writing essay task 2 ielts

IELTS Mentor "IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer"

• Skip to content
• Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

• IELTS Sample

IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.

Ielts academic and gt essay/ writing task 2 sample.

IELTS Writing Task 2 ( also known as IELTS Essay Writing ) is the second task of your IELTS Writing test. Here, you will be presented with an essay topic and you will be scored based on your ability to respond to the topic.

You need to write at least 250 words and justify your opinion with arguments, discussion, examples, problem outlining, proposing possible solutions and supporting your position. You will have approximately 40 minutes to finish your Essay Writing. IELTS Writing Task 2 carries more weights than Writing Task 1.

Are you planning to take your IELTS Exam soon? Take an online course and achieve your dream score on your IELTS test.

Page 1 of 76

IELTS Materials

• IELTS Bar Graph
• IELTS Line Graph
• IELTS Table Chart
• IELTS Flow Chart
• IELTS Pie Chart
• IELTS Letter Writing
• IELTS Essay
• Academic Reading

Useful Links

• IELTS Secrets
• Band Score Calculator
• Exam Specific Tips
• Useful Websites
• IELTS Preparation Tips
• Academic Reading Tips
• Academic Writing Tips
• GT Writing Tips
• Listening Tips
• Speaking Tips
• IELTS Grammar Review
• IELTS Vocabulary
• IELTS Cue Cards
• IELTS Life Skills
• Letter Types

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Copyright Notice
• HTML Sitemap

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

IELTS Advantage

IELTS Preparation Courses

IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay Structures

The four most common IELTS writing Task 2 questions are: Opinion, Advantages and Disadvantages, Problem and Solution Discussion

IELTS Task 2 Essay Structures

Knowing how to structure your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay is an essential skill that can make the difference between getting and not getting the band score you deserve. With that in mind, we have outlined the most common IELTS Writing Task 2 structures below.

Nearly all of my Task 2 essays follow this basic structure: The sentences you put in each paragraph will depend on what type of question you get.

The five most common IELTS Writing Task 2 questions are:

• Opinion (Agree or Disagree)
• Advantages and Disadvantages
• Problem and Solution
• Discussion (Discuss both views)
• Two-part Question

Below I will outline examples and a structure approved by experienced IELTS teachers and examiners for each type of question. This will help you write a clear, coherent answer and hopefully boost your IELTS band score. I also include an example answer for each type of question so you can see the structure in a real essay.

Please note that these are general structures and may vary slightly depending on the question.

Please also note that no ‘one’ Task 2 essay structure will get you a high score. There are many types of structures that can get you a high score. These are just some I think are effective and easy to learn. 

Please visit the lessons below for more detailed guidance on each type of question. I have provided a link at the end of each section.

Opinion Questions (Agree or Disagree) 

Typical Question Words –

What is your opinion?

Do you agree or disagree?

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Direct question.

Example Question –

Some people believe that unpaid community service should be compulsory in high school programmes (for example, working for a charity, improving the neighbourhood or teaching sports to younger children).

Essay Structure 

Introduction 

1- Paraphrase Question

2- Give your opinion and outline the main ideas.

Main Body Paragraph 1 

1- Topic Sentence

2- Explain Topic Sentence

Main Body Paragraph 2

Conclusion 

1- Summary of main points and opinion

Student Sample Answer

It is argued that volunteering should be made part of the school curriculum. This essay agrees with that suggestion completely because it help pupils develop soft skills and helps them gain much-needed work experience.

Education should not be limited to strictly academic pursuits, and those in education should also develop life skills, such as teamwork, empathy and self-discipline, and one of the best ways to hone these aptitudes is through community service. Serving those less fortunate than ourselves teaches us many lessons, including how to work with people from other backgrounds and the value of hard work, thus enabling us to hone these skills before becoming an adult. For example, many young people from wealthier countries take a gap year and help those less fortunate than themselves to increase their gratitude for what they have and improve their work ethic.

Many colleges and companies are also increasingly looking for this type of experience. Most school leavers have the same grades, and charitable work can help set you apart from other students when making college applications. For example, Cambridge and Oxford receive thousands of applications from straight-A students yearly and can only accept a small percentage of applicants. What you have done outside the classroom often differentiates you from everyone else and gets you that coveted spot.

In conclusion, teenagers should be made to partake in unpaid work as part of their schooling because it will help them learn things they wouldn’t ordinarily learn from their teachers, and it will also boost their chances of getting into third-level education.

For more detail on how to answer agree or disagree questions, please visit our opinion essay lesson . 

Need help writing essays like this? Check out our ESSAY CORRECTION SERVICE .

Advantages and Disadvantages Questions

Typical Question Words 

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages.

What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Example Question

Technology is being used more and more in education.

Essay Structure

2- Outline Main Points

Main Body Paragraph 1

1- State Two Advantages

2- Expand/Explain First Advantage

3- Expand/Explain Second Advantage

1- State Two Disadvantages

2- Expand/Explain First Disadvantage

3- Expand/Explain Second Disadvantage

1- Summary of Main Points

Student Sample Answer 

It is argued that technology plays an ever-increasing role in schools and universities. Increased access to information and student freedom are the main advantages, whereas dependency on technology and decreasing levels of face-to-face contact are the main disadvantages.

Access to more information and student autonomy are the principal advantages of increasing the use of electronic devices in education. With the internet, students can access all the information available about any topic, regardless of what books and other resources are available in the school. Furthermore, students can focus on whatever topic or subject they want and study it in depth. A prime example of this is the number of online university courses available to students, covering a myriad of subjects that, up until recently, were unavailable to most learners. This has resulted in more people studying third-level degrees than ever before at a pace and schedule that suits them.

The main disadvantages associated with the increasing use of technology in education are the dependency on this technology and the decrease in face-to-face interaction between students. With many students now using the internet as their primary source of information, they often struggle to use other academic resources to find what they’re looking for. As well as this, students spend more time looking at computer screens by themselves than interacting with each other, which is thought to lead to lower levels of emotional intelligence. For instance, the recent explosion in smartphone use has been at the expense of genuine human interaction. This results in soft skills, such as verbal communication and empathy, being affected.

In conclusion, the benefits technology brings to education, such as unrestricted access to information and student autonomy, must be weighed against the drawbacks, such as dependency on this technology and the negative effects on human interaction.

For more detail on how to answer advantage and disadvantage questions, please visit our  advantage and disadvantage lesson . 

Discuss Both Views Question (Discussion Essay)  

Discuss both points of view and give your opinion.

Example Question 

Technology is being used more and more in education. Some people say that this is a positive trend, while others argue that it is leading to negative consequences.

Discuss both sides of this argument and then give your own opinion.

1- Paraphrase Question and/or state both viewpoints.

2- Thesis Statement

3- Outline Sentence

1- State first viewpoint

2- Discuss first viewpoint

3- Reason why you agree or disagree with viewpoint

4- Example to support your view

1- State second viewpoint

2- Discuss second viewpoint

Sentence 1- Summary

Sentence 2- State which one is better or more important

There is an ever-increasing use of technology, such as tablets and laptops, in the classroom. It is often argued that this is a positive development, whilst others disagree and think it will lead to adverse ramifications. This essay agrees that an increase in technology is beneficial to students and teachers.

The Internet has provided students with access to more information than ever before. This has allowed learners to research and learn about any subject at the touch of a button. It is therefore agreed that technology is a very worthwhile tool for education. Wikipedia is a prime example, where students can type in any keyword and gain access to in-depth knowledge quickly and easily.

However, many disagree and feel that technology deprives people of real human interaction. Human interaction teaches people valuable skills such as discourse, debate and empathy. Without these soft skills, many people find it difficult to become successful in work and their personal lives. Despite this, human interaction is still possible through the internet, and this essay disagrees that technology should be dismissed for this reason. For instance, Skype and Facebook allow people to interact in ways that were never before possible.

While the benefits of technology, particularly the internet, allow students to tap into limitless sources of information, some still feel that people should be wary of this new phenomenon and not allow it to curb face-to-face interaction. However, as long as we carefully consider the importance of human interaction in education, the educational benefits are clearly positive.

For more detail on how to answer discussion questions please visit our  discussion essay lesson . 

Problem and Solution Questions

Problem and solution.

Cause and solution.

Students are becoming more and more reliant on technology.

What are some of the problems associated with reliance on computers, and what are some of the possible solutions?

2- Outline Sentence

1- State Problems

2- Explain First Problem

3- Explain Second Problem

4- Example of Second Problem

1- State Solutions

2- Explain First Solution

3- Explain Second Solution

4- Example of Second Solution

Learners are becoming increasingly dependent on technology, such as the Internet and mobile devices. This essay believes the main problems associated with dependence on computers are the lack of original thought and copying original work from others and suggests critical thinking classes and writing analysis software as the most viable solutions.

The principal problems with over-reliance on technology are people being unable to think for themselves and plagiarism. With access to so much information, students often rely on other people’s opinions instead of forming their own. As well as this, they often use search engines to answer a question and copy the text from a website rather than thinking about the question. This practice is prohibited in schools and universities and stunts students’ intellectual development because they will never truly think for themselves, which is what university is supposed to be for. For example, many teachers complain that students copy web pages straight from Wikipedia word for word rather than giving a reasoned answer to their questions.

Solutions to these worrying problems are special classes to focus on critical thinking and teachers using anti-plagiarism software to detect copying. If teachers create situations where students have to infer meaning and express opinions based on a small amount of information, this will ensure that students have an opportunity to develop these skills. Also, if students know that their assignments are being checked for plagiarism, this will be enough to deter them from doing so. For instance, many universities already use this kind of software to scan coursework for plagiarism, and it could be extended to include all homework by learners in both secondary and tertiary education.

In conclusion, the main problems with the overuse of technology in education are the lack of original thought and plagiarism. These can be solved through special classes that teach students analytical skills and plagiarism detection software.

For more detail on how to answer problem and solution questions please visit our  problem and solution lesson . 

Two-Part Questions

There will normally be a statement, and they will then ask you to answer separate questions.

As most people spend a major part of their adult life at work, job satisfaction is an important element of individual wellbeing.

What factor contributes to job satisfaction?

How realistic is the expectation of job satisfaction for all workers?

2- Outline Sentence (mention both questions)

1- Answer first question directly

2- Explain why

3- Further explain

1- Answer second question directly

As most adults spend most of their time at work, being content with your career is a crucial part of a person’s health and happiness. This essay will first suggest fair pay as a key element leading to job satisfaction, and it will then state that it is not very likely that everyone can be happy with their job.

The most important thing that satisfies someone at work is being compensated fairly. If those more senior than you respect you as a person and the job you are doing, then you feel like you are valued. A fair salary and benefits are important marks of respect, and if you feel you are being underpaid, you will either resent your bosses or look for another job. These two factors came top of a recent job satisfaction survey conducted by Monster.com, which found that 72% of people were pleased with their current role if their superiors regularly told them they were appreciated.

With regard to the question of happiness for all workers, I think this is and always will be highly unlikely. The vast majority of people fail to reach their goals and end up working in a post they don’t really care about in return for a salary. This money is just enough to pay their living expenses which often means they are trapped in a cycle of disenchantment. For example, The Times recently reported that 89% of office workers would leave their jobs if they did not need the money.

In conclusion, being satisfied with your trade or profession is an important part of one’s well-being, and respect from one’s colleagues and fair pay can improve your level of happiness; however, job satisfaction for all workers is an unrealistic prospect.

Can I get a band 8 or 9 following these structures? 

Nobody can give you a Task 2 IELTS structure that guarantees high scores. Your score is dependent on how good your grammar and vocabulary are and how well you answer the question. A good structure will help you answer the question to some extent and boost your score for coherence and cohesion, but you must use relevant ideas and use these ideas well to answer the question.

You can see how my student scored a Band 8.5 in IELTS Writing here:

Next Steps 

We hope you found those IELTS Writing Task 2 structures useful. Looking for some more sample questions? Here are over 100 sample questions from past exam papers.

If you would personalised feedback and guidance until you get the score you need, you can join the Waiting List for my VIP Course here.

About Christopher Pell

My name is Christopher Pell and I'm the Managing Director of IELTS Advantage.

I started IELTS Advantage as a simple blog to help 16 students in my class. Several years later, I am very humbled that my VIP Course has been able to help thousands of people around the world to score a Band 7+ in their IELTS tests.

If you need my help with your IELTS preparation, you can send me an email using the contact us page.

IELTS Writing Task 2: The Complete Guide

For Task 2 of IELTS Writing , you’ll be asked to give your opinion on a social issue. Want to know how this section works? Read on for our complete guide to IELTS Writing Task 2, with tips and tricks, sample essays, and more!

(Note: This guide is a handy supplemental resource for those who use our IELTS study schedules . In fact, we specifically recommend consulting this guide on Day 4 of our one week IELTS study plan !)

Table of Contents

• IELTS Writing Task 2 Basics

IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay Organization and Example

Task 2 ielts sample essays, improving your score in the second ielts writing task, task 2 ielts tips and tricks, ielts writing task 2 practice resources.

IELTS Writing Task 2: Basic Information

When you give your opinion on a social issue for IELTS Writing Task 2, you’ll work under the following basic rules and standards:

• This task will either be handwritten or completed on computer, depending on what format of the IELTS you take. Your recommended time limit for this task is 40 minutes, and the task takes up 2/3 (66%) of your score. For a full introduction to formatting, timing, and scoring, check out “ The Basic Facts of IELTS Writing Task 2 .”
• You need to write a 250 word minimum for your response. If your word count is below the minimum, it will hurt your score. For more information on how this works, see the IELTS Writing word count penalty for IELTS Task 1 and IELTS Task 2 .
• The good news is that keeping the right word count is one of the simplest ways to aim for a top Task 2 IELTS Writing score! For more guidance on how to do this, check out our post on how many words to write in your IELTS essays.
• Your Task 2 IELTS Writing essay should be formal , reflecting the same tone you’d take in an introductory university academic writing class. For this skill, Magoosh has you covered! See our tutorial on formal writing in IELTS Writing Task 2 for guidance.

IELTS General Task 2 vs. Academic Writing Task 2

This is an IELTS Task 2 basics question I often get: what is the difference between IELTS General Task 2 and IELTS Academic Writing Task 2? The answer is that there is no significant difference. Writing Task 2 Academic usually looks exactly the second IELTS Task 2 on the General Training version of the IELTS.

There is one very small difference: the wording of IELTS General Task 2 prompts is sometimes slightly shorter and simpler . But even then, the same things are being asked. And your essay will need to meet the same scoring standards no matter which version of the test you take.

A well-organized essay is your passport to a top score. Take a few minutes to plan and outline your essay from the beginning, following a good template. If you can do that, you’ll have a strong introduction, body, and conclusion that will really impress the scorers for the Task 2 IELTS essays.

How to Organize Your IELTS Essay

Below are a few resources to help you organize Task 2 IELTS essay in an efficient, impactful way:

• Brainstorming Essay Topics for Task 2 IELTS Writing
• The Best IELTS Writing Task 2 Template
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Body Paragraph Structure

Example Essay Template

The Task 2 IELTS Writing template contains a full model Task 9 essay. However, each section of the sample IELTS Task 2 essay is in a different part of that article, with instructions and explanations between the paragraphs. It may be helpful to also view that sample essay as it would look on a real exam. To see our model essay all in one piece, check out this PDF .

But wait, there’s more! Magoosh has one model essay for each of the five most common question types for Task 2 IELTS Writing prompts ! Click the links below for each sample IELTS Task 2 essay, with scorer commentary:

• IELTS Writing Task 2 Discussion Sample Essay
• Model Essay for a Two-Part Question in Writing Task 2 IELTS
• Task 2 IELTS Writing: Causes and Solutions Sample Essay
• Task 2 IELTS Writing: Agree/Disagree Sample Response
• Model Advantage Disadvantage Response for Task 2 IELTS Writing

Now that we’ve shown you several model Band 9 essays, you may ask yourself: how can I get a top score on my own IELTS Task 2 essay? To be sure, looking closely at those model essays can help. But it also helps to take a closer look at the four categories in the official rubric for IELTS Writing Task 2 .

In brief, the four IELTS Task 2 rubric categories you’ll be scored on (and their share of the score) are:

• Task Response (25%)
• Coherence and Cohesion (25%)
• Lexical Resource (25%)
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy (25%)

These categories actually apply to both IELTS Task 2 and Task 1. For a detailed description on how to get high marks in all four categories across the whole writing section, check out:

• The IELTS Task 2 and IELTS Task 1 Writing band descriptors
• How to get a band 8-9 in your Task 2 IELTS Writing

Last but certainly not least, we have tips and tricks for success in each of the four rubric categories:

• IELTS Writing Task 2: Task Response
• Coherence and Cohesion in IELTS Task 2 Writing
• IELTS Task 2 Writing: Lexical Resource
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2

Beyond the advice I’ve given you so far, Magoosh offers many other free tutorials for boosting your IELTS Writing Task score, and writing powerful essays within the time limits of the test. Here’s a roundup of our best Task 2 IELTS Writing resources to guide you on the road to test day:

Tips and Tricks From the IELTS Blog

• Magoosh’s Complete Guide to IELTS Writing
• Useful Sentence Patterns in IELTS Writing
• Linking Words for IELTS Task 1 and IELTS Task 2
• Using Conjunctions on the IELTS
• Paraphrase Exercise for IELTS Writing
• Do You Lose Points for Bad Handwriting in IELTS Writing?
• How to Use Commas Correctly in IELTS Writing
• 5 Common Grammar Mistakes in IELTS Writing: IELTS Task 1 and IELTS Task 1
• How to Effectively Check Your IELTS Writing
• How to Write More Quickly in the IELTS Task 2 Essay
• How to Write an Effective Conclusion in IELTS Writing Task 2

YouTube Videos

• Top Tips to Prepare for IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 (Video)
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Top Mistakes! (Video)
• IELTS Vocabulary: Writing Task 2 (Video)
• More Words to Know for IELTS Writing Task 2 (Video)
• 6 Useful Sentence Patterns to Improve Your IELTS Writing (Video)
• How to Get a Great IELTS Writing Band Score (Video)
• Paraphrasing Tips to Boost Your IELTS Writing Score (Video)
• IELTS Writing: How to Score a Band 8+ (Video)
• How to Prepare for IELTS Academic Writing Task 2
• How can I improve my IELTS Writing Band score?
• 6 Useful Sentence Patterns to Improve Your IELTS Writing

In addition to Task 2 IELTS Writing tips and tricks, Magoosh also offers you some great resources for practicing IELTS questions! Earlier in the post, I already showed you the practice set for the five most common types of Task 2 IELTS essay questions . But wait, there’s more….

