘takeaway’ sentences that address the consequences of your arguments. Does your argument make us question how we understand knowledge? Does it call for an action? Examiners need to see these implications throughout your essay.

For more information, read this post.

4) There is clear awareness and evaluation of different points of view.

—This means you most likely considered multiple areas of study in the Areas of Knowledge, and presented opposing/different viewpoints as well. If you follow my recommended TOK structure, you’re good to go.

—It’s not simply a claim/counterclaim. If your arguments sound like “here’s my first argument, and here’s why it’s totally false,” it won’t score well.

Hope this TOK Essay rubric breakdown helps! I recommend you look at other parts of the roadmap to get a better idea of how to write the essay.

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