Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ielts Task 2
Ielts Task 2
The task is what you have to do, and is usually at the end of the rubric. For example,
look at this IELTS essay question:
As global trade increases, many goods including those we use on a daily basis
are produced in other countries and transported long distances.
What you have to do (the task) is explain whether you think, overall, an increase in the
production of goods in other countries and their subsequent transportation over long
distances is more advantageousor disadvantageous.
It is also an opinion essay as it is asking you to make a decision on whether you think
there are more advantages or disadvantages. So you need to make this clear as well.
Page 1 of 17
Due to the increase in global trade, many of the goods that we consume every day are
made in a different country and then transported over a long distance in order to reach
us. In my opinion, this trend has more disadvantages than advantages.
You would then go on to write about the advantages and disadvantages of global trade
(focusing more on the disadvantagesas you think there are more of these).
*Just a quick note on the word 'outweigh'. This word often confuses students and they
end up writing a thesis statement opinion that contradicts what they write in the essay.
The simple answer - don't use the word! It is just asking you if there are more
advantages than disadvantages. So just state what you think in the thesis without using
the word, as in the example.
There are some broad types of essay question that are common to see, but they can all
vary slightly.
The golden rule is to always read the question very carefully (never rush this as you
may not fully answer the question) and work out what you have to do.
Your thesis statement will then follow on from this, depending on what you have
decided you need to write about in order to answer the question.
So below are some suggestions of what you could do for certain common kinds of
essay question, but this is not to say these are right and other ways are wrong. There
are numerous ways to write good thesis statements and these are just possibilities.
Some questions ask you specifically to discuss two opinions and to give your
opinion.
Some people think that young children should be allowed to do paid work, while
others think that this should be illegal.
There are various ways you could choose to write an introduction and thesis for this.
Example 1
Page 2 of 17
You could begin by paraphrasing the two opinions, then stating in the thesis what you
will do:
Some people believe that it is acceptable for young children to undertake jobs that they
are paid for, whereas others believe that this is wrong and should be illegal. This essay
will discuss both sides of the issue.
This is quite simplistic but it makes it very clear what you are going to do.
You will obviously need to give your opinion as well in the essay, but stating this in the
thesis ("This essay will discuss both sides of the issue and then give my opinion")
sounds awkward so it is better without it.
Example 2
Another possible way to do it is by having a sentence to introduce the topic first, and
then paraphrasing the two opinions to make them your thesis:
At present, more and more young children are becoming involved in paid work. Whilst
some people are of the opinion that this is an entirely acceptable practice, others
believe that this is completely wrong and should be made illegal.
This is fine as your thesis will match with your essay - you go on to discuss the first
opinion and then the second one.
Example 3
At present, more and more young children are becoming involved in paid work. Whilst
some people are of the opinion that this is an entirely acceptable practice, I
believe that this is completely wrong and should be made illegal.
2) Agreeing or Disagreeing
Another type of question is when you are asked to agree or disagreewith one opinion.
For this type of question, you need to state what your opinion is in the thesis statement.
Page 3 of 17
Although you could feasibly do this in the conclusion, I think it is better to do it first so it
is clear to someone reading the essay what your opinion is upfront. It is not wrong
though to put it in the conclusion - this is your choice.
Your thesis statement here will depend on whether you agree, disagree, or partly agree.
Here are some examples of each:
These examples illustrate why it is important to ananlyze the question carefully and
brainstorm your ideas first so you have a clear idea of what you will be writing and what
your opinion is.
3) Other Essays
Some other essays may not ask you for your opinion specifically, but may ask you to
discuss, for example, problems and solutions, causes and effects, advantages and
disadvantages.
If you are asked to do this, then you should just clearly state that you will be discussing
these two things in your essay. Here are some examples:
Identify one or two serious ones and suggest ways that governments and
individuals can tackle these problems.
Page 4 of 17
Many countries of the world are currently experiencing problems caused by rapidly
growing populations in urban areas. Both governments and individuals have a duty
to find ways to overcome these problems.
Over the last ten years, Western societies have seen close to a 20% rise in the number
of children who are overweight. This essay will discuss some reasons why this has
occurred and examine the consequences of this worrying trend.
In order to solve traffic problems, governments should tax private car owners
heavily and use the money to improve public transportation.
Traffic congestion in many cities around the world is severe. One possible solution to
this problem is to impose heavy taxes on car drivers and use this money to make public
transport better. This essay will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of such a
measure.
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.