Task 2 Practice Material

• The Best Writing Resources for IELTS Task 1 and IELTS Task 2
• How to Access the Practice Questions on the Four Official IELTS Websites

Youtube Videos

• IELTS Writing Practice Test (Video)
• IELTS Task 2 Essay: Agree/Disagree Sample Questions (Video)
• The Advantages/Disadvantages Essay for Task 2 IELTS (Video)
• Agree/Disagree Questions

Prepare For IELTS Writing Task 2 with Magoosh!

If you like what you see here, there is still even more. With a subscription to Magoosh IELTS you’ll get well over 100 video lessons, more than 600 practice questions, and email tutoring help from our teachers at no extra charge. We also offer a subscription to an IELTS essay scoring service that will assign a band score to your IELTS essays. You can also try a free one week trial of either service ! 🙂

Eliot Friesen-Meyers is the Senior Curriculum Manager for Magoosh IELTS and TOEFL. He attended Goshen College (B.A.), New York University (M.A.), and Harvard University (M.T.S.), gaining experience and skills in curriculum development, ESOL instruction, online teaching and learning, and IELTS and TOEFL test prep education. Eliot’s teaching career started with Literacy Americorps in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later, taught ESL programs at Northeastern University, University of California-Irvine, and Harold Washington College. Eliot was also a speaker at the 2019 TESOL International Conference . With over 10 years of experience, he understands the challenges students face and loves helping them overcome those challenges. Come join Eliot on Youtube , Facebook , and Instagram . Recent blog posts Complete Guide to IELTS Writing Task 1 Complete Guide to IELTS Writing Task 2

View all posts

More from Magoosh

112 responses to “IELTS Writing Task 2: The Complete Guide”

Thanks a lot for creating this pretty much useful guiding blog.

You’re welcome, Nanda! I’m glad you’re finding it so useful. Good luck with your studies!

is paraphrasing is common in all types of essays

Paraphrasing is definitely common in pretty much every type and topic for IELTS Writing Task 2, for the reasons outlined in this post: you need to paraphrase the question, and the conclusion will paraphrase ideas from the introduction and body of the essay. And IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is pretty much 100% paraphrasing– your job there is to take information form a chart, table, or other graphic, and rewrite the info in your own words.

But even IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 has elements of paraphrasing, since you are given a situation that you will address by writing a letter, and you need to write about the situation in your own words.

And of course, paraphrasing is important in non IELTS essays, such as the ones you might be assigned in a university course. The skill of paraphrasing is something you’ll use in a variety of ways throughout your university career, really.

marvellous tips thanks for this

I’m so glad you found them helpful, Nanda!

Very organized and exhaustive article. The writer gave us a meticulous insight into task 2. Found it very useful. Thank you!!

Thank you for your feedback, Kaif! I’m glad you found the guide so helpful!

Although I have always thought of possible ways to bring about positive changes to me home town, it has become even more convincing to me because I have so many ideas already concurred to carry this out

Thank you a lot!

You’re welcome! Happy studying!

Dear Eliot, if the question is: “Do you think the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?” do I need to answer in the introduction or I can answer after discussing advantages and disadvantages? Thank you in advance

Hi Mari! Great question! As a general rule, you should always present your basic idea at the beginning of the essay. Some IELTS essay questions only ask you to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of something (not your opinion). Therefore, in your introduction, you simply need to summarize the advantages and disadvantages that you will discuss in detail in the body paragraphs. However, when a Task 2 IELTS question asks for your opinion, it’s very important to state your viewpoint in your introduction as well.

Perfect! Thank you very much! And thank you for the article, is very useful!

You’re welcome, Mari! I’m glad you find the article helpful. Happy studying!

Sorry I can’t find the 5th one of your question types.

Hi Sazzad! Thanks for your question. You can find the 5th Task 2 question type on the table with the title “Thematic Questions.” Thematic Questions are a Task 2 question type that involve answering a set of questions that relate to a theme.

Thanks a lot. This was very useful.

I’m glad you found the post useful, Joel! Good luck with your IELTS studies.

Thanks for this great article. I would like to ask something. What one should do if someone doesn’t have enough information/points as per word requirements on that particular topic, how one should complete the task?

Thanks for your question, Shanawaz! It’s a good one because many IELTS-takers struggle with this same problem. Here’s a tip that has worked for many of my students: add more details and examples to your body paragraphs. If you go back and look at the sample essay in this blog post (about giving kids freedom to choose their careers), you’ll see that each body paragraph has main point, but there are many details (in this case, reasons) included to explain the main points further. Depending on the topic, you can use examples from your life and experience, people you know, or simply from what you have learned somehow. Just make sure that every detail in each paragraph relates to the main idea of the paragraph directly.

I hope this helps! Happy studying.–Eliot

Hi Eliot, thanks for such an informative blog post. As you have mentioned that one can mention about personal experiences in the task 2. However, I have seen that people have recommended not to use personal experiences while citing the instances. They suggest to use examples on general basis. Is it true?

I can take this one for you, Eliot! 🙂

Actually Sukhmani, you can use personal experiences in IELTS Task 2, as long as a personal example is the best suitable example to explain your point. (Eliot mentions this in the comments under this article, and I concur. 🙂 )

It’s a phenomenal thing we learn a lot with the help of this Thx a lot sir

I’m glad you found it helpful, Kamaljeet! Good luck with your IELTS preparation.

Eliot, thank you very much for your post, it was really useful! I would like to ask you a question. When writing body paragraphs, one paragraph represents its own idea. Do we need to do give several arguments (clearly dividing them by “first”, “second” and “finally”, for example) and then supporting ideas to each argument for the idea in the paragraph? Or can we simply state the idea and then explain it with examples? I’m wondering how strict the structure should be.

Hi Angelina! Thank you for your question. It’s a good one!

The answer is that you have some flexibility. You do not need to follow the same pattern in each essay. If you have a list of something (for example, two or three supporting reasons in one paragraph), it is a very good idea to clearly state the organization of your ideas with a list. The pattern you used in your example is a good one (first, second, third), but you can also say things like, “The first reason I like this idea is…” and then discuss this reason for a sentence or two. Then you can transition, “Another reason to support this idea is…” and then do the same as before–provide an example or explain your reason in more detail in a sentence or two.

Now, back to your question. Can you provide a few examples instead of presenting reasons or arguments in your paragraphs? Yes! If you want to explain your main idea with examples instead of reasons, you can use the same strategy as above. Introduce your examples so the reader has a clear idea how you are organizing your ideas. You can do it this way:

One example is….[and write a sentence or two to describe your example]. Another example is….[and write a sentence or two to describe your example].

However, I would add one important note here: If you write a body paragraph that uses only examples to support the main idea, you should always make sure to say, very clearly, how your examples relate to the main idea of your paragraph. After you provide an example, you can write things like this:

This example shows that… This situation means.. I believe this example shows…

I hope this helps with your question! Good luck with your IELTS studies!

Ooops …wish I found it little earlier because tomorrow is my test. However, I do have a query that could help for next test takers. In the answer sheet of booklet of some Cambridge book, I have found sample answer by the examiner which include introduction in the first paragraph followed by explaining the both argument and then giving ones opinion. I found is little bit contradictory as I referred here. How far is it considerable in giving ones opinion just prior to concluding paragraph and on what type of questions? Anyway, really a great job…!!!

Hi Kalash! Thank you for your comment. I think I understand your question and I will do my best to answer it. However, if I have missed your point, please let me know and I will follow-up!

Yes, it is fine to offer your opinion in the final paragraph, especially in Task 2 questions where the question says something like “discuss both sides and give your opinion.” Actually, there are many ways to organize a clear response to questions like these. The suggestions in this blog post (or any other place you find information about Task 2 essays!) are there to help you think of ways to present your ideas clearly.

In this case, you could discuss Side 1 in the first body paragraph, Side 2 in the second body paragraph, and then you could write a full third paragraph providing your opinion. However, you could also present Side 1 and offer your opinion about it in one body paragraph, and then present Side 2 and offer your opinion about it in a second body paragraph.

One thing you MUST do in both cases is present your opinion in your thesis statement (the last sentence of the introduction). No matter how you decide to organize your body paragraphs, this element is essential.

I hope this helps!

Good luck on your test tomorrow!!

–Eliot

I have a question. I took the exam a couple of days ago. i was able to finish both task 1 and task 2. However, I used 2 papers for my task 2, which I forgot to put a page number on top. Will that affect my grade? Im kinda freaking out hehe

I doubt anything significant will happen to you or your score. We can’t say for sure (it will depend on the rater) but this type of thing happens frequently. Good luck! 🙂

Sir, Is there any difference between essay structure asking Do you agree or disagree and to what extent do you agree or disagree??

Hi Gurpreet,

Great question! No, there is no difference between these questions and you can approach them the same way. In other words, you may argue for just one side, or you can make a balanced argument that focuses on the strengths and/or weaknesses of both sides. If you make a balanced argument, keep in mind that you should NOT argue that both sides are equally good or equally bad. You must take a position and choose the side you think is best. Make this argument clear in your thesis statement in the introduction.

Happy studying!

Yes, there is a difference. If the word extent is written, it is necessary to write either totally or completely agree/ disagree or partly agree.

Hi Rajneesh,

Eliot’s point here is that there isn’t a major difference between the two essays instructions. In the GRE, for example, you must take one side and make a strong argument for it. In the IELTS, your primary job is to show that you are able to express yourself clearly in written English. As long as you show that you understood the prompt and respond to it, these nuances are not as important as showing your ability to write clearly in English!

Hi Eliot, thanks for this very helpful article.

My question is, can I make statements like, “In my country, we have the practice of…” Will there be an identity-revealing issue or is this an acceptable approach?

Hi Anu! I don’t think this statement would cause you a problem. You are free to use examples from your life and experience on Task 2, so long as the examples you choose fit the question prompt.

However, it’s possible I don’t fully understand your concern about revealing identity. If so, please say more about what you have in mind.

I sent this link to my students that I’m currently tutoring. Saves me a lot of time! The explanations are clear and thorough. Thank you so much.

Hi Eliot , your blog really helped me a lot. I have a question. When we are asked to discuss both sides and give our opinion, can I write my opinion in the conclusion paragraph instead of writing separate paragraph before conclusion. Thanks in advance

Hi Yeshaswini,

It is not ideal to end an essay with new information (in this case, your opinion) which is why we recommend the opinion coming before the conclusion. But if you are in a situation where you truly feel this is better, you can definitely pull it off.

it is very helpfullthank you so much

In your “Writing IELTS Part 2 Question Types” “Discuss both sides and give your opinion”, you say that there should be 3 paragraphs, but at the free iELTS preparation course, they say, that “your opinion” goes into the conclusion. What is right? Thanks Vera

If you look at the example essay we provided here, you’ll see that there is a short introduction paragraph and a short conclusion paragraph that both express the author’s opinion. The two body paragraphs allow you to write about both sides of the issue and show your thought process. We should note here that there is no secret ‘formula’ on the IELTS–there are guidelines to help you craft your essay. It sounds like our advice matches pretty closely with what you heard from the free IELTS preparation course, but the most important thing is to show that you can write well in English 🙂

Thanks for the tips! I do have a few questions. When the topic question is about, “to what extent do you agree or disagree?”, do you have to pick a side? If you feel like the topic has both pros and cons, can you write the pro’s in para 1 and cons in para 2?

Also, when you are writing different examples to support a claim you make, can the different examples be in the same paragraph?

Thanks for your help!

Hi Samitha,

There is no one correct answer here–the purpose of Task 2 is to show that you can write well in English. The content doesn’t matter that much (you don’t need to convince anyone of anything) but you do need to show that you understand the prompt and can construct a response to it. Yes–you can use one paragraph to show how you agree (pros) and another paragraph to show how you might not agree (cons). In the brainstorm example we gave in this blog post, the person mostly agreed with the prompt, but also provided some reasons against the prompt. As long as you write a strong and logical essay, you’ll be fine 🙂

Each body paragraph should be a different major idea or claim. If you have time, you can write several examples in one paragraph as long as they all relate to the same claim. If you follow the structure above, you can have several examples for the ‘pro’ paragraph and several for the ‘con’ paragraph–just keep an eye on the time to make sure you can write the entire essay in time 🙂

hi, you have written wonderful article . I have a question for you if you could reply me i would be thankful.My question is that may i learn some essay by heart like 40 or 50 essay ?so it could help to get idea on time and might be possible i get exact same one of them in writing task 2

Thanks for reaching out! It’s not a good idea to think of trying to memorize essays in order to succeed on the writing test. They could ask you about anything at all in Task 2, and there’s no list of questions that you can draw from. Instead of spending your time trying to memorize essays, you should use your time to improve your general writing ability, understand the strategy associated with how to write an essay, and practice as much as possible. This is what is really going to help you improve! The templates that we provide you with here are useful because they will help you to organize your essay. Good luck!

I am very much confused about example that is asked to give in task II. How example can be mentioned? Another question is supposed there is statement related to agree or disagree, can we partial for it? If yes/no then how?

The purpose of task 2 is to show that you can express your ideas clearly in written English. In the second task, you should try to find examples that support your point. You can think of things logically or from your personal life that you can use to make your argument.

It’s ok to partially agree with the prompt and partially disagree, as long as you clearly state both sides. In the example essay, the author agrees in the first paragraph but disagrees in the second paragraph. In the conclusion, the author discusses both sides and makes his point clearly.

The best way to get used to this is just to write as much as possible! The more you practice, the easier it will be to think of examples and write your opinions down 🙂

Thanks for your enormous support. Really helped!

I’m so glad this was helpful! Happy studying 🙂

Hi sir, i would like you to give me a feedback on this introduction of mine which is answer to your example in the video. “Home town is the place that many people, including me love so much. In order to develop it, i would come up with some suggestions in altering it. I believe that these points will benefit to enhance my home land.” Thanks in advance sir!

Hi Lakhana,

I’m glad that you found this video and blog post useful! Unfortunately, we are a small team with a lot of projects, and we are not able to provide personalized feedback on writing. I’m sorry about that! There are many different forums and other places where you can find people willing to edit your essays. Best of luck!

I have written the IELTS academic test twice and even though I receive good marks for speaking, listening and reading, I have received 6.5 for writing both times. The first time I couldn’t finish my conclusion, which would make sense that I only got 6.5. But the second time I completed it all with the right amount of words and paragraphs. I’m not sure how to go abouts studying for this as I don’t know where my faults are – I wish they could return your test results to help you prepare better.

Any advise would be lovely.

It is definitely frustrating not to get any feedback on your writing for the IELTS! However, there are still plenty of ways that you can improve on this score! First, I recommend that you look over any practice essays that you wrote, especially timed ones that you wrote right before the exam. It’s likely that any mistakes you made on the actual exam are pretty similar to the mistakes you made on these practice essays. Take some time to analyze these essays according to the Band Descriptors released by IELTS ( https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/IELTS_task_1_Writing_band_descriptors.pdf and https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/IELTS_task_2_Writing_band_descriptors.pdf ). You can also post some of your essays on message boards such as the one on the IELTS Australia page ( https://ielts.com.au/forums/ ). If possible, have a friend or tutor with a high English level look over your essays and provide some feedback. You should also definitely continue to write as many practice essays as possible and analyze each one. This should give you a good sense of what you need to improve and how you can do it. The more you practice and analyze your essays, the more you will improve! Good luck 🙂

I’d like to share my IELTS experience, I recently took IELTS and I scored less than what I am expecting. I finished both writing tasks on time. After reading your blog, I noticed that each question type should have a specific number of body paragraphs? All I know is, you should have 4 paragraphs in your writing. (introduction, argument 1(pros/cons), argument 2 (pros/cons) and lastly conclusion. I followed these during my actual exam. Answering question about “Many people today claimed that they have a better quality of life than those who live few centuries ago, how do you agree or disagree in this statement?” First, I made a short introduction and I stated that in the next few paragraphs I will discuss my answer. On my second paragraph, I stretched all the advantages to people living these days in terms of modernisation and globalisation and the negative effect it brings as well. On my third paragraph, I wrote about the claims of older people that life before were simpler and and stress free however there are disadvantages too. Finally, on my concluding part, I wrote about my side, that living nowadays offers a better quality of life due to improvised technology and new discoveries. Do you think I made a complicated writing? I am planning to take my IELTS for second time, although I am still feeling a bit frustrated. I also wish we could take our writing results with comments and corrections from the examiner who checked my paper so that I can diligently improve the parts that I missed.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I know it’s frustrating not to get any feedback or other information about your exam–it can make it hard to improve! It’s really hard to tell what happened without reading your essay, but there are a few things you can consider. In some cases, simple is better for the writing section of the IELTS. You need to show that you can write well in English, but if you try to do too much you might end up with handwriting that is hard to read, sentences that are long or convoluted, or arguments that don’t quite make sense. I’ve seen students who try to use advanced vocabulary and grammar even though they are not entirely comfortable with them; the result is difficult to read and make sense of for a native speaker. I’m not sure exactly what happened here. Based on your description, you set up your essay in a good way, but you may want to analyze some of your practice essays (and ask others to analyze them, perhaps some teachers in your school) in order to get some feedback about what you wrote. I recommend that you keep practicing the essays and keep analyzing your results so that you can continue to improve! Good luck!

please is it wrong to use biro(pen) to write the easy .You mentioned the use of pencil.

According to this information from the British Council , you can use either a pen or a pencil. You should confirm the test-day requirements with your testing center. Keep in mind that a pen might be difficult because you won’t be able to erase your work, and the page can get messy if you make mistakes and have to correct them. Remember that handwriting and read-ability affect your score, so make sure that you are completely comfortable using a pen if you decide to bring one!

Greatly simplified article. I want to ask something. Should I write more than one points in a body paragraph? For example, in one body paragraph, point 1, its supporting reason/ example, point 2, its supporting reason/ example. Same in paragraph 2.

