Welcome to the Wellington College Theory of Knowledge course – a programme which challenges Lower Sixth Form students to question the nature and basis of knowledge. It raises difficult and sometimes disconcerting issues for the learner: What does it mean to ‘know’ something? How is knowledge acquired? How does knowledge work in different disciplines? In asking these questions, we are able to stand back from the different subjects we study and look into deeper problems – problems which every thinking person should wrestle with.

Many people claim to have all sorts of knowledge.

Perhaps they are wrong. 

Besides the general ambition of thinking more deeply and effectively, there are also a number of practical motives for studying the Theory of Knowledge. Increasingly, students are expected to have a critical edge and highly developed cognitive skills, as they compete for much sought-after university places and, eventually, jobs. The Theory of Knowledge course encourages students to think rigorously and systematically, to take nothing for granted. Students learn to probe information and to ask searching questions – abilities which they will need in later life.