Studying Abroad
Studying abroad has two main benefits. Firstly, people who study abroad can get a
better job when they return to their home country. This is because their qualifications
and experience mean that they tend to get jobs that are higher paid, and they can also
gain promotion quickly. Another advantage of studying abroad is the independence
Page 5 of 17
students can gain. For example, students have to cope with the challenges of living
alone and meeting new people from different cultures. As a consequence, they will
become more confident in their life and in their relationships with others. All in all, it is
clear that studying abroad is a beneficial experience.
Topic sentence
Supporting sentences
Concluding sentence
1. Topic Sentence
The topic sentence states what the paragraph will be about. It gives the topic of the
paragraph, and it also restricts the topic to one or two main ideas which can be
explained fully in the space of one paragraph. The controlling idea is the specific area
that the topic is limited to:
2. Supporting Sentences
Supporting sentences explain and develop the topic sentence. Specifically, they
discuss the topic sentence by explaining the main ideas and discussing those more fully
using reasons, examples, facts, results, statistics, or anything else that proves your
ideas are true.
The supporting sentences that explain the benefits of studying abroad are:
People get a better job when they return home (1st supporting idea)
Better qualifications & experience mean better pay and promotion (reason)
Now has a high standard of living (result)
Students gain independence (2nd supporting idea)
Students have to cope with the challenges of living alone and meeting new people from
different cultures.(example)
Page 6 of 17
Students will become more confident in their life and relationships (result)
3. Concluding Sentence (Optional)
A concluding sentence can be used to signal the end of the paragraph. It tells the
reader the important points to remember. It is often a paraphrase of the topic sentence.
Unity means that you discuss only one main (central) topic area in a paragraph. The
area that you are going to cover is usually introduced in the topic sentence, and your
supporting sentences should only be used to develop that.
For the topic sentence above, you could discuss only two benefits of studying abroad.
You could not discuss three benefits, or start discussing the disadvantages of studying
abroad. If you did, your paragraph would not have unity.
Even if there is no specific topic sentence (more advanced writers do not always have
an obvious topic sentence), the paragraph should still have one central topic area so it
retains unity.
2. Coherence
Page 7 of 17
Another element of good paragraph writing is coherency. This means your paragraph is
easy to understand and read because
For example, in the paragraph about studying abroad, there are two main ideas: People
who study abroad can get a better job, and they will become more independent. Each
of these ideas is discussed, one after the other, with examples, reasons and results to
support them. This is logical order.
Furthermore, the relationship between the ideas is clearly shown by using appropriate
transition words and phrases such as first of all, for instance, the result of this, another
advantage, as a consequence, all in all. Using such words and phrases will guide the
reader through your paragraph, making it coherent and, therefore, easy to understand.
Academic/Formal Writing
The IELTS expects you to use an academic/formal writing style. This means you should use
the same kind of language that you would when writing a report for work or an essay for
school. Obviously, you would avoid using “slang” words. You would also write in complete
sentences and use proper punctuation. Here are some additional features of
academic/formal writing to keep in mind for Task 2:
Organize ideas into separate paragraphs: You will lose points if you do not divide your
essay into paragraphs. In the next section of this post, I’ve included an IELTS Writing Task
2 response template. The template includes the essential paragraphs you should include in
your Task 2 response. Generally speaking, your essay must have an introduction paragraph,
2 – 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Write in complete sentences: Make sure each sentence you write has an independent
clause with a subject and verb. When you write complex or compound sentences, use
“connectors” like coordinating conjunctions (and, but, so, etc) or subordinating conjunctions
(when, although, because, etc).
Page 8 of 17
Avoid repetition of words and ideas: Your ideas should move from one to the next
logically, and you should show off your vocabulary by avoiding redundancy (don’t repeat the
same words over and over).
Avoid “slang:” The English you hear in the movies or read on social media is often
inappropriate for formal writing. It is a big problem to use words like “dude” or spellings like
“U” (for “you”) on the IELTS.
Thoughtful and Neutral Tone: Academic/formal writing has a very careful and thoughtful
tone. It rarely sounds angry, excited, or overly certain about an idea. It is also best to avoid
broad generalizations in formal/academic compositions. Here are some examples to
demonstrate:
NOT ACADEMIC: I have the best solution to the problem. (Too certain)
ACADEMIC: I would suggest this solution to the problem.
Page 9 of 17
Task 2 Templates as per the question types:
Page 10 of 17
IELTS Writing Question Types: Advantages and Disadvantages
Page 11 of 17
IELTS
S Writing Question Types: Causes and Solutions to a Problem
Page 12 of 17
IELTS Writing Question Types: Discuss both sides (and give your opinion)
Page 