Hi Chintan! Thanks for your question. Yes, you may include more than one point in a paragraph in the way you described. However, it’s important to make sure that both points relate to or support the same main idea in the paragraph. If you move to a new idea, you’ll need to begin a new paragraph.

Please find the introduction for the essay question you have given in the video. Please do examine this and give the corrections or improvements.

Given an opportunity, I would bring certain changes to my hometown, thereby adding glory to the glorious city.

Thanks for stepping up to the challenge in the IELTS Writing Task 2 video in this post, Buvana. 🙂

So, let me give yo my critique. 🙂

First, you want to make sure that you really are paraphrasing the original question. So let’s revisit that question from the video:

If you could change your home town to make it a better place, what changes would you make?

How would these changes improve your home town?

You’ve done a good job at paraphrasing the “If you could change your home town” portion of the original sentence. “Given the opportunity” is a good paraphrase of “If I could.” “Bring certain changes to my hometown” is a good paraphrase of “change my home town,” too. But you could paraphrase this even more thoroughly and elegantly by eliminating the root word change, and saying something like “I would make some things in my home town different.” Finally, we get to “adding glory to the glorious city.” Here, your paraphrase “make it a better place” is a little awkward. The use of both “glory” and “glorious” is a bit repetitive. How can you express the idea of making your home town a better place with less repetitive language?

Now that we’ve looked at the structure of your paraphrasing, let’s look at overall introduction content. Remember, your introduction should actually be two sentences. You want an initial sentence that paraphrases the question, and you have written that. But then you what a thesis statement that previews and summarizes the specific answers you have to the question. So you should add a second, follow-up sentence that briefly explains how and why you would change your hometown in order to improve it.

Feel free to revise the first sentence and add a second sentence as I mentioned above. If you put your new, revised introduction in the comments section, my colleagues and I will give you further feedback on it. 🙂

I have tried with an introduction.

“Hometown is the place where you are born and have many good memories with that place. this essay discusses the problems and solutions to them on how to make our hometown a better place to live in. in my opinion, the joint efforts of everyone can make it a better place.”

Another commenter rises to our video challenge! 🙂

This is a pretty good introduction. But remember, the question is asking you what you’d do to improve your hometown, and how your proposed course of action would improve things. So be sure to include a “what” and “how” in your introduction. The “what” statement could begin something like this: “through our joint efforts, we would all (DESCRIBE WHAT YOU’D DO). Then for the “how,” say something like “this plan would improve my hometown because….” And of course, as you revise, make sure to double check for spelling and grammar errors. 😀

Here is my introduction: There are some crucial things that I would like to alter of my home town to ameliorate the living and environment condition. I would suggest to reduce or eliminate the enormous traffic jam from the street and I believe if the excessive traffic jam is reduced, our precious time to reach destination would be saved as well as environment pollution would be lessen.

Hi Tabassum,

In terms of content, this is an excellent introduction. It references the original question; it’s clear what has been asked and what kind of answer you are giving. It also puts forth your main idea and supporting details: you’ll reduce traffic congestion so that people can save time and pollution can be reduced.

In terms of wording, however, there are a few problems you should fix. The vocabulary you’re using seems overly wordy, and a little too advanced. Words like “ameliorate” aren’t really used in regular, more conversational writing, and “our precious time to reach destination would be saved” is overly wordy and a little hard to follow. It would probably be better to say something more straightforward there, such as “commuters could save time.” The IELTS essay really should have a more plain, conversational tone.

In addition, many of the bigger words you’re using are in the wrong form or grammar. For example, “environment condition” should actually be “environmental condition,” and “would be lessen” should be “would lessen.”

It strikes me that you’re overextending your vocabulary a little, using advanced, highly formal academic words that you understand, but have trouble using yourself in writing. You can actually get a better score if you make your writing simpler, working with the words you’re most comfortable with.

Many thanks for such excellent guidance.

I would like to ask about the preferable word limit in IELTS writing Task GT essay? Is it fine if word limit exceeds 300 words or should it be kept below 300?

Also, I am not sure about which examples can be quoted… should it be related to real life experiences or mentioning of any anonymous survey can suffice the purpose.

Good questions. When you write, “Task GT,” I believe you are talking about General Training Task 1, for which you write a letter. Please let me know if you had something else in mind. For Task 1 (Academic and General Training), you should not write a lot more than the requirement. Writing too much will use valuable time you can spend editing your composition. It also steals time you could use to work on your Task 2 response, which counts more towards your overall writing score. I suggest shooting for 180 – 200 words for Task 1. You should be able to cover the required information very easily if you hit that mark.

Regarding examples, I believe you are asking about Task 2 here. You can include examples from your life, the lives of people you know, things that occurred in your city/country, etc. You may also use data even if you don’t remember the precise details. For example, you could write, “A recent study revealed that roughly 60% of the residents in my city…” It’s fine to use anything that supports your point well. However, here is the important point about examples: they must be appropriate to the topic. Some IELTS topics have a more personal angle, such as discussing the qualities of a good friend or a good teacher. Other topics are much less personal, such as discussing the environment or social changes over time. Use examples that fit the essay topic and support your main points well.

I hope this helps. Happy studying!

Modifying our own native place to make it the most liveable place is always accepted by people. Though difficult, few changes can lead to boost the place to be more liveable for instance, good infrastructure, establishment of better educational institutions, emphasising in house production which can prompt to escalate the overall growth of the home town.

Your paraphrasing of the original question is a bit weak. “Native place” for example, is not really a phrase that’s used in English, and it doesn’t mean “home town.” Also, “a more livable place” would probably work better than “the most livable place,” since we’re talking about improving the town, not perfecting it. There are a number of other problems here: “few changes” mean “almost no changes,” so “a few changes” (some changes) might be better. And “emphasizing in house production” also sounds strange. Less awkward wording could be “focusing on home construction.”

Those are just a few examples of odd wording that could hurt your IELTS writing score. With that said, the basic structure of your introduction is good. You start by paraphrasing the question and giving your opinion, and then you go on to give specific examples. Keep that excellent structure as you revise your wording.

The sample essay is pretty good, but to address the child possessive pronoun should be fixed (his or her), in the essay it keeps on changing.

This is actually a very common convention in English writing, since there is no gender nonspecific pronoun. Some people will write “his or her” every time, but that is cumbersome and difficult to read. It’s also becoming more widely accepted to use “they” as a singular pronoun , but we don’t recommend that you do so in academic writing. Instead, it’s common to switch between gender pronouns in different examples. In this sample essay, you’ll notice that the author uses “she/her” for an entire paragraph, and then switches to “he/him”–that is completely acceptable in English writing! Remember that we aren’t talking about a specific person or child here, so there’s no issue with switching the pronoun. In fact, it shows even more clearly that the example is general and applies to an entire group!

Is there any online writing evaluation? I need someone to score my writing to check my level

We don’t provide essay grading services here at Magoosh. Sorry about that! We are a small team with thousands of students, and in order to keep our prices affordable we decided not to provide essay grading.You can share your IELTS Speaking and Writing for online feedback at various IELTS Internet message boards, including the official IELTS Australia forums . It is also useful to get feedback from a tutor, or a friend, classmate or teacher who has good English. You can use our resources in this guide to help you grade your essay accurately 🙂

In body 1 & 2, if I write only main points with explanation using complex sentence and don’t give an example, so what happened? I got good score or not?

On the IELTS, you are graded on the quality of your writing. You can certainly score well without specific examples, as long as you answer the question presented by the task and develop your ideas in each paragraph. Examples help you to do this, but you can also do this logically.

Every place could became a better place thanks to some improvements. If I could I rebuild the city where I live adding more parks and green area, but I also would establish some more stringent parking and traffic rules to discipline residentds.

Your ideas and basic structure are very good here. Remember, though, a good introduction also gives a few reasons for the claims you’re making. I advise adding a sentence or two explaining why you feel that more parks, more green areas, and more stringent parking/traffic rules would make your town a better place to live in. Also remember that if you use the phrase “If I could,” you should follow it with “I would.” As in “If I could rebuild the city… I would add more parks….”

“To what extent do you agree or disagree” Do we have to discuss on both points?

No, if you get a question that says “to what extent do you agree or disagree?” you need to assess the strength of your stance as well as what that stance is. You might be strongly on one side or maybe weakly. I hope this helps!

Here is my intro please feddback this.

Changes always are good makes life better and comfortable. While I agree it is unwise to leave a place imperfect, however we have many things that should be changed in my hometown.

We currently don’t offer speech or writing feedback. We are a small team with a lot of students, and unfortunately can’t offer this sort of personalized support. I recommend that you check out the official IELTS Australia forums. . A lot of students give and receive feedback there!

Changes do matter in the present upgraded world. If am allowed to take some measures in the place where i live or in the place where i have stayed before, could be a thought to have discussion.

Hi – I am responding to the task 2 introduction as per the video. It was related to the changes I would like to bring about in my hometown.

Introduction only –

With the growth of commercialization, I certainly believe it’s time to stop and think about the improvements and modifications we can bring about in our local communities, societies, cities and towns to build an eco-friendly atmosphere. I belong to a small town of Nanital, in the state of Uttrakhand, India. One of the major changes that we need to focus on is for the famous ‘Nani’ Lake to resolve the issue of depleting lake water.

Thanks, Looking forward to hearing back from your soon.

Hi Abhilasha,

Let’s take a closer look at this introduction. I like the good range of vocabulary you have here. The grammar is perfect too! With all that said, there are also a few improvements you could make.

Remember that the question is about “hometown” and not local society in a broader sense. Your reference to “local communities, societies, cities and towns” is a little too broad. You want to keep the focus on the idea of a hometown. And you can actually use the exact term “hometown” from the prompt. While paraphrasing the prompt is important, the most important specific terms from the original question should be repeated as-is.

So I would make the opening sentence simpler, just referencing hometowns. I also recommend adding some information to the second sentence. What specific change would you make in relation to the lake? You obviously don’t want to go into too much extra detial, but getting more specific, summing up the change in perhaps 5-10 words, would help make your introduction meaningful and impactful.

Hello, i wanna thank you for this amazing article, that I found very handy indeed. i have one question in mind and I hope you will provide with me with sufficient feedback. Is it okay!! to write in task 2 such phrases as: this essay will discuss, this essay agrees ….. best regards

The phrase “this essay will discuss” should be fine as an introduction/overview, though it’s not really necessary. If you clearly state your thesis statement, then this sentence may just be repetitive.

The phrase “this essay agrees,” on the other hand, just sounds strange! An essay can’t agree or disagree with anything–you, the writer, are agreeing or disagreeing. I would recommend that instead of using a sentence like that, you just clearly state your thesis.

helloo!! dear i have a query if you could answer it please. i took my ielts GT recently and was asked to discuss both sides and give your opinion. i gave intro and then discussed both views and gave my opinion in conclusion. b8ut here you have suggested to write a seperate parah for opinion before conclusion. m little worried that will i loose bands for not doing it this way ?

if so, then how this will effect my score? i require 7 bands in it.

That’s a great question, Swati. If you didn’t express any opinion at all until the very end of the essay, that could definitely affect your score. The instructions say you should state the extent to which you agree or disagree with a position or positions. So that should be the main focus of your essay, and some expression of agreement or disagreement should be happening throughout the essay.

However, if you expressed parts of your opinion in the body paragraphs, and then summarized your opinion in full int he final paragraph, you still might be able to get a good score. Ideally, your opinion should be mentioned in some way in every paragraph. But if your introduction was very brief and you expressed at least parts of your opinion in each body paragraph, you might still get a good score.

My home town is a small city with bustling streets.There are lot of improvements has to be made to uplift the city and bring to the standard of rest of the cities.

Hi Elliot,’

Here is the introduction to the above-mentioned question. Kindly give it a read and let me know your feedback.

Making alterations to their hometown in order to make it a wonderful place is like a dream for a majority of people nowadays. Given an opportunity, I would like to make advancements in my town. This will include the use of metros which will solve the traffic issues to a great extent. In the below paragraphs, I intend to delve into some other improvements that I want to do and the impact these will have on my city.

I have my exam in the next two days. Kindly let me know your valuable feedback

Hi Prakhar! Let’s take a closer look at your introduction!

I like the way you start with broader statement that introduces the topic (your first sentence). You also did a good job of including one specific point that will be in your essay (“use of metros”). And you gave a specific way in which that change would improve your town (“solve the traffic issues”). This is excellent as well.

With that in mind, let’s also talk about things you could do to make this introduction even stronger. 🙂

Be careful of your word choices. “Alterations,” for instance, is a kind of awkward word choice here. “Alterations” usually refers to changes made to clothing or other product designs. This word does not fit well when you are talking about changes to an entire city. Similarly “advancements” usually refers specifically to modernization and the use of new inventions and technology, which doesn’t clearly match your intended meaning. And “metros” can mean meany different things (a “metro” can refer to a city area that includes suburbs, or can refer to a local bus, a local train, or a number of other local services). So it would be better to use a more specific example than that.

It also might be good to briefly describe specific traffic issues that need to be solved. And you should be more specific about the “other improvements.” If you’re going to write about other improvements besides traffic in your essay, you should also briefly mention those other improvements in your introduction.

I hop all of this helps, but let me know if you have any questions about the feedback I’ve given you here. 🙂

I often envisage of making my City modern with less pollution and eco friendly. This can be achieved by reducing the cars on the roads and creating alternative modes of transport like building underground tubes, railways and using electric cars.

Nice introduction. Remember, thought– paraphrase the prompt fully and clearly in your introduction. An added phrase such as “if there is one way I would improve my home community….” could be a helpful extra paraphrase. Be sure to also explain in your intro why alternative modes of transport would be helpful, something like “these changes would reduce pollution and be more eco-friendly because….” Also, here, the word should be “envision,” not “envisage.” Again though, great ideas and setup for an intro to this essay. 🙂

Everyone would like his country to be the most perfect place in the world, and so do I. This essay will explain my point of view of how would using renewable energy and internet influence my home town to develop.

Hi Asmaa! Nice intro 🙂 Are you looking for feedback? This is good, though I might suggest that you make an even clearer connection between your opening sentence and your thesis. I do like how clear your thesis is!

Here is an introduction to the prompt in the video.

I have been staying away from my hometown for quite a few years, and when I look back, I really want to bring in some changes to my native to make it a better place to live. Given an opportunity, I would introduce multiple institutes to learn martial arts and/or self defense. The dynamics of safety will be highly impacted by this change in a positive way, offering a higher sense of security among parents, kids, women in general, and older people as well.

I would request you to take a look and let me know of your valuable feedback and suggestions, if any.

Hi Moumita,

Thanks for responding to this prompt! I’m afraid that we don’t provide feedback for IELTS speaking tasks–we are a small team with a lot of students, so it would be difficult to provide this service for everyone! There may be other readers who can give you feedback 🙂

Introduction: The topic of the essay is the possible amendments that might be made to beautify my home town and to develop its living conditions.The modifications will add up to the betterment of my town in numerous ways. Replacement of old, out of ordered transformers with new ones would the first step to be taken.Secondly,I will try to provide enough amount of water supply to every house in town.Trash dumping system and improvisation of poor conditions of roads would be third in my target list.Like any well-established area my home town would also turn into a place with all fundamental facilities.

The structure of your introduction is good. You open up with a good overview,a nd then you outline each idea that will appear int he body of your esay. Nice work!

To make this introduction even stronger, carefully double-check your word choices. To give just two examples, “amendment’ usually means a written change to a document rather than an infrastructure change to a town, and “improvisation” refers to an unrehearsed stage performance, not an improvement.

My introduction

I’ve frequently imagined how beautiful,healthy, happy and peaceful my community would appear if I was able to make some radical changes to benefit every member of the community and the community itself.This essay will elaborate on three major changes that if made would in my opinion significantly improve the quality and standard of living in the community. The three major changes are, Road repairs, Removal of stagnant water and garbage collection and disposal.

Body #1: Road repairs(Explanation, reasons, benefits) Body #2: Removal of stagnant water(Explanation, reasons, benefits) Body #3: Garbage collection and disposal(Explanation, reasons, benefits)

Really look forward to a feedback.

Thanks Ranjan

Great structure and a really good introduction, Ranjan. There is one change I’d suggest, though. At times, your writing is a bit too wordy. Having four adjectives to describe your community int he first sentence is a little more complex than ideal. Similarly, “on three major changes that if made would in my opinion significantly improve…” is also quite wordy. Consider eliminating at lease one or two inessential words. “In my opinion” could be omitted, and/or you could get rid of adjectives such as “significantly.”

Hey David !

I really appreciate the feedback. I agree that I had used a lot of objectives in the first sentence and that the introduction is pretty wordy.

I guess concise choice of words and phrases are the way to go eh ?

I think that your article helped me a bit although I’m still a somewhat stumped. Thanks anyway!

The essay enquires about the possible modifications you’d consider making in order to improve your hometown. There are numerous changes that I would consider implementing, but the most important ones will be as following: constructing playgrounds in each neighbourhood, defining proper traffic lanes and an improved transport facility. I believe these are the most essential and rudimentary necessities for everyone and such changes improvements can make lives easier.

is it mandatory to write ielts task 2 in three paragraphs?

Hi Anshuman,

No, there is no required organization to the IELTS Task 2 essay. Some people might write 3, 4 or even 5 paragraphs. It is important to organize your essay well, however, and ensure that your use of paragraphs makes sense for the content of the essay.

Very useful guide. Many thanks

Hello, i wanna thank you for this amazing article, that I found very handy indeed. i have one question in mind and I hope you will provide with me with sufficient feedback. Is it okay!! to write in task 2 such phrases as: this essay will discuss, this essay agrees ….. best regards

Hi Anil, You’re so welcome, we’re so glad you found it helpful!

In regards to your question, since for Task 2 you’re asked to give your opinion on a social issue, it’s better to say “I will discuss” or “I agree…” That will help make your writing more clear. I’d advise you to look as several Task 2 example essays to get a good idea of how they’re written and the types of phrases they use. We have several linked towards the bottom of this article, and that should really help to make it clear in your mind!

Happy studying! 😀

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• IELTS Scores
• Life Skills Test
• Find a Test Centre
• Alternatives to IELTS
• General Training
• Academic Word List
• Topic Vocabulary
• Collocation
• Phrasal Verbs
• Writing eBooks
• Reading eBook
• All eBooks & Courses
• IELTS Writing Task 2

IELTS Writing Task 2 Lessons & Tips

These  IELTS writing task 2  lessons, strategies and tips will show you how to write an IELTS essay. They go through all the various types of essay that you may get and instructions on how to best answer them.

