IB DP TOK Essay Studio — From prescribed title to 1,600 words

A step-by-step helper for the IB DP Theory of Knowledge essay — the externally assessed TOK essay on a prescribed title. IA Studio takes you from “I have no idea what to write about” to a complete first draft — one small step at a time. You do the thinking and the writing; the app asks the right questions, checks your work against the assessment criteria and keeps you on track with your school’s deadlines.

For students at any school. Built for the current TOK guide (first assessment 2022): one of the six prescribed titles for your exam session, explored through two areas of knowledge in 1,600 words at most, marked holistically out of 10, with three recorded interactions with your teacher on the TK/PPF. Includes 49 topic ideas with suggestions for every country, an engagement journal, an original annotated example and email reminders before each deadline.

The 10 steps

1. Explore example banks — browse 49 banks of specific examples, sorted by area of knowledge.
2. Your prescribed title — paste your prescribed title exactly, choose two areas of knowledge and define the key terms.
3. Collect and test your examples — record and check at least four named examples, including counter-examples.
4. Essay plan (Checkpoint 1) — plan claims, counterclaims and implications, then discuss it with your teacher (TK/PPF interaction 2, Checkpoint 1).
5. Introduction — define key terms for the title, state your position and your two areas of knowledge.
6. Area of knowledge 1 — claim, named example, analysis, counterclaim, evaluation and implication.
7. Area of knowledge 2 — the same moves for a different area of knowledge.
8. Comparison and conclusion — compare the two areas of knowledge, then give your answer and its implications.
9. Self-check — mark yourself honestly against the criteria.
10. Build your essay file — download Word or PDF with the exact title, session and word count, then send your one draft.

How to start

1. Log in (or create a free account) and enrol — one enrolment gives you 12 months of access. Enrolment is free with the code STADIRA100 until 30 April 2027. If your school has a Stadira licence, enter your teacher’s class code in the box on this page instead: you join free.
2. Open the lesson Open IA Studio.
3. Choose your exam session.
4. Choose your country (any of 200) — the studio suggests topics that fit it straight away. If your topic is about another country, choose that too: published sources can come from anywhere, while fieldwork, surveys and interviews stay where you live.
5. Enter your school name. If your teacher gave you a class code, enter it: your teacher then sees your progress, approves your plan and gives draft feedback here. No code? Work on your own: set your own deadlines and show your plan and draft to your teacher.

Working with your teacher

• Plan approval — your teacher approves your plan before you go further, or sends it back with a note saying what to change.
• One round of draft feedback, as the IB allows — dated and kept with your work so you can come back to it.
• Your school’s dates — schools set their own deadlines at any time of year. Your class dates, and any extension your teacher gives you, show in the studio with email reminders before each one.
• Email updates when your teacher approves your plan, returns it or sends feedback.
• Final version — record the date you handed your work in to your school and confirm that it is your own work, your sources are credited and any AI use is declared. IA Studio does not send work to the IB; your school does that.

Your work is safe

Your work saves to your own account automatically, so you can continue on any device. If your connection drops or you are signed out, nothing is overwritten — the studio tells you and waits. If you work on two devices, it asks which copy to keep. IA Studio never writes your work for you — it is designed to keep the work genuinely yours, as the IB requires.

AI-free by design. IA Studio never writes or suggests your content — every word is yours. Do your research wherever you like (your library, databases, news websites, interviews). If you use an AI tool outside the studio, record it in the built-in AI-use log; it goes into your work as your AI-use declaration, as the IB requires.

For teachers

Set up a free teacher dashboard at stadira.com/ia-teacher/. Create class codes, see each student’s progress and work so far, approve plans, give draft feedback from your own comment bank, set class deadlines and individual extensions, record final marks and authenticity, and download your class as a CSV file. Students see only their own work; student names are shown only to their own teacher.