For the Task 2, general or academic modules, you have to write an essay that must be a minimum of 250 words. You have 40 minutes. 

These lessons are free and teach you all the key things you need to know about the IELTS writing task 2, such as writing an introduction, analysing essay questions, writing for a band 7, developing coherency and understanding opinion essays.

IELTS Writing Task 2 Lessons:

How to write an ielts essay:  .

IELTS Essay This starter lessons tells you in simple steps how to structure and write a basic IELTS essay. 

Getting Ready to Write:

Identifying the Topic Learn how to identify the topic of an essay question in order to help you answer it correctly. 

Identifying the Task This IELTS practice will help you identify the task of an essay question. The most important thing to make sure you answer the question. 

Brainstorming and Planning In this IELTS lesson, learn how brainstorm ideas for your essay and how to extend those ideas and create a plan.

IELTS Task Response In this lesson we look at the dangers of not properly answering an IELTS writing task 2 essay question.

Ideas for IELTS Candidates often worry about not having any ideas for IELTS essay topics. This gives you some advise on how to generate ideas. 

Parts of an Essay:

IELTS Essay Introduction This lesson explains how you should approach writing an introduction for an IELTS Task 2 essay. 

Writing a Thesis Statement The thesis statement is an important part of your essay, so this lesson explains how to write thesis statements for different essay types. 

Paragraph Writing Writing clear and well-organized paragraphs is essential for your essay, so here you will learn about the basic elements that make up a good paragraph . 

IELTS Essay Conclusion Learn how to write a quick conclusion for an IELTS essay.

Coherency and Cohesion:

Writing Coherence One way to improve coherency in your writing is to use transition words. This lesson teaches you how. 

Pronouns Your writing must be coherent, and this IELTS practice lesson shows you how pronouns can help you to do this

Substitution Learn how to use substitution in IELTS to improve your cohesion and quality of writing.

Getting a High Band:

How to get an IELTS Writing band 7 There is no quick way to achieve this, but this lesson provides some general guidance on what is required to get an IELTS band 7 in the writing module. 

Band 7 Transitional Phrases for Essays Learn about useful phrases that can be used to improve the sophistication of your writing in argumentative essays.

How to Score IELTS Band 8 This lesson tell you more about how the scoring works for band 8 writing and how long it can take you to get a band 8.

Essay Types:

Problem Solution Essays Learn how to write a problem solution essay for the IELTS test - a quick method that will produce a well-organized answer.

IELTS Opinion Essays Get an overview of the various types of essay that ask for your opinion in the test.

Advantage Disadvantage Essay This lesson shows you how to write an IELTS advantage disadvantage essay that requires you to give an opinion. 

A Complex Essay Question This lesson shows you how to answer a more complex IELTS essay question that does not have a straightforward 'task' given to guide you.

Style and Tone:

Personal Pronouns in Essays Can you use personal pronouns such as 'I', 'our' and 'we' in IELTS essays? Find out more in this lesson.

More IELTS Writing Task 2 Resources

Ielts essay questions.

Here you can check out recent IELTS test essay questions from 2018 and earlier that candidates have posted, and also common essay questions and topics that have come up in the IELTS writing task 2:

Latest IELTS Writing Topics

Common Essay Questions and Topics

IELTS Writing Task 2 eBook

Best Selling Writing eBook

Do you need more help to write a great essay for IELTS?

If so, check out our best-selling Step-by-step Guide to Writing a Task 2 Essay  

IELTS Writing Task 2 Forums

You can also get more great tips from the questions people have asked in the IELTS Forums about the IELTS writing task 2.

There are two relevant forums:

• IELTS Writing Task 2 Forum (topics & questions about the essay)
• IELTS Writing Band 7 Forum (dedicated to those needing a 7)

These are some of the most popular questions that have been asked about the IELTS essay in the Writing Forums:

• How do I answer agree / disagree type IELTS essay questions?
• What if I know nothing about the IELTS essay topic?
• How do I manage my time in the IELTS Writing Test?
• How do I format the essay on the test day?
• Can you explain these confusing essay questions?
• Why is it difficult to get an IELTS writing band 7?
• What are some strategies to get an IELTS band 8?

And remember you can ask your own questions so please visit the forum if you have any questions about the IELTS Writing Task 2. 

• IELTS Writing Tips

These are some of the top tips for IELTS writing:

Any comments or questions about this page or about IELTS? Post them here. Your email will not be published or shared.

Before you go...

Check out the ielts buddy band 7+ ebooks & courses.

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

• Click on the HTML link code below.
• Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

IELTS Modules:

Other resources:.

• All Lessons
• Band Score Calculator
• Writing Feedback
• Speaking Feedback
• Teacher Resources
• Free Downloads
• Recent Essay Exam Questions
• Books for IELTS Prep
• Useful Links

Recent Articles

Key Phrases for IELTS Speaking: Fluency and Coherence

May 26, 24 06:52 AM

Useful Language for IELTS Graphs

May 16, 24 04:44 AM

Taking a Gap Year

May 14, 24 03:00 PM

Important pages

IELTS Writing IELTS Speaking IELTS Listening   IELTS Reading All Lessons Vocabulary Academic Task 1 Academic Task 2 Practice Tests

Connect with us

Copyright © 2022- IELTSbuddy All Rights Reserved

IELTS is a registered trademark of University of Cambridge, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia.

IELTS Writing Task 2

Ielts writing task 2 essays.

You need to analyse the question first, find the issues in the question, plan and organise ideas, write supporting points and specific examples, paraphrase well, give a good introduction and conclusion. There is a lot to do.

If you don’t use the right approach then it will be very difficult to raise your score you need to have a good foundation of grammar and vocabulary to get to Band 7. Some people become obsessed with a Band 9, but Band 9 is quite rare in IELTS writing task 2. Most universities or companies only require Band 7 or 8.

IELTS essays are marked according to specific marking criteria set out by Cambridge, so if you know what the examiner is looking for, then you have a good chance of getting a good band score. Some students have very good English skills but are not familiar with the way IELTS essays are marked and end up losing a band score because of this.

Click here for the marking criteria in IELTS writing task 2.

5 types of essay questions in ielts writing task 2., 1. advantages and disadvantages essay 2. opinion essay 3. discussion essay 4. two-part question essay / direct question essay 5. problem solution essay / causes solution essay, model answers.

IELTS discussion essay model answer on university studies (IELTS 18 book).

IELTS discussion essay model answer on work and migration (IELTS 17 book).

IELTS discussion essay model answer on the topic of education

IELTS advantage disadvantage (outweigh) essay model answer and structures.

IELTS two-part question essay model answer on homes (IELTS 16 book)

IELTS two-part question essay model answer on owning or renting a home.

IELTS opinion essay on the role of newspapers and books in the future

Crime and punishment vocabulary with a crime essay model answer

IELTS opinion essay model answer on the topic of wealth

IELTS opinion essay model answer on ‘choice’ with structure and analysis

IELTS causes solutions essay on the topic of endangered animals (video)

7 model answers for the 5 different types of essays in IELTS

How to write a causes solution essay with a model answer

Important tips/lessons about IELTS essays

Writing an essay introduction without paraphrasing

Time management issues in your writing (video)

7 step guide to writing examples in main body paragraphs

Realistic expectations when preparing for IELTS

Why a Band 9 student was stuck at Band 6.5 in writing

IELTS Discussion essay language: Expressing others views

Complex sentences lesson: using ‘tend to’ ‘That’ clauses and modals

Words and phrases to avoid in the IELTS writing section

Balancing your opinion in an IELTS essay

3 types of advantage disadvantage essays.

The difference between a problem solution and causes solution essay

How to write effective body paragraphs in IELTS essays

How many words should be in an IELTS essay?

Video Lesson: 8 reasons why you are not getting Band 7

Setting up your personalised study plan

9 things that are stopping you from getting a Band 7

Referencing in IELTS: avoiding repetition with pronouns

Handwriting, paragraphing and using the official IELTS answer sheet

Key points about learning new vocabulary

Keeping it simple and concise in your writing

The danger of putting memorised sentences in essays

Why does this essay score Band 6?

5 things to do before writing your essay

Time management in IELTS writing

Clearing up confusion in IELTS

IELTS Grammar: how to use conjunctions in essays.

When should I write my opinion in an IELTS essay?

Step by step Guide to paraphrasing in IELTS Writing

Paraphrasing lesson 1 and practice exercise

Paraphrasing lesson 2 and practice for introductions

Paraphrasing without synonyms

Step by step guide to using cohesive devices in IELTS writing

Using personal pronouns in IELTS essays

How to write an effective conclusion

The importance of analysing an IELTS essay question

How to write a thesis statement in IELTS essays

Writing complex sentences in IELTS essays

How to think of ideas for your essay

How to write a good introduction to a problem solution essay

How to identify the 5 types of IELTS task 2 essays

What are the 10 most common mistakes students make with IELTS essays? Click here to find out more…

IELTS Preparation with Liz: Free IELTS Tips and Lessons, 2024

• Test Information FAQ
• Band Scores
• IELTS Candidate Success Tips
• Computer IELTS: Pros & Cons
• How to Prepare
• Useful Links & Resources
• Recommended Books
• Writing Task 1
• Writing Task 2
• Speaking Part 1 Topics
• Speaking Part 2 Topics
• Speaking Part 3 Topics
• 100 Essay Questions
• On The Day Tips
• Top Results
• Advanced IELTS

100 IELTS Essay Questions

Below are practice IELTS essay questions and topics for writing task 2. The 100 essay questions have been used many times over the years. The questions are organised under common topics and essay types. IELTS often use the similar topics for their essays but change the wording of the essay question.

In order to prepare well for writing task 2, you should prepare ideas for common topics and then practise applying them to the tasks given (to the essay questions). Also see model essays and tips  for writing task 2.

Below you will find:

• Essay Questions By Topic
• Essay Questions by Essay Type

Please also note that my new Grammar E-book is now available in my store along with my Ideas for Essay Topics E-book and Advanced Writing Lessons. To visit store, click here: Liz’s Store

1) Common IELTS Essay Questions

IELTS practice essay questions divided by topic. These topics have been reported by IELTS students in their tests. Essay questions have been recreated as accurately as possible.

• Art   (5 essay questions)
• Business & Money   (17 essay questions)
• Communication & Personality   (20 essay questions)
• Crime & Punishment   (12 essay questions)
• Education   (17 essay questions)
• Environment   (12 essay questions)
• Family & Children   (8 essay questions)
• Food & Diet (13 essay questions)
• Government (6 essay questions)
• Health   (9 essay questions)
• Housing, Buildings & Urban Planning (8 essay questions)
• Language (6 essay questions)
• Leisure (1 essay question)
• Media & Advertising   (12 essay questions)
• Reading  (5 essay questions)
• Society   (10 essay questions)
• Space Exploration (3 questions)
• Sport & Exercise   (6 essay questions)
• Technology  (6 essay questions)
• Tourism and Travel   (11 essay questions)
• Transport  (7 essay questions)
• Work (17 essay questions)

2) IELTS Essay Questions by Essay Type 

There are 5 main types of essay questions in IELTS writing task 2 (opinion essays, discussion essay, advantage/disadvantage essays, solution essay and direct question essays). Click on the links below to see some sample essay questions for each type.

• Opinion Essay Questions
• Discussion Essay Questions
• Solution Essay Questions
• Direct Questions Essay Titles 
• Advantage / Disadvantage Essay Questions

………………………………

FREE SUBSCRIBE : Get New Lessons & Posts by Email

Type your email…

Advanced IELTS Lessons & E-books

Click Below to Learn:

• IELTS Test Information

Copyright Notice

Copyright © Elizabeth Ferguson, 2014 – 2024

All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy & Disclaimer

• Click here:  Privacy Policy 
• Click here: Disclaimer

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2024 · Prose on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

• A Beginner’s Guide to IELTS
• Common Grammar Mistakes [for IELTS Writing Candidates]

Writing Correction Service

• Free IELTS Resources
• Practice Speaking Test

Select Page

How to Write an IELTS Essay [Task 2]

Posted by David S. Wills | Mar 30, 2019 | IELTS Tips , Writing | 0

In this article, I’m going to show you how to write an IELTS task 2 essay . I will try to make it as simple as possible, yet totally comprehensive. It is my hope that by the time you finish reading this (and watching the attached video) you will be able to write a really good answer to an IELTS task 2 question.

I make no promises like “GET A BAND 7!!!” because it is impossible to make such claims. The IELTS exam will test your English ability, and there are many factors that will contribute to your score. However, if you follow this guide completely, you give yourself the best chance of scoring highly.

Know the Basic Requirements

The first thing you need to know before you even begin writing an IELTS essay are the basic requirements of the exam. In IELTS writing, you have one hour to write two pieces of writing. It is recommended that you spend about 20 minutes on task 1 – which for academic IELTS is a report on a graph or map, and for general IELTS is a letter – and the other 40 minutes should be spent on task 2.

For task 2, you will be given a question. It will usually provide a statement of sorts, followed by a specific task like giving your opinion, discussing advantages and disadvantages, or explaining problems and solutions. You need to write at least 250 words, following the instructions very carefully.

You will ultimately be assigned a grade based upon the IELTS marking rubric. Your grade will be from 0-9, and should accurately reflect your writing ability. However, some problems like stress or sickness may cause you to perform worse than usual, in which case you would be unlucky to receive a grade that does not accurately reflect your level.

I would recommend reading the marking rubric in order to understand what the examiner will look for in your essay, and so that you can understand why you were given the grade you received. It is very common for students to score highly in reading and listening, and then get a comparatively low score for writing . Knowing the rubric will help you to understand.

Each part of the test is marked differently. For IELTS writing, your overall score will be the average of four components:

• Task Response
• Coherence and Cohesion
• Lexical Resource
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy

If the rubric is hard for you to follow, you can see a simpler explanation in this video:

Preparing for the Exam

I will just spend a short time letting you know how to prepare for IELTS writing because actually there are lots of materials on this website to help you do that. The first and most important thing is to make sure that you have a good grasp of grammar and vocabulary. Together, these make up 50% of your writing score, and they are the prime reason why so many students get low scores. These can take years to learn, whereas the other components can be mastered more easily.

You should look at lots of previous questions from the exam, and also read some sample essays to get an understanding of what is expected. Don’t try to memorise the questions or answers, as this won’t help you. However, pay attention to the structure that the writer uses, as well as the tone with which he writes.

You should try to have a teacher or another expert grade your essays and give you feedback on your structure, grammar, and so on. This is the best way to let you know what you should work on in your own time. If you like, I offer a writing correction service that can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and therefore give you a good chance of IELTS success.

Going into the Exam

When you go into the exam room, you will probably feel quite nervous. This feeling is a big problem for students in all sorts of exams, so you need to be prepared to deal with it. Stress is difficult to cope with, but you can employ some breathing techniques or mental strategies to help you.

Perhaps most importantly, you should be prepared for the exam. As I mentioned briefly in the section above, there are many ways to prepare for IELTS. In general, the more prepared you are, the better your chances of success. This sort of preparation can help you overcome most of your nervousness.

I recommend doing lots of practice tests prior to the real exam so that you are not surprised by anything. When you see the question and begin writing, you should feel that this is something you have done before. If you are surprised and feel that it is a very new experience, your nervousness will become worse.

In the exam room, sit down and steady your nerves. Breathe deeply and think confident thoughts. Try to practice mindfulness , which involves pushing away negative images without worrying too much about them.

After this, you will be ready to start.

Reading the Question

Now we come to the actual question. If you have done lots of practice for IELTS writing task 2, you won’t be very surprised by what you read. Although the questions are always different, they are very similar to one another. There are only a limited number of question types, and a predictable range of topics.

The question types you may encounter are:

• Opinion ( Agree or Disagree )
• Advantages and Disadvantages
• Problem and Solution
• Discussion (Discuss both views)
• Two-part Question

As for topics, these are generally the same as other IELTS topics you would encounter in the speaking, reading, and listening tests. Some of the common ones include:

• Environment
• Society (such as crime/punishment )

These topics come up a lot, but sometimes they are mixed together. For example, the topic of society is often mixed with environment or education. You should make sure that you are familiar with these topics and learn some useful vocabulary to adequately discuss them. This should help you for both speaking and writing.

Analysing the Question

It is tempting for experienced IELTS students to sit down and start writing quickly. This happens because you read the question and it seems familiar. Knowing that you have just 40 minutes to write an answer, you launch into your introduction immediately.

However, this can be a big problem. I have worked with some really talented students who have made some incredible mistakes. They see the question and recognise some words, so they jump to conclusions. As a result, they score very poorly for Task Response – which is worth 25% of their total score!

Instead, you should take two minutes to carefully read the question. Highlight the keywords and microkeywords that tell you exactly what to do. Only when you are completely sure of your answer should you begin planning and writing your essay.

Let’s take an example:

Today, the high sales of popular consumer goods reflect the power of advertising and not the real needs of the society in which they are sold. To what extent do you agree or disagree ?

Looking at this question, we can immediately see that it is an opinion question. We can also see the topic (society) and the main focus of the question (consumer goods/ advertising).

It would be easy to misinterpret this question, so you need to think about it carefully. You can’t just begin writing about advertising and society, or about why some consumer goods are popular. Instead, you need to find the relationship between these parts of the question.

Try rephrasing the question in your head:

Do you agree that advertising is the reason why luxury items sell more than essential items?

For me, I see the words “popular consumer goods” and I think of iPhones and Nike trainers. When I see “real needs of the society” I think of food, medicine, and schoolbooks. Why do iPhones sell so well compared to the sandwiches at my local shop? Is it due to advertising?

That is my analysis of this question. You see, it is perhaps more complicated than a quick reading would suggest.

You need to practise analysing questions like this so that you can do it quickly. It could be a huge mistake to rush into writing and not analyse the question, but it is also a problem if you spend too long doing it. Try to do this in about two minutes.

Generating Ideas

Once you understand the question, you need to figure out some ideas to actually write down. Keep in mind that the IELTS exam is primarily a test of your English ability, so you don’t need to be an expert on any one topic. However, you do need to be able to demonstrate some capability in terms of logical thinking for Task Achievement and Coherence and Cohesion.

You should be able to at least think of some sensible answers to the question, and to justify them with explanations and examples. It is ok to think of lots of ideas, but before you begin writing, you should definitely choose the best ones to focus on, and get rid of the rest. If you have too many ideas, your structure will quickly fall apart, and you may even run out of time.

Generating ideas for IELTS writing task 2 is something that troubles many students, especially under genuine exam conditions. You should practice doing this at home, logically ordering your ideas in terms of relevance and how well you could develop them. Failing to do this often results in a person beginning to write and then running out of things to say, or going off-topic. Both of these could be disastrous.

I have a whole article about generating ideas that you can study when you have some free time.

Planning the Essay Structure

I mentioned earlier that it can take years to get competent at English grammar and to build up a good enough vocabulary to write a decent essay. Thankfully, it takes hardly any time to learn how to structure an essay! As grammar and vocabulary are worth 25% of your writing grade each, it makes sense to devote a few days to studying essay structures in order to ace this crucial part, which is also worth 25%. If you performed poorly in grammar, for example, you might be able to redeem yourself with a great structure, thus balancing out your score.

I have lots of articles on this website devoted to structuring essays, and even a few videos. You can read or watch them here:

• PLANNING IELTS WRITING TASK 2 STRUCTURE
• TASK 2 ESSAY STRUCTURES
• HOW TO STRUCTURE A PARAGRAPH
• IELTS WRITING: SHOULD I WRITE 4 OR 5 PARAGRAPHS?
• SELECTING IDEAS AND STRUCTURING AN ESSAY [IELTS WRITING TASK 2]
• STRUCTURING AN IELTS TASK 2 ESSAY
• Paragraph Structure for IELTS Writing [with example answers]
• How to Structure an IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay

In short, for the purpose of this guide, I will say that a four-paragraph essay is almost always the best approach for IELTS writing task 2. You should make it look like this:

This PPT shows more detail on the above ideas, and tailors the structure slightly for each type of question:

When planning your essay, you should note down this sort of structure to ensure that you remember what you want to write about, develop each point intelligently, and do not stray off-topic. If you do this, you will greatly increase your chances of a high score for Task Response and Coherence and Cohesion (a combined 50% of your total writing score).

Paragraph Structure

Your essay plan should give an overview of what your essay will look like, but you also need to consider the mechanics of each paragraph. Remember that each paragraph should contain one idea, and that idea should be supported by each sentence in the paragraph. Your typical body paragraph might look like this:

• Topic sentence (a broad statement)
• Narrow the focus
• Give example
• Explain example
• Conclude the paragraph

Let’s take the example question from above (about consumer goods and advertising) and show how the first body paragraph could be developed:

• It should be abundantly clear that many of the popular consumer goods that dominate markets around the world are not items of objective importance, but rather ones of purely superficial appeal.
• People need things like food and clothing, as well as some items that enable them to work or travel, but certain products are just luxury items.
• Take, for example, the iPhone. There are countless other devices on the market that can fulfill the main functions of an iPhone without the jaw-dropping price tag.
• However, in almost every country, people want to own one of these status symbols.
• The reason is simply that it has been marketed well, and owning one makes a person look successful and wealthy.

It is possible to do this differently, of course, according to the question type or your writing style. However, each sentence should follow on logically from the previous one, building up a coherent argument or point of view, and centered around the main idea of the paragraph.

Writing an IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay

Once you have planned your structure and you are confident about building up paragraphs logically, you can begin to write. You should write slowly and carefully, but try to leave time to actually finish. If you don’t finish your essay, you will have points deducted from your score. Additionally, you also want to leave yourself time to edit your own essay after you are done writing.

Here is how I would answer the above question. As you are reading this, please pay attention to how I have followed the guidelines set out above. If you want to understand better, watch the video below, in which I record myself writing the essay and explain each thing that I write. I made this video so that it would be easier to understand… although it might be a little boring. 😉

Sample Answer

As globalization sweeps the world in the twenty-first century, people appear to have become more materialistic. Expensive consumer goods produced by companies like Apple and Nike are sold in all corners of the globe, and for many people they are must-have items. Some people believe that this is all down to advertising rather than actual necessity. This essay will argue in support of that position.

It should be abundantly clear that many of the popular consumer goods that dominate markets around the world are not items of objective importance, but rather ones of purely superficial appeal. People need things like food and clothing, as well as some items that enable them to work or travel, but certain products are just luxury items. Take, for example, the iPhone. There are countless other devices on the market that can fulfill the main functions of an iPhone without the jaw-dropping price tag. However, in almost every country, people want to own one of these status symbols. The reason is simply that it has been marketed well, and owning one makes a person look successful and wealthy.

If the real needs of society were reflected in sales, rather than the popularity of certain luxury items, our economies would look very different. Fashionable brands would not be as wealthy as ones making affordable, simple products. Yet it is those items that are carefully advertised on TV, on the internet, and at sports events, which captivate people and cause them to make unwise purchases or form irrational brand loyalties. Look at how Apple overtook Microsoft, or how Nike easily outsells any humble, local shoemaker.

In conclusion, it is clear that sales are dictated not by a product’s necessity, but rather by its appeal to consumers, and this appeal is created through slick advertising campaigns.

This is a video of me writing the above essay. I talk for quite a while about the question. If you have already read this whole article, you may find it unnecessary, in which case you should probably skip ahead to me actually writing the essay.

Editing Your Essay

When you are finished, leave a few minutes to look over your work to find mistakes. Editing one’s own work is extremely difficult, even for professional writers! However, you should have a checklist of things to find. Look for commonly misspelled words and grammatical errors that you often make. You can learn these things by getting expert feedback on your writing.

Pay attention to your tenses, punctuation, and to subject-verb disagreement. Remember to review your articles (a/an/the) and prepositions . These are all mistakes that are easily fixed. At this stage, it is too late to make any structural changes, so it is worth spending that extra time at the beginning of the test to get that right.

As for word count, a properly planned essay will almost certainly reach 250 words, and if you have done lots of practice, you will know what that looks like. Don’t waste time by counting in the exam, as it can take a long time. Get a feel for the length of your essay during your practice tests, and in the real exam you will just know – as the examiner does – that it is either more than or less than 250 words.  

Some Final Words of Advice

In IELTS writing task 2, it may be tempting to use high-level vocabulary and sophisticated grammar. Of course, when used correctly these may help you attain a high band score. However, you should consider the following piece of advice:

The most important thing is to use language correctly.

In other words, you might attempt to write a long sentence filled with difficult words and completely fail. The examiners might not understand you at all. You think that it’s impressive, but he or she thinks it shows you do not speak English very well. It is, therefore, better to use only what you are 100% confident you can use correctly.

If possible, try to vary your sentence length. Native speakers do this intuitively, and you can pick up this sort of rhythm by reading often. If all your sentences are the same type and length, it would sound quite boring.

Finally, remember to stay calm and confident. IELTS might seem like the most important thing in the world, but it is just an exam. Unless you are extremely unlucky, you will get the grade that you deserve. There is no shortcut or cheat to getting a high score, and you should not waste your time or energy even thinking that way. Just practice often, keep an open mind, and do your best.

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

Related Posts

IELTS Christmas Vocabulary

December 21, 2020

[Advanced IELTS Writing] How to Craft a Convincing Argument

February 9, 2021

Describe a Skill [IELTS Speaking Part 2]

April 23, 2019

The 6 Best Books for Studying IELTS

May 7, 2017

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Download my IELTS Books

Recent Posts

• How to Improve your IELTS Writing Score
• Past Simple vs Past Perfect
• Complex Sentences
• How to Score Band 9 [Video Lesson]
• Taxing Fast Food: Model IELTS Essay

Recent Comments

• Francisca on Adverb Clauses: A Comprehensive Guide
• Mariam on IELTS Writing Task 2: Two-Part Questions
• abdelhadi skini on Subordinating Conjunction vs Conjunctive Adverb
• David S. Wills on How to Describe Tables for IELTS Writing Task 1
• anonymous on How to Describe Tables for IELTS Writing Task 1
• Lesson Plans
• Model Essays
• TED Video Lessons
• Weekly Roundup

Band 9 Guide: IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay Types and Structures + Sample Essays

In the IELTS Writing Task 2, you are required to craft a compelling essay on a given topic. The approach and structure will largely depend on the question type presented. This guide offers a detailed look into the various question types, their structures, and strategies to tackle them effectively.

Here are the essay types that we will cover:

• Opinion Questions (Agree or Disagree)
• Advantages and Disadvantages Questions
• Discussion (Discuss Both Views) Questions
• Problem and Solution Questions
• Two-Part Questions
• Mixed Type (Advantages and Disadvantages + Opinion)
• Double Question
• Causes (Reasons) and Effects

At the end, we will provide you with some supplementary tips that you can use to improve your writing band score in the IELTS exam.

1. Opinion Questions (Agree or Disagree)

This question type asks you to express your viewpoints on a given topic or statement.

Question Example:

Is digital technology in schools beneficial for students learning?

Essay Structure:

• Introduction : Paraphrase the Question and state your opinion, outlining the main ideas.
• Main Body Paragraph 1 : Begin with a topic sentence, explain this topic sentence, and provide an example.
• Main Body Paragraph 2 : Follow the same format as the previous paragraph.
• Conclusion : Recap the main points and reiterate your opinion.

Sample Essay:

Introduction: Digital technology has become an integral part of modern education, transforming the way students learn and interact with the world. In this essay, I will outline why I believe that incorporating digital technology in schools is highly beneficial for students learning.

Main Body Paragraph 1: First and foremost, digital technology enhances engagement and active participation in the learning process. Interactive learning platforms, virtual simulations, and multimedia resources make lessons more captivating and encourage students to explore concepts in depth. For instance, online platforms like Khan Academy offer interactive math lessons that adapt to individual learning paces, ensuring a personalized and effective learning experience. This level of engagement fosters a deeper understanding of subjects.

Main Body Paragraph 2: Furthermore, digital technology equips students with practical skills relevant to the digital age. In today’s interconnected world, proficiency in using digital tools and navigating online resources is essential for success. Integrating technology into education not only prepares students for the future job market but also empowers them to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. For instance, coding workshops in schools enable students to develop computational thinking, a skill applicable in a wide range of disciplines.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the integration of digital technology into schools brings numerous advantages to students’ learning experiences. It enhances engagement, promotes practical skills, and cultivates a mindset of adaptability and innovation. While some may argue that excessive screen time can be detrimental, judicious use of technology can mitigate these concerns. By embracing digital technology, schools can provide a holistic and dynamic education that prepares students for the challenges of the modern world.

Advanced Tips:

• Be clear in your stance and acknowledge counterarguments if necessary.
• Employ persuasive tools like strong adjectives, rhetorical questions, and emphatic structures to bolster your arguments.

2. Advantages and Disadvantages Questions

You need to evaluate both the benefits and drawbacks of a particular topic or situation.

What are the pros and cons of remote work for professionals?

• Introduction : Paraphrase the Question and outline the main points.
• Main Body Paragraph 1 : Discuss two advantages, expand on each, and provide an example.
• Main Body Paragraph 2 : Detail two disadvantages, delve deeper into each, and give an example.
• Conclusion : Summarize the main pros and cons discussed.

Introduction: The advent of technology has revolutionized the way professionals work, giving rise to the concept of remote work. In this essay, I will discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of remote work for professionals.

Main Body Paragraph 1: Remote work offers several compelling advantages for professionals. Firstly, it provides a flexible work environment that allows individuals to balance their personal and professional lives effectively. This flexibility can lead to increased job satisfaction and improved overall well-being. Moreover, remote work eliminates the need for daily commutes, saving valuable time and reducing stress. According to a study conducted by Global Workplace Analytics, remote workers report higher levels of productivity due to reduced distractions commonly found in traditional office settings.

Main Body Paragraph 2: However, remote work also presents certain challenges. One notable disadvantage is the potential for isolation and reduced collaboration. In a traditional office environment, spontaneous interactions and face-to-face discussions foster creativity and teamwork. Remote work can lead to feelings of loneliness and hinder effective communication, which is crucial for innovative solutions to complex problems. Additionally, remote work requires a high level of self-discipline, as the absence of direct supervision may lead to procrastination and decreased accountability.

Conclusion: In conclusion, remote work offers professionals a range of benefits such as flexibility and time savings. However, it is not without its drawbacks, including potential isolation and reduced collaboration. To maximize the advantages of remote work while mitigating its disadvantages, professionals must cultivate effective communication skills, establish a dedicated workspace, and maintain a disciplined work routine. Ultimately, the success of remote work hinges on the ability to strike a balance between the convenience it offers and the challenges it poses.

• Use transitional phrases to ensure smooth transitions between points.
• Avoid mere antonyms when presenting pros and cons.

3. Discussion (Discuss Both Views) Questions

These questions require you to explore multiple perspectives on a topic.

Should governments prioritize economic growth over environmental conservation?

• Introduction : Paraphrase the Question and provide a thesis statement.
• Main Body Paragraph 1 : Detail one viewpoint, give reasons for/against it and provide an example.
• Main Body Paragraph 2 : State the opposing viewpoint, discuss it, and again offer an example.
• Conclusion : Sum up the discussion and state your preferred perspective.

Introduction: The delicate balance between economic growth and environmental conservation has become a critical concern in contemporary societies. In this essay, I will delve into both perspectives on whether governments should prioritize economic growth or environmental conservation.

Main Body Paragraph 1: From an economic standpoint, prioritizing growth can lead to numerous benefits. Economic expansion creates job opportunities, boosts national income, and improves living standards for citizens. For instance, countries like China and India have experienced significant economic growth that has lifted millions out of poverty. This growth can fund essential services such as healthcare and education, contributing to overall societal development.

Main Body Paragraph 2: On the other hand, environmental conservation holds paramount importance for the future well-being of our planet. Ecological degradation and resource depletion have dire consequences for ecosystems and humanity alike. Focusing on environmental conservation ensures the preservation of biodiversity, clean air, and freshwater sources. For instance, countries like Sweden have successfully implemented green policies, resulting in cleaner air and sustainable use of natural resources.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the debate over whether governments should prioritize economic growth or environmental conservation is complex and multifaceted. While economic growth brings prosperity and improved living standards, neglecting environmental concerns could lead to irreversible damage to our planet. Striking a balance between these two perspectives is crucial. Governments can implement policies that promote sustainable economic growth while also ensuring responsible resource management and environmental protection. Only through careful consideration and informed decision-making can societies navigate the intricate interplay between economic progress and environmental stewardship.

• Ensure you give equal weight to both viewpoints.
• Your conclusion should reflect a balanced understanding of the topic.

Read Also : Cohesive Devices for Band 9 in IELTS Writing: The ultimate guide

4. Problem and Solution Questions

This question type asks you to identify problems related to a situation and suggest solutions.

What challenges does urbanization present and how can cities adapt?

• Introduction : Paraphrase the Question and outline the main ideas.
• Main Body Paragraph 1 : Identify the problems, discuss them, and offer examples.
• Main Body Paragraph 2 : Suggest possible solutions, discuss their feasibility, and provide examples.
• Conclusion : Recap the highlighted problems and proposed solutions.

Introduction: The rapid pace of urbanization has transformed the world’s landscape, bringing with it a host of challenges that demand urgent attention. In this essay, I will explore the problems posed by urbanization and propose viable solutions to address these challenges.

Main Body Paragraph 1: Urbanization has given rise to a range of pressing issues. One significant challenge is the strain on urban infrastructure, including transportation and housing. As rural populations migrate to cities, the demand for housing outpaces supply, leading to slums and inadequate living conditions. Additionally, traffic congestion and limited public transport options undermine efficient mobility. Pollution is another critical concern as increased industrial activity and vehicular emissions degrade air quality, endangering residents’ health.

Main Body Paragraph 2: To counter these challenges, cities can adopt proactive measures. Firstly, urban planning should prioritize affordable housing initiatives and sustainable infrastructure development. By building smart cities that utilize technology to manage resources efficiently, governments can alleviate congestion and enhance the quality of life. Moreover, investing in efficient public transportation systems, such as metro networks and buses, can reduce traffic congestion and pollution. For instance, the Bus Rapid Transit system in Curitiba, Brazil, has improved transportation efficiency and reduced congestion.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the challenges posed by urbanization require multifaceted solutions that span urban planning, infrastructure development, and sustainable policies. By addressing housing shortages, improving transportation, and promoting environmentally conscious practices, cities can harness the potential of urbanization while mitigating its negative consequences. This approach will not only enhance the quality of life for urban residents but also contribute to the overall well-being of society in the face of an increasingly urbanized world.

• Be specific in identifying problems and avoid vagueness.
• Solutions should be practical and actionable.

5. Two-Part Questions

You are presented with a statement followed by two distinct queries that must be addressed.

How has digital technology impacted workplaces and what future advancements can be anticipated?

• Introduction : Paraphrase the statement and outline both questions.
• Main Body Paragraph 1 : Address the first question with explanations and examples.
• Main Body Paragraph 2 : Respond to the second question, again with explanations and examples.
• Conclusion : Summarize the responses to both questions.

Introduction: The integration of digital technology into workplaces has reshaped the dynamics of modern work environments, bringing forth both immediate changes and future possibilities. In this essay, I will delve into the ways digital technology has already transformed workplaces and discuss potential advancements that can be anticipated.

Main Body Paragraph 1: The impact of digital technology on workplaces has been profound. Firstly, it has streamlined communication and collaboration, allowing teams to collaborate across geographical boundaries in real-time. Tools like video conferencing and cloud-based document sharing have revolutionized how projects are managed. Moreover, automation powered by artificial intelligence (AI) has improved efficiency by handling routine tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more complex, creative endeavors. This has been particularly evident in industries like manufacturing, where robots have taken over repetitive and dangerous tasks.

Main Body Paragraph 2: Looking ahead, digital technology is poised to bring even more transformative changes. The rise of remote work is likely to continue, with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies offering immersive virtual workspaces that replicate physical office environments. Furthermore, AI-driven analytics will enable data-driven decision-making, enhancing business strategies and customer interactions. The concept of a “smart office” will likely emerge, with interconnected devices and IoT (Internet of Things) technology optimizing resource utilization and energy efficiency.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the impact of digital technology on workplaces has been substantial, revolutionizing communication, automating tasks, and increasing efficiency. As we move forward, advancements such as AR, VR, AI, and IoT hold the promise of further reshaping work environments. To stay competitive, companies must embrace these innovations while also addressing potential challenges like data security and workforce adaptation. By doing so, they can position themselves to thrive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

• Maintain a clear division between your answers to both questions.
• Use predictive techniques when addressing future-related queries.

6. Mixed Type (Advantages and Disadvantages + Opinion)

Here, you should discuss the pros and cons of a topic, followed by expressing a personal opinion.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping and give your own opinion.

• Introduction : Introduce the topic.
• Advantages : 1-2 paragraphs detailing the benefits.
• Disadvantages : 1-2 paragraphs detailing the drawbacks.
• Opinion : State your viewpoint and provide supporting reasons.
• Conclusion : Summarize the main points.

Introduction: The proliferation of online shopping has transformed the way consumers engage in commerce, offering convenience and accessibility like never before. This essay will explore the benefits and drawbacks of online shopping, followed by my personal opinion on its overall impact.

Advantages: Online shopping presents several advantages. Firstly, it offers unparalleled convenience, allowing customers to browse and purchase products from the comfort of their homes. This eliminates the need to travel to physical stores, saving time and energy. Moreover, the variety of options available online ensures a wider selection of products, often at competitive prices. Online platforms also offer detailed product information, reviews, and comparison tools, empowering consumers to make informed decisions.

Disadvantages: However, online shopping is not without its disadvantages. One major concern is the inability to physically inspect products before purchase. This can lead to dissatisfaction if the received item doesn’t match expectations. Additionally, online transactions may pose risks to personal data security and privacy. Cases of identity theft and online scams are not uncommon, raising concerns about the safety of online purchases. Furthermore, the lack of face-to-face interaction eliminates the personal touch of traditional shopping experiences.

Opinion: In my opinion, the advantages of online shopping outweigh its drawbacks. The convenience, vast selection, and competitive prices make it a viable option for today’s busy consumers. The potential risks associated with online transactions can be mitigated by adopting secure payment methods and practicing caution when sharing personal information. As technology continues to advance, addressing security concerns will likely become more effective.

Conclusion: In conclusion, online shopping offers undeniable benefits in terms of convenience, variety, and accessibility. While challenges such as product inspection and security issues persist, they can be managed with prudent shopping practices. Embracing online shopping while remaining vigilant about its potential pitfalls can lead to a rewarding and efficient shopping experience.

• Balance your essay by giving equal importance to advantages, disadvantages, and your opinion.
• Use rhetorical questions to highlight the significance of your viewpoint.

Read Also : Common grammar mistakes to avoid in the IELTS writing section

7. Double Question

Two distinct questions are presented that must be answered within the essay.

Why do people attend colleges or universities? What are the benefits of higher education?

• Answer to Question 1 : Provide reasons and examples.
• Answer to Question 2 : Offer explanations and illustrations.
• Conclusion : Recap the main points made.

Introduction: The decision to pursue higher education is driven by a multitude of factors, each intertwined with the potential benefits that education beyond high school can offer. This essay will delve into the reasons individuals choose to attend colleges or universities and the advantages that higher education brings.

Answer to Question 1: People seek higher education for various reasons. Firstly, acquiring specialized knowledge and skills is a primary motivation. Colleges and universities offer structured curricula that equip students with expertise in their chosen fields. Furthermore, higher education provides opportunities for personal growth and self-discovery. The university environment encourages critical thinking, independent research, and exposure to diverse perspectives, fostering well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the challenges of the modern world.

Answer to Question 2: The benefits of higher education are manifold. Firstly, it significantly enhances career prospects. Graduates with degrees are often more competitive in the job market, commanding higher salaries and better employment opportunities. Additionally, higher education fosters networking and social connections that can open doors to professional opportunities. Moreover, education beyond high school cultivates critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are invaluable assets in various aspects of life. For instance, an educated citizenry contributes to informed decision-making in society and drives innovation.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the decision to attend colleges or universities is driven by a desire for specialized knowledge, personal growth, and expanded opportunities. The benefits of higher education are far-reaching, including improved career prospects, enhanced critical thinking abilities, and societal contributions. As higher education continues to evolve and adapt to changing demands, its role in shaping individuals and society remains indispensable.

• Use connectors like “Firstly” and “Secondly” to distinguish between the two answers.
• Provide real-life examples to make your answers more credible.

8. Evaluation

You should assess the significance, relevance, or implications of a topic or statement.

How significant is the role of technology in education today?

• Significance/Relevance : Describe why the topic is essential.
• Counterarguments : Discuss opposing viewpoints or potential drawbacks.
• Conclusion : Summarize your evaluation.

Introduction: Technology’s pervasive presence in modern education has sparked debates about its significance and impact on learning. This essay will evaluate the role of technology in education today, examining its importance and potential drawbacks.

Significance/Relevance: The role of technology in education is undeniably significant. It has transformed traditional classrooms into dynamic learning environments, offering interactive tools and resources that engage students. Technology facilitates personalized learning experiences, catering to diverse learning styles and paces. For instance, adaptive learning platforms tailor content to individual students’ progress, optimizing comprehension and retention. Moreover, technology has transcended geographical barriers, enabling distance learning and online courses that make education accessible to a global audience.

Counterarguments: However, there are counterarguments to the unqualified significance of technology in education. Overreliance on technology may lead to reduced face-to-face interactions and diminished social skills. Additionally, some educators argue that technology can be a distraction, diverting students’ attention from essential learning objectives. Moreover, the digital divide, where not all students have equal access to technology, can exacerbate educational inequalities.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the role of technology in education is undoubtedly significant, enhancing engagement, personalization, and accessibility. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge potential drawbacks such as social skill erosion and disparities in access. Technology’s effectiveness in education depends on its thoughtful integration and its alignment with pedagogical goals. Striking a balance between harnessing technology’s benefits and mitigating its downsides is essential to maximize its positive impact on modern education.

• Maintain objectivity; avoid extreme positions unless strongly backed by evidence.
• Use qualifiers like “largely”, “often”, or “generally” to avoid making absolute statements.

9. Causes (Reasons) and Effects

This type demands an understanding of the root causes of a situation and its resultant effects.

What are the reasons for increasing obesity rates in children, and what are its consequences?

• Causes/Reasons : Elaborate on the underlying factors.
• Effects/Consequences : Detail the outcomes or repercussions.
• Conclusion : Recap the main causes and effects.

Introduction: The rising prevalence of childhood obesity has emerged as a critical public health concern in many societies. This essay will delve into the underlying causes of increasing obesity rates in children and explore the far-reaching consequences of this alarming trend.

Causes/Reasons: Several factors contribute to the growing obesity rates among children. Firstly, changes in dietary habits have led to increased consumption of processed foods high in sugars and unhealthy fats. Busy lifestyles and convenience-driven choices have shifted diets towards calorie-dense but nutritionally poor options. Sedentary behaviors, fueled by excessive screen time and a decline in physical activity, also play a pivotal role. Reduced outdoor play and an increasing reliance on electronic devices have led to a decline in daily physical activity levels. Furthermore, socioeconomic disparities can impact access to healthy food options and safe play spaces, exacerbating the issue.

Effects/Consequences: The consequences of childhood obesity are multifaceted and far-reaching. In the short term, overweight children often face social and psychological challenges, including low self-esteem and bullying. Moreover, childhood obesity sets the stage for lifelong health problems. Obese children are at a higher risk of developing chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and musculoskeletal issues. The economic burden on healthcare systems is substantial, as treating obesity-related illnesses places a strain on resources.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the rising prevalence of childhood obesity can be attributed to a complex interplay of factors, including dietary changes, sedentary lifestyles, and socioeconomic disparities. The consequences of childhood obesity extend beyond physical health, impacting mental well-being and straining healthcare systems. Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive approach involving education, policy changes, and community initiatives that promote healthy diets and active lifestyles from an early age.

• Use cause-effect connectors like “due to”, “because of”, “as a result”, and “hence”.
• Illustrate causes and effects with recent studies or statistical data where possible.

Read Also : How to use Complex Sentences in IELTS writing?

Supplementary Skills and Tips

Advanced Writing Techniques :

• Use cohesive devices like ‘however’, ‘moreover’, and ‘therefore’ to ensure fluidity.
• Vary sentence lengths for rhythm and engagement.
• Incorporate credible statistics where appropriate.

Pitfalls to Avoid :

• Stay away from broad generalizations and sweeping statements.
• Use varied vocabulary to prevent monotony.
• Always revise your essay before submission.

Enhancing Vocabulary :

• Improve your vocabulary to make your essay more engaging. For instance, instead of “good”, use words like “beneficial” or “advantageous”.

The Importance of Practice and Feedback :

• Regular practice, coupled with feedback, is key. Take online IELTS mock tests with detailed feedback from certified examiners to improve your writing skills.

Want to improve your IELTS writing skills? Take our free quiz.

Your content goes here, ielts prep quiz.

" * " indicates required fields

Step 1 of 7 - IELTS Prep Quiz

Share This Post!

Related posts.

Describing graphs, charts, diagrams and tables for band 9 in IELTS writing + Best structures and useful vocabulary

15 Sentence Structures for Band 9 Writing in IELTS + Sample passage

IELTS on Computer: The Ultimate Guide to computer-based IELTS

How to Master Matching Questions in the IELTS Listening Test

Top 10 Templates for IELTS Speaking Test to get band 9

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Free IELTS lessons signup

• Academic practice
• General practice
• Task 1 Academic
• Task 1 General
• Task 2 (essay)

Essay samples with tips and answers

Sample 1 ("Violence in media") Presenting opinion

Sample 2 ("Working students") Suggesting a solution

Sample 3 ("Death penalty") Pros & cons

Sample 4 ("Loss of bio-diversity") Cause/solution

Sample 5 ("Obesity") Causes and effects

Sample 6 ("Salary vs. job satisfaction") Agree/disagree

Sample 7 ("Sedentary lifestyle") Problem/solution

More IELTS Writing task 2 questions >

IELTS Writing task 2 - Essay

Here you can find all the essential information about IELTS Writing essay .

IELTS Writing task 2 (or IELTS essay ) is the same task for Academic and General IELTS . You will be presented with a specific topic and asked to write an 250-word essay about it. You should normally spend 40 minutes on IELTS Writing task 2.

On this page you will see :

IELTS Writing task 2 question sample

• Types of IELTS essay questions
• How to answer these questions
• More IELTS Writing task 2 questions and answers

You can get a lot of different topics for your IELTS Writing task 2. You can be asked to give your opinion, to state solutions to some problem, to describe advantages and disadvantages of something and so on.

Here's an example of how your IELTS Writing task 2 may look like :

Immigration has a major impact on the society.

What are the main reasons of immigration? To what consequences can it lead?

Write at least 250 words.

You can find the band-9 answer here >

More IELTS Writing task 2 questions & topics >

How to write IELTS Essay?

1) Determine your opinion on the topic

• Giving your opinion
• Agree/disagree
• Suggesting a solution
• Pros and cons

Depending on the topic, decide what is your opinion on it and why. Have a clear position, don't hesitate between two opinions! Then find examples you will use for this task. You should spend a few minutes on planning.

2) Write an answer using the following structure:

Note that this description is very general. To learn more specific answering strategies, look at the different question types .

3) Style your essay

Use various words and structures , linking devices and avoid repetition.

Use some words from academic word list .

Do not use informal style and avoid irrelevant information, you will receive less points for your work.

Also, don't forget to write at least 250 words, writing less will affect your mark negatively. You should aim at 260-280 words. You won’t get more points for a longer essay.

Other things that might affect your mark:

• Fluency : if your handwriting is not illegible for the examiner and he/she can’t read it properly, you are likely to lose points.
• Unoriginal answer : if you learnt a topic by heart and wrote it, you might get a low score for your essay. IELTS examiner assesses only your own thoughts and opinions.
• Limited answer : if you only answer half of the question and don’t expand your opinion, you will not get more than a band score 5 for the task.
• Information about IELTS Writing test
• Top 10 IELTS Writing tips
• Writing vocabulary

Recent posts

• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Gift
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Birthday
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Family
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Movie
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Book
• Link copied!

IELTS Writing Task 2: Essay

In IELTS Writing Task 2, you need to write an essay in response to a point of view, an argument or a problem on a given topic. The essay has to be formal or semi-formal in style and at least 250 words.

Here is an example how the writing task prompt looks like:

WRITING TASK 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people think that one should retire at the age of 60 or 65. Others say that people should be allowed to work for as long as they want to.

What is your opinion about this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

How to write an essay for IELTS Writing Task 2?

You must start by spending some time reading the instructions. It is very important that you fully understand what you are asked to do.

You should spend at least 2 minutes planning your essay:

• Read the instructions thoroughly
• Brainstorm, write down the main keywords and ideas
• Introduction: paraphrase the topic
• Essay body: organise your essay into 2–3 body paragraphs, develop your ideas, add supporting points and provide examples
• Conclusion: sum up what you have written and make sure you do not introduce new ideas and thoughts that you have not covered in your essay

Use cohesive devices to link your ideas.

See also: 5 Tips on How To Write an IELTS Essay

How is IELTS Writing Task 2 scored?

IELTS Writing Task 2 gives you 2 / 3 of your total writing score, whereas Task 1 is worth 1 / 3 of your score. Hence the recommended time for both tasks: for Task 1 it is 20 minutes, for Task 2 it is 40 minutes.

Your essay will be evaluated on the four marking criteria:

• Task achievement
• Coherence and cohesion
• Lexical resource
• Grammatical range and accuracy

Each criterion gives 25% of your total score for the task.

For more detailed information, see How IELTS Writing Task 2 Is Checked .

See also: IELTS Writing Task 2 band descriptors .

IELTS Writing Task 2 – Academic vs General

What is the difference.

There is no significant difference between the IELTS Writing Task 2 Academic or General module in terms of the format.

The tasks are both evaluated on the same four marking criteria and candidates are required to write at least 250 words.

Even though the task format is the same, the IELTS Academic and General test candidates will not be given the same writing task prompt. In other words, if you take the IELTS General test, you will not get the same essay topic in IELTS Writing Task 2 as those who are taking the Academic module.

The main difference between the two test modules is that the IELTS General Training essay topics are often a little bit easier .

Essay topics from Cambridge IELTS 8 book

To illustrate the difference in the level of difficulty, see the following IELTS Writing Task 2 prompts from Cambridge IELTS 8 book:

Writing Task 2 Academic

Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

What other measures do you think might be effective?

Writing Task 2 General

Today more people are travelling than ever before.

Why is this the case?

What are the benefits of travelling for the traveller?

As it can be seen from the comparison, the IELTS General Training topic is more general and relatively easier, whereas the Academic one is more specific.

IELTS ESSAY SAMPLES

IELTS Discussion Essay Sample

IELTS Agree / Disagree Essay Sample

IELTS Advantage / Disadvantage Essay Sample

IELTS Problem / Solution Essay Sample

IELTS Two-part Question Essay Sample

Ielts writing task 2: essay sample (corrected).

Demography in western countries indicates that there will be more and more elderly people in the future. Due to better healthcare systems that are available and stricter requirements for working environments, the life expectancy of people has risen in over /with time. This has made people discuss ing whether people in their retirement age should stop working, or just the opposite, they should be more engaged in society and offered a chance to work as long as they want in spite of their high advanced age.

On the one hand, according to the fact that population is ageing in western countries, it an ageing population is gradually putting more pressure on younger generations who have to support elderly people. For instance, providing that there is an increasing number of elderly people, the people in their of working age will have to pay more tax to provide elderly people with access to healthcare services and to enable government to support them financially. Therefore, allowing people at the age of retirement to work as long as they want to would be something that both the government and pensioners could benefit from.

On the other hand, the list of occupations that would fit be suitable for /be opened to older people should be limited. There are many specific work tasks that may not be very suitable for older people, especially work duties that require a good physical fit fitness . Thus, a A good example would be a policeman who has to have a good physical stamina in order to stop criminals or even a firefighter who may have to climb on the ladders or roofs. However, it would be reasonable to assess a person's suitability for a certain position regarding to his or her age individually and on a case by case basis.

To sum up, I personally believe that offering elderly people a choice to be engaged in work and to stay active instead of quitting their job is better both for the whole society and themselves.

(314 words)

Band Score Estimate (prior to corrections)

Brief comments:

• thus = and so
• regarding / with regard to / regarding to

"I have 7+ years of IELTS teaching experience . I will correct your grammar and give suggestions for more appropriate word use. I will give you tips on how to answer the question in the way the IELTS examiners expect." — Claudia, IELTS teacher from the UK

See more useful IELTS essay resources:

• 5 Types of IELTS Essays with Questions & Samples
• How to Improve IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay? (recommended!)
• Essay vocabulary
• Linking words for IELTS

How it works

See a sample →

1. Choose your plan

• Detailed feedback
• Overall band score + for each criterion
• Grammar and content corrections
• Suggestions for improvement

2. Submit your order

We are here to help.

Whether you have any questions, want to leave feedback or discuss cooperation possibilities, do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help and will answer as soon as possible. In the meantime, discover our site and let it help you smooth your IELTS journey and make your studies more efficient.

You will find useful information on all the four IELTS test components:

Got a question? We'd love to hear from you!

IELTS Writing Topics May & June 2024

The collection of writing topics that were reported by IELTS student in 2024 . These questions could be repeated from previous months. Keep in mind that the provided questions are not predictions.

Pick one of the topics and improve your writing skills every day. If you can't come up with ideas for a topic just click the "Show answers" button and you will see the different ideas.

• Unlimited Task 1 checks Get all the feedback you need to keep improving your charts and letters.
• Unlimited Task 2 checks Practice and perfect your skills with essays.
• Personalized suggestions Know how to boost your score.
• Detailed mistakes analysis Get instant feedback. Spot every mistake.
• Topic ideas generator Get topic-specific ideas to enhance your writing.
• Vocabulary helper Get the right words for any topic.
• Progress tracking Track your writing improvements.

Welcome Guest!

• IELTS Listening
• IELTS Reading
• IELTS Writing
• IELTS Writing Task 1
• IELTS Writing Task 2
• IELTS Speaking
• IELTS Speaking Part 1
• IELTS Speaking Part 2
• IELTS Speaking Part 3
• IELTS Practice Tests
• IELTS Listening Practice Tests
• IELTS Reading Practice Tests
• IELTS Writing Practice Tests
• IELTS Speaking Practice Tests
• All Courses
• IELTS Online Classes
• OET Online Classes
• PTE Online Classes
• CELPIP Online Classes
• Free Live Classes
• Australia PR
• Germany Job Seeker Visa
• Austria Job Seeker Visa
• Sweden Job Seeker Visa
• Study Abroad
• Student Testimonials
• Our Trainers
• IELTS Webinar
• Immigration Webinar

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Essays

Updated On Oct 03, 2023

Share on Whatsapp

Share on Email

Share on Linkedin

Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!

The Essay Writing section of the IELTS Writing Module can be a difficult task for many IELTS aspirants. Thus, it is vital that you polish your essay writing skills before attempting the IELTS by practising various model essay topics.

A well-organized essay will help in scoring a desirable band in the writing test. A lot of the candidates who take the writing test will need at least 5-10 minutes to prepare for the essay once they get the topic. If you consider certain points while writing the essay, it’ll get a bit easier to get a high IELTS band score . Few points are listed below:

• Answer the question asked: Before answering, carefully read the question that is asked and try to answer the question to the point, do not divert from the topic. Whatever the topic is, try to explain as much as possible. Do not speak out of the topic, if you do so you may end up losing the marks.
• Plan your work: After you get the topic for writing, plan your work based on the format. Think about what has to be written in the introduction, two paragraphs, and a conclusion. Once you plan the work, you will get an idea automatically on how to write the essay and score high marks accordingly.
• Write, Review and Re-write: Before actually taking the IELTS Writing test, it is important to take a practice test. While taking the practice test, take a particular topic and start writing the essay. Once you are done writing the essay, go through it and review your mistakes. When you take the second practice test, try to improve or overcome the mistakes that happened before.
• Skills you need to have: To score a good band in the IELTS examination, there should be some relevant skills, there are two kinds of skills; exam skills as well as language skills. You need to find out which skills you are good at and should improve the skills in which you are not that good. In order to find this out, you need to take a lot of IELTS practice tests .

IELTS sample essays are given in different types of questions. And each type wants you to give a response in different ways. The IELTS model essay types are given below.

Agree and Disagree Type Questions

In this category, one opinion of the particular thing is given and you’ll be asked to discuss whether you agree or disagree with that particular opinion.

• IELTS Opinion Essay topics

Discuss Type Questions

In this type of question, there will be two opinions given, you are asked to understand both the opinions and give your point of view based on that.

• IELTS Discussion Essay Topics

Cause Type Questions

In this type of question, you need to give the reason or cause why something has happened and you are also asked to discuss the different aspects of it such as the effect, solutions, and positive and negative points. Given below are links to sample IELTS essays:

• IELTS Writing Actual Test In July 2016 & Band 8.0 Sample Cause/Solution Essay
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Cause/Solution Essay Of Band 8.5 – Topic: Tourism
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Cause/Solution Essay Of Band 8.0 – Topic: Health
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Cause/Solution Essay Of Band 8.0 – Juvenile Delinquency
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Cause/Solution Essay Of Band 8.0 – Topic: People & Society
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 8.5 Cause & Effect Essay
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 9.0 Sample Cause/Solution Essay
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 8.0+ Sample Cause/Solution Essay
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 9.0 Cause/Solution Essay
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 8.0 Cause/Solution Essays
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 – Cause And Solution

Problem and Solution Type Questions

In this type of question, you have to discuss the problems related to society and plan accordingly to create a solution for these particular issues. Given below are links of sample IELTS essays:

• IELTS Writing Task 2 Problem/Solution Essay Of Band 8.0 – Topic: Energy Resources
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Problem/Solution Essay Of Band 8.5 – Health And Fitness
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Sample: Describe A Time When You Solved A Problem Via The Internet
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 8.0 Problem/Solution Essay

Advantage and Disadvantage Type Questions

In this type of question, you have to give opinions relating to the positive and negative sides of a particular topic. Given below are links of sample IELTS essays:

• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic & Band 8.5 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay Of Band 8.0– Topic: Youth & Community
• Advantage/Disadvantage Essay – Topic: Students
• IELTS Writing Actual Test & Band 8.0 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay – Topic: Travel
• IELTS Writing Actual Test & Band 9.0 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay – Topic: Gap Year
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 8.5 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay
• IELTS Advantage/Disadvantage Essay Of Band 8.5 – Topic: Traffic & Accommodation
• IELTS Writing Actual Test – Band 8.0 Advantage & Disadvantage Samples
• IELTS Writing Actual Test- Band 8.0 Sample Advantage/Disadvantage Essays

Other Type Questions

There are other types of questions that do not fit in any of the categories above. So these kinds of questions are called other types of questions. Given below are links of sample IELTS essays:

• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic – Band 9.0 Sample Essay
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic (In April 2015) & Band 9.0 Sample Essay
• Sample Essay For Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 Topic 08 – Table
• Sample Essay For Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 Topic 07 – Table
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic: Traffic & Sample Essay
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic: International Car-Free Days & Sample Essay
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic: Living In Big Cities & Sample Essay

Academic Writing

The Academic Writing test will take 60 minutes to complete the test. You are asked to write 2 tasks, task 1 of at least 150 words, and task 2 of at least 250 words. In task 1 you’ll be given a table, chart, process diagram, or graph and you’ll have to describe it in around 150 words for which you can take 20 minutes. In task 2, a topic will be given and you should write a 250-word essay.

Given below are links to some of the IELTS writing material for academic:

• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic (In September 2015) & Band 9.0 Essay
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic ( In January 2016) & Band 9 Model Essay.
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic (In July 2015) & Band 9.0 Argumentative Essay
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic: Architecture & History – Sample Essay
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic: Environment & Sample Essay
• Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic: Economic Growth With Model Essay

General Training Writing

In the General Training test , you will have only 60 minutes to complete the test. There are 2 tasks, where you’ll have to write a 150 words essay for Task 1 and 250 words essay for task 2.

In task 1 you’ll have to write a letter, for example, a request letter. In task 2, it’ll be the same as Academic Writing where you’ll have to write a 250-word response according to the question given.

Bonus Essay Topics

• Many people believe that social networking sites have a huge negative impact on both individuals and society. To what extent do you agree?
• In spite of the advances made in agriculture, many people around the world still go hungry. Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?
• In many places new homes are needed, but the only space available for building them is in the countryside. Some people believe it is more important to protect the countryside and not build new homes there. What is your opinion about this?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is writing task 2 same for Academic and general module of IELTS?

What is the marking criteria for essay writing?

I’m confused about opinion essays. Eg.1: Even in agree/disagree essays they ask for your opinion like “To what extent you agree”. Eg.2: Even in advantage/disadvantage essays they ask for your opinion like “Do you think the advantages outweigh disadvantages”. Eg.3: There are essays which specifically ask for your opinion.

Can I write an essay which is more than 250 words? Will it improve my scores?

I have memorised some standard phrases to begin and end my essay? Will it improve my scores?

Practice IELTS Writing Task 2 based on Essay types

Start Preparing for IELTS: Get Your 10-Day Study Plan Today!

Janet had been an IELTS Trainer before she dived into the field of Content Writing. During her days of being a Trainer, Janet had written essays and sample answers which got her students an 8+ band in the IELTS Test. Her contributions to our articles have been engaging and simple to help the students understand and grasp the information with ease. Janet, born and brought up in California, had no idea about the IELTS until she moved to study in Canada. Her peers leaned to her for help as her first language was English.

Explore other Writing Articles

Kasturika Samanta

Akanksha Tripathi

Post your Comments

Recent articles.

Raajdeep Saha

Nehasri Ravishenbagam

Our Offices

Gurgaon city scape, gurgaon bptp.

Step 1 of 3

Great going .

Get a free session from trainer

Have you taken test before?

Please select any option

Get free eBook to excel in test

Please enter Email ID

Get support from an Band 9 trainer

Please enter phone number

Already Registered?

Select a date

Please select a date

Select a time (IST Time Zone)

Please select a time

Mark Your Calendar: Free Session with Expert on

Which exam are you preparing?

Great Going!

IELTS Band 9 sample essay

Band 9 Sample answers are useful as study guides for IELTS preparation for the IELTS Writing Task 2 essay – especially for a band 9 IELTS essay. Having access to previously completed work that you can have confidence in will show you what you are missing!

Take a look at these sample task 2 essay questions to help you prepare for your exam.

Use the following IELTS sample essay and its explanations to see how close you are to a band 9 in your IELTS writing essay!

Evaluation Criteria

Get your IELTS essay evaluated online (free)

Examples of Band 9 Essays

IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay Sample Question and Answer(1)

Why is this IELTS Essay a Band 9?

5 Tips for a Band 9 IELTS Essay

Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 Question and Answer(2)

Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 Question and Answer (3)

Useful Definitions of Advanced Vocabulary Used

Video: Band 9 EX-IELTS Examiner Essay Review

Sample 19 IELTS Essays and 240 Task 2 Essay Questions Ebook

Video: Useful IELTS Essay Writing Tip

Audio Resources

Additional IELTS Resources

IELTS essay task 2: evaluation criteria

IELTS writing tests are evaluated across 4 areas when your band score is calculated:

• Task achievement  – To what extent does the examinee address all parts of the task with a fully developed position, inclusive of fully extended and well supported ideas?
• Coherence and cohesion  – Does the candidate logically organise the information and ideas? Is the entire essay cohesive with a logical progression of ideas?
• Lexical resource  – To what extent does the examinee use a wide range of vocabulary with accuracy? Do they demonstrate sophistication regarding the use of lexical items?
• Grammatical range and accuracy  – Does the examinee use a range of grammatical structures accurately? Examples of these can be the use of complex sentences with sophisticated clauses instead of simple sentences with a repetitive structure:

Example : Students cannot use phones. They affect development > students are not allowed to use mobile phones in class due to possible distractions.

The British Council (the administrator of the IELTS) outlines 9 different bands of performance for each of the above dimensions here. Your scores in each of these dimensions are averaged to determine your overall band for your essay.

Let's take a look at an example essay that scored as band 9 and then we'll dig into each of these four areas to see why it received that score. It's very important to understand what the IELTS examiner is looking for.

These four criteria are used in our new online essay checker that gives you an estimated band score (free).

IELTS essay sample question (1)

Doing an enjoyable activity with a child can develop better skills and more creativity than reading. To what extent do you agree? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your answer.

IELTS sample essay answer (1)

Parents throughout the world place spend time reading with their offspring to prepare them for school where their literacy skills are further developed; however, recent research suggests that focusing on reading at an early age can be detrimental, and participating in fun activities would be far more beneficial. I am a strong advocate of this approach, and the benefits of it will be covered in this essay.

A fundamental reason for this is that there is no biological age for reading, and pushing infants to acquire this skill before they are ready could have repercussions. For example, in the UK, many boys are reluctant readers, possibly because of being forced to read, and this turned them off reading. By focusing on other activities and developing other skills such as creativity and imagination, when they are ready to read, they usually acquire this skill rapidly.

In addition, the importance of encouraging creativity and developing a child's imagination must be acknowledged. Through play, youngsters develop social and cognitive skills, for example, they are more likely to learn vocabulary through context rather than learning it from a book.

Furthermore, play allows youngsters to mature emotionally, and gain self-confidence. There is no scientific research which suggests reading at a young age is essential for a child's development, moreover, evidence suggests the reverse is true. In Finland, early years' education focuses on playing.

Reading is only encouraged if a child shows an interest in developing this skill. This self-directed approach certainly does not result in Finnish school leavers falling behind their foreign counterparts. In fact, Finland was ranked the sixth-best in the world in terms of reading.

Despite being a supporter of this non-reading approach, I strongly recommend incorporating bedtime stories into a child's daily routine. However, reading as a regular daytime activity should be swapped for something which allows the child to develop other skills.

Why is this essay a band 9?

Task achievement.

According to the IELTS Writing Band Descriptors, an essay is Band 9 for Task Achievement if it:

• Fully addresses  all parts of the task
• Presents a  fully developed  position in answer to the question with relevant, fully extended and well supported ideas.

In order to score well on Task Achievement, the most important thing is  to make sure you respond to what is being asked of you . Is the prompt asking for an opinion, a discussion of a problem, a solution to a problem, or some combination of these? If you provide an opinion and not a solution when you're being asked for a solution, you're not going to score well in this area. Read the question carefully!

The prompt for this essay asks:  “To what extent do you agree [with the previous statement]? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your answer.”  It wants an opinion – with support!

This essay addresses all parts of this task. The opinion is included in the introduction to make the writer's position clear, and then the following paragraphs support the writer's position with examples and justifications. Overall, the response is full and relevant and each of the points is detailed and connected to the thesis.

Coherence and cohesion

Think of this as “How well does the essay flow? Is it easy to follow and does it all tie together?” The exact characteristics for a Band 9 C&C score are that an essay:

• Uses cohesion in such a way that it attracts no attention
• Skilfully manages paragraphing

Note the specific wording “it attracts no attention.” The goal here is for things to sound natural and not forced. How do you connect your ideas (ensure cohesion) without it sounding forced? I think there are 2 possible ways:

• Explain your ideas in a logical order so that you don't need many linking words . This is probably what you do when writing in your own language.
• Use easy linking words like and, but, also, firstly, secondly, finally, for example. These are so common that they attract almost no attention.

This IELTS Sample essay does a good job of this – you'll notice that each paragraph naturally (logically) follows the one prior, providing additional support for the original opinion, and some simple linking words –  in addition, furthermore  (both paragraph 2) and  moreover  (paragraph 3) – are used throughout. These are all good discourse markers that show what is coming next adds to the argument and are slightly more sophisticated than firstly, secondly, and thirdly but don't come across as being forced.

The other aspect to scoring high in C&C is ensuring an essay is well-structured. What do I mean by that? A well-structured essay has a good introduction, body paragraphs that are easy to follow and connect with one another, and a good conclusion. Each body paragraph should also have its own topic sentence and support and then smoothly transition to the next paragraph.

Our sample IELTS essay has a “simple but good” introduction in which it shows that the examinee has knowledge of the topic and clearly states the writer's position to set up the rest of the essay. The paragraphs all have topic sentences, which are then supported by examples, and are easy to follow. The main body and conclusion relate back to the thesis in the introduction.

A note on conclusions…  there are two schools of thought when it comes to how to conclude an IELTS essay. One is to conclude with one simple sentence so that you spend more time perfecting your main body paragraphs. The other is to wrap up with two sentences, once which includes a small prediction (ie, how you think things might turn out) as a way to show the examiner that you know how to correctly use another tense (which will help boost your GR&A score – more on that in a minute). Either is fine, just don't forget your conclusion!

Taking time to plan out and organise your response  before  you start writing is an extremely important step in scoring well in Coherence and Cohesion for your IELTS essay – make sure you do so to ensure your essay is well structured and reads cohesively when you're done!

Lexical resource

Scoring well in the  Lexical Resource  dimension is all about (correctly) showing off your vocabulary. The description for a Band 9 here is:

• Uses a wide range of vocabulary with very natural and sophisticated control of lexical features, rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips'

Collocations,  topic-specific  vocabulary  and  phrasal  verbs  are the name of the game here. To score well, an examinee needs to show that they have a wide-ranging vocabulary and they know how to use it.

Our sample essay does a solid job of showing off a  range of vocabulary  – you'll notice that while the essay frequently refers to children, the writer employs different vocabulary ( infants, youngsters, offspring, counterparts ) to do so.

Note : it is highly likely that you will need to refer to people/children in your IELTS Writing task 2 , so make sure that you have lots of different words to use to refer to them.

IELTS examiners do not like to see the words  “people,” “children”  over and over again! The same goes for the word “ important ” – make sure you have plenty of alternative phrases ( essential  and  vital  are both used in our sample essay).

Other examples of a  wide-ranging vocabulary  in our essay include using  rapidly  in place of  quickly ,  mature  instead of develop,  repercussions  to indicate a negative result, and  acquire  in place of learn.

Our sample essay also does a good job of using  collocations  – some examples include  “fundamental reason,” “reluctant readers” “social and cognitive skills,” “learn vocabulary through context,”  and  “strongly recommend.”

The correct use of  phrasal  verbs  also demonstrates one's grasp of English – because of the semantics involved, they are sometimes one of the most difficult things for English language learners to master. Our essay writer correctly uses a few of these including “ turned them off”  and  “falling behind .”

One note here: students preparing for the IELTS  often ask if they should use  idioms  (like “you're barking up the wrong tree”) in their essays to further demonstrate their grasp of the language. In my opinion, no, you shouldn't. Idioms are informal by nature and not appropriate for a written essay of this type. Stick with demonstrating your range of vocabulary and your ability to use phrasal  verbs  correctly!

Grammatical range and accuracy

The final scoring dimension is related to grammar and grammatical structures – do you know them and can you correctly use them?

The Band 9 description for grammatical range and accuracy :

• Uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare minor errors occur only as slips

Note that there is nothing in the scoring criteria about including specific tenses or sentence constructions. Your main objective should be to reduce the number of mistakes that you make. An essay that contains no mistakes is likely to get a 9 for grammar, regardless of the types of sentence that it may or may not contain.

If there is a nice mix of long and short sentences in your IELTS essays, you'll meet the grammar requirements. Remember, as soon as you write a “long” sentence you are naturally going to use connectives (linking words), which will make the sentence ‘compound' or ‘complex'. So, don't think too much about the grammar – just aim to reduce the number of mistakes that you make, and try to include a few longer sentences.

Some examples from the sample essay that illustrate the writer's grammatical range and help it easily score as a band 9 include:

• appropriate uses of modal verbs in the passive voice:  “are further developed,” “will be covered,” “must be acknowledged,” “should be swapped.”
• “ to focus on ” is correctly followed by an -ing form
• However  is used correctly with a semicolon before it and a comma after
• “ because of ,” “rather than,” and are correctly followed by -ing verbs

5 Tips for an IELTS writing task 2 band 9 essay

1. answer what is being asked.

Make sure you read the prompt carefully and answer the essay questions you’re being asked. I can’t emphasise this enough. In order to score well on Task Achievement, you need to appropriately and fully address the task.

2. Plan your work, work your plan.

Plan out your essay before you start writing. What are your main points? What order are you going to make them in? How do they link together? Having a well organised essay is key scoring high marks for Coherence and Cohesion. Many IELTS test-takers will spend up to 10 minutes planning out their essay before they start writing. A few points to keep in mind:

• Your essay should have 4-5 paragraphs in total and at least 250 words
• Plan your supporting points so that they don’t go off-topic

3. Write, review, re-write

Write your essay, review it and then “rewrite” it. Don’t focus on getting things perfect upfront – you don’t want to waste 15 minutes trying to come up with the perfect synonym for something and then not have enough time to finish your full essay! Write your essay first (an unwritten essay won’t score well at all!) and then go back through it to see how you can improve it. Some essay questions to ask yourself at this stage:

• Are there places where you can swap out stronger words for weaker ones in order to improve your Lexical Resource score?
• Are there places where you can phrase things differently in order to illustrate your Grammatical Range?

4. Where are you falling?

To pass with a Band 9 the reality is you need two sets of skills:

• Exam skills
• Language skills

What are exam skills?

Can you plan an effective essay? Quickly? Ideally between 3-5 minutes.

Can you think of enough ideas and examples to put in the essay plan?

Firstly you need to discover which of these skills you need. To do this you get feedback, either from an online IELTS essay checker or for more detailed feedback you can use our IELTS essay correction service .

The main goal is to find out which part of the essay writing process is costing you the most amount of time, points or stress.

Personally, the easiest and fastest way to get these skills is to do an online course specialised in training students with these skills. Here is a good course for that.

5. Better language skills?

A lot of students fail the  IELTS exam or end up with a band in their IELTS writing test that does not meet their requirements. Also, a significant number of students look to Google to search for “IELTS Writing tips” or “Task two tips”. These tips might be helpful but sometimes the real problem might just be in their general language or writing skills.

Writing error-free perfect sentences is probably much more challenging than students think, especially under exam conditions i.e in 40 minutes with immense pressure to pass. These can result in often mixed outcomes with both positive or negative development occurring at one and the same time.

One of the most important ways to improve language skills is to receive feedback. This can be by asking someone to review written work and will expose the positive or negative development mentioned earlier. This is very common and not something that is a negative issue overall.

Have a look at our essay correction service that will review your essays for you and help you improve and pass the IELTS test.

Here is a checklist of what is needed for reaching Band 9, it includes what the examiner wants to see, and what to do to write at a Band 9 level.

Sample IELTS writing task 2 question (2)

Today, the quality of life in large cities is decreasing. Discuss the causes and solutions.

IELTS writing task 2: essay sample answer (2)

The global phenomenon of urbanisation from the beginning of industrialisation to the present day has brought opportunity and prosperity, albeit at a cost in the quality of life. With an increasing city population, the complexity of the challenges also increases for the globe as well as the local community. Therefore, the causes and effects of these on the current generation, as well as possible solutions are outlined below.

The causes for the decrease in the quality of life are paradoxically the prosperity endowed on such metropolitan centres. Their growth is largely due to the increase of opportunities on offer, which in turn increases their attractiveness, essentially they are trapped in a positive self-reinforcing cycle. While such developments have a positive impact on immediate economic objectives, it perpetuates behaviours that can have a negative impact in the long term.

However, this eventually leads to a decrease in the quality of life as the city can experience overcrowding, exorbitant property prices, and increased vulnerability to terrorist attacks. For example, the density of London makes it a more efficient place to attack, when compared to a smaller city such as Bradford.

Therefore, due to continuous growth and prosperity, urban citizens, especially the less well off, often experience a lower standard of living. Even greater than this, are the relevant examples of natural disasters such as recent fires in Australia, which brought about unprecedented weather patterns resulting in the destruction of wild and rare animals. These effects are far from uniform, as they affect different countries in ways unseen by previous generations.

Considering the solutions, greater investment in public transport would ease traffic congestion, as would bike lanes. In theory, this would reduce air pollution, and possibly improve the well-being of the population if they did adopt a more active lifestyle and cycle to work. While these solutions are local, if adopted globally, would affect individuals and many countries alike. A collective effort is needed to use social networks and other media to highlight the negative effect of urbanisation as well as the negative sides of the wider ramifications on the population.

To conclude, while it could be argued that urbanisation advantages outweigh the disadvantages, a wealthy city attracts a large population inflow, which then causes pressure on existing infrastructure and security. Various solutions exist to mitigate such drawbacks, such as social networks being used to raise awareness of such negative impacts on many countries, nevertheless an indefinite solution has yet to be found.

Sample IELTS writing task 2 question (3)

Social media marketing can influence what consumers buy. Do you agree or disagree? To what extent do you agree?

IELTS writing task 2: essay sample answer (3)

Since the introduction of social media applications in the early 2000's the world has become a much smaller place. Social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have become information sources for a majority of the global market.

As such, it could be argued that marketing, which happens to be a source of information accessible on these platforms can influence the consumers who use them. This notion is further aided by the rise in online retail stores that conduct the bulk of their transactions online. This makes it easier for the consumer to purchase from anywhere in the world.

As a consumer on social media, you are constantly bombarded with advertisements of various products that are specifically designed to catch your attention. This means that most of the adverts on your news feeds aren't random and will almost always feature something you have previously searched online or something currently popular or trending. Given the fact that most social media users are young consumers who are influenced by current trends and happenings, these adverts will almost always catch their eye.

The habit of sharing, retweeting and liking also ensure that these adverts get around, quite fast. As such, when an advert does reach your news feed you have already probably seen it on your friend's news feed. The truth is, adverts are a form of information and with the age of the internet, information spreads faster than a wildfire.

Therefore, it only makes sense that in the era and age of technology, globalization and the need to be trendy, social media marketing can influence what consumers buy.

Useful definitions of advanced vocabulary used

Paradoxically

Equivalent sentences

“For example, it is said, the CCTV in London has foiled many potential attacks, and therefore greatly increased the security of its citizens.” Could also be said as:

“Statistics show that CCTV used in London has scuppered many a terrorist plot, massively contributing to the security of its citizens.”

More Equivalent sentences Various solutions exist to mitigate such drawbacks, nevertheless an indefinite solution has yet to be found.

Could also be said as:

A myriad of partial fixes exist for these issues, yet a permanent solution is still out of reach.

There are many methods employed to quell this flow of people, but still a reliable solution has not been discovered.

IELTS writing task 2: vocabulary booster

The highlighted sections in the following paragraph represent key phrases or words relating to this topic. Study this paragraph to expand your vocabulary knowledge on this topic:

The modern urban environment varies considerably depending on both the city that produces it and the individual who perceives it; Each experiencing a unique blend of at least some economic success, varying degrees of localised or wider deprivation and periods of growth and decline. Environmental factors permitting, a city will provide well for its citizens as long as it can properly manage the execution of social policy.

Globalisation presents many challenges for those responsible for the policy as large inflows of people are to be expected in a place of success and therefore opportunity; The ensuing mixing of cultures has far-reaching social consequences that can affect how the city is both presented and perceived.

Considerably Con·sid·er·a·ble (kən-sĭd′ər-ə-bəl) adj. 1. Large in amount, extent, or degree: a writer of considerable influence. 2. Worthy of consideration; significant: The economy was a considerable issue in the campaign.

Perceive Per·ceive (pər-sēv′) tr.v. per·ceived, per·ceiv·ing, per·ceives 1a. To become aware of (something) directly through any of the senses, especially sight or hearing: We could perceive three figures in the fog. 1b. To cause or allow the mind to become aware of (a stimulus): The ear perceives sounds. 2. To achieve understanding of; apprehend: Einstein perceived that energy and matter are equivalent . 3. To regard or consider; deem: an old technology that is still perceived as useful; a politician who is perceived to be untrustworthy.

Deprivation Dep·ri·va·tion (dĕp′rə-vā′shən) n. 1. The/an act or an instance of depriving; Loss . 2. The state of being deprived: social deprivation; a cycle of deprivation and violence.

“The town’s generally miserable appearance led her to perceive it as a place of considerable deprivation.”

IELTS writing task 2: further reading

There are many more writing samples for you to explore.

The BBC has great pages on discursive writing and general writing , also, this video is good for learning how to give examples.

You can even read a sample Harvard essay aimed at preparing students for academic writing.

Remember! Select a text that is appropriate for your level. Choosing the wrong text can result in a loss of confidence and feeling bad never helped anyone to learn anything quickly!

Video: Band 9 ex-IELTS examiner essay review

Click here to Subscribe to the Youtube Channel.

Sign up for the sample 19 IELTS essays and 240 task 2 essay questions ebook

Video: ielts writing task 2-extremely useful sentences.

Optimize Your Writing: Try Our Online IELTS Essay Checker

Writing a good essay for the IELTS is important. You want to get a high score, right? But sometimes, it's hard to know if your essay is good. That's why we made a special tool to help you. It's called the online IELTS essay checker .

How does it work? You put your essay into the tool, it then looks at your essay and tells you what you did right and where you can do better. This helps you learn quickly.

The good news is that our tool can help you save money. Some students pay a lot for classes or books to learn how to write better. But our tool is not expensive. And it gives you fast help.

So, after you read the sample essay on this page, try our online IELTS essay checker . It will show you how to write even better essays.

To sum it up, our online IELTS essay checker is here to help you. It's easy to use and not costly. We want you to do your best in the IELTS without spending too much money. Good luck with your writing!

Additional IELTS writing task 2 resources

• The University of Manchester Academic Phrasebook provides guidelines and examples of how to introduce essay topics, discuss findings and write conclusions
• The University of Birmingham Guide to Academic Writing provides tips on paraphrasing, in addition to how to plan, structure and write an essay
• Use these useful sentences for IELTS Writing Task 2 .
• This page is good for sample essay topics and answers, also for Task Two.

IELTS writing essay task 2 Sample Band 8 The writing part of your IELTS exam is a great place to score some extra points, especially if you are looking to score within band 8. Here is a task 2 writing sample to help you do just that.

Vocabulary for IELTS Vocabulary is probably the most important part of preparing successfully for IELTS. It is used for both the speaking and writing part of the exam. Click here to view some essential vocabulary.

General essay topics The IELTS exam has a number of general essay topics that span a number of disciplines ad subject matters. To have an idea of what to expect check out our list of general essay topics.

• Free Essay Band Score Evaluation
• Sign up to claim your free IELTS materials
• Jump to Band 7 or it’s Free
• IELTS Writing Evaluation
• IELTS Band Score Calculator
• Book Your Online IELTS Test
• Sample Topic Answers
• Useful Sentences
• Sample Task 2 Questions 2022
• Introduction to Paraphrasing
• Model Band 9 Essay
• Five Band 9 Words
• Model Band 7 Essay
• Differences Band 9 vs Band 7 Essay
• Band 6.5 Essay
• Academic Collocations
• Topic Sentences
• Discuss Both Views
• Tutorial: To What Extent Essays
• Paraphrasing Introductions
• Essay Structures
• Essay Plans
• Describe a Pie Chart
• Using Percentages
• Map Vocabulary
• Describe Flow Charts
• Describe a Bar Chart
• How to get Band 9
• AT 1 Sample Questions 2022
• Describe a Graphic
• GT Task 1 Questions 2022
• IELTS Vocabulary
• Google Play / Podcasts
• Apple Podcast
• Android App
• Task 2 Sample Questions
• AT 1 Questions

Company addresses: HK Office: BW ENGLISH SERVICES HK Ltd, Unit 2512, 25/F, Langham Place Office Tower, 8 Argyle Street, Mongkok, Hong Kong UK Office: BW ENGLISH SERVICES, 120 High Road, East Finchley, N29ED, London, England, United Kingdom ​+44 20 3951 8271 ($1/min).

• Trending Now
• Foundational Courses
• Data Science
• Practice Problem
• Machine Learning
• System Design
• DevOps Tutorial
• English Essay Writing Tips, Examples, Format
• 12 Best ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing Assistance in 2024
• 10 Best Practices For Writing Documentation
• 10 Best AI Tools for Assignment Writing in 2024
• Top 10 Google Docs Shortcuts To Make Writing and Editing Easier
• What is Article Writing? Objective, Format, Samples & Tips
• Essay on My Family: Short, 10 Lines, 100 Words Essay
• Top 10 Free AI Writing Tools for Content Creators
• A Guide to Writing an Essay for Job Interviews
• Content Writing 101 | A Beginner's Guide for Content Writer
• 5 Content Writing Tools to Improve your Content Writing Skills
• Why Writing Skills Are Important For Students?
• How to Use Transition Sentences for Smoother Writing?
• Tips and Tricks to Solve Para Jumbles
• Top Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks for Better Productivity
• Write From Home Challenge - Technical Content Writing Event By GeeksforGeeks
• Fill In The Blanks - Rules, Tips and Tricks with Examples
• Start Content Writing at GeeksforGeeks - Give Words to Your Ideas & Learnings!
• How Content Writing at GeeksforGeeks works?

IELTS Writing Task 1 & Task 2 Tips- Tricks to Write Good Essay

IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is conducted to measure a candidate’s English proficiency. IELTS is one of the most preferred English proficiency tests which measures a candidate’s skills in four different sections: Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking. Candidates must prepare for all the sections thoroughly to secure a better band on the test.

On this page, we will be discussing IELTS Writing Tips for Task 1 and Task 2. Candidates must understand the entire exam structure and the types of questions asked on the test before beginning their exam preparation.

Table of Content

IELTS Writing Structure

10 ielts writing tips for task 1 and task 2, ielts writing tips for task 1 and task 2- faqs, how to score 8 bands in ielts writing, what is ielts writing task 1 and task 2, what are some ielts writing tips for task 1 and task 2, is ielts writing important, how to score 8 bands on ielts.

A lot of IELTS aspirants find IELTS Writing quite challenging. Surely the questions are tricky and often involve complicated language. However, with the right knowledge and preparation, any IELTS aspirant can score well on IELTS Writing. The first thing candidates have to do is understand the exam structure and the types of questions asked. In IELTS Writing, there are two categories; Academic and General Training. Both these categories include two tasks; Task 1 and Task 2. Take a look at the table below for a better understanding of the IELTS Writing section.

To score a better band on IELTS, candidates must score well on all four sections of the test. A lot of candidates consider IELTS Writing tasks quite challenging because you only get 60 minutes to complete both tasks, with specific word limits, Task 2 essay topics cover a wide range of complex issues, including social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues, and others. However, IELTS aspirants need not worry about these challenges, as are going to discuss some tips to score well in this section.

• Read the instructions carefully for each task and make sure you understand what is expected of you.
• Familiarize yourself with the test format and practice writing essays and task responses regularly.
• Allocate time for planning, writing, and reviewing your response within the 60-minute timeframe.
• Study sample essays from official sources or past test papers to understand the structure, language, and organization of high-scoring responses.
• Organize your essays with clear introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs. In Task 1, present an overview of the main trends or features before providing specific details. In Task 2, follow a traditional essay structure with a clear thesis statement, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• Use a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures to showcase your language proficiency.
• To support your arguments, use relevant examples, data or personal experiences to illustrate your points effectively.
• Ensure your writing flows logically from one paragraph to the next, with clear transitions and connections between ideas.
• Proofread your essays carefully to eliminate spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.
• Simulate test conditions as closely as possible when practising, including timing yourself and writing your responses by hand. This will help you build confidence and familiarity with the test format.

These IELTS Writing tips will surely help you score well in both tasks. Candidates must do deliberate practice if they want to get admission to their dream university.

Also Read: IELTS Minimum Score for Top Universities in 2024 IELTS Average Score: Across Worldwide and India IELTS Exam Pattern 2024: Section-wise IELTS Exam Paper Pattern, Question Types IELTS Exam Syllabus 2024 (Section-Wise): Listening, Reading, Writing & Speaking

To score 8 bands in IELTS Writing, you need to ace in both Task 1 and Task 2. Task 1 involves Report Writing for IELTS Academic and Letter Writing for IELTS General. Task 2 includes Essay Writing for both Academic and General. You must understand the structure of the test first and then begin your pratice accordingly. Allocate time for planning, writing, and reviewing your response within the 60-minute timeframe. To strengthen your preparation, try to solve IELTS official practice tests online and score well in those tests.

IELTS Writing section includes two tasks: Task 1 and 2. Candidates are given 60 minutes to complete both these tasks, which involve Report and Letter Writing and Essay Writing. Candidates must check the exam structure and format before beginning their preparation.

The first preparation tip is to understand the task requirements. Read the instructions carefully for each task and make sure you understand what is expected of you. Task response is crucial for scoring well, so ensure you address all aspects of the prompt. Familiarize yourself with the test format and practice writing essays and task responses regularly. This will help you improve your writing skills and become more comfortable with the test conditions. Allocate time for planning, writing, and reviewing your response within the 60-minute timeframe. Practice time management strategies to ensure you have enough time to complete both tasks satisfactorily. Enhance your knowledge and confidence by solving official pratice tests.

IELTS Writing section is very important as it carries a significant weight in determining your overall band score. IELTS Writing contributes equally to the overall band score as the other three sections. Therefore, you must focus on performing well in the Writing section ito achieve a high overall band score. Task 1 and Task 2 assess your ability to communicate effectively in written English, including your vocabulary, grammar, coherence, and cohesion. These skills are crucial for academic study, work, and daily communication in English-speaking environments.

Scoring 8 bands on IELTS might sound like a hard nut to crack but it is not impossible. All you require is a combination of strong language skills, effective test-taking strategies, and thorough preparation. You have to understand the exam pattern of all the four sections; Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking. What is your current status and what score you have in mind will help you understand how much you have to prepare. Take a practice test to assess your current proficiency level in English and identify areas for improvement. Develop strong language skills by reading, writing, speaking and listening academic journals, newspapers, blogs and other academic related content. Use official IELTS practice materials, including sample tests and past exam papers, to familiarize yourself with the test format and types of questions.

This was all about IELTS Writing tips for Task 1 and Task 2. The above-listed tips will surely help aspirants score well in their IELTS Writing. For more such informative topics on IELTS and other standardised tests, visit GeeksforGeeks.

Please Login to comment...

Similar reads.

• Study Abroad

Improve your Coding Skills with Practice

What kind of Experience do you want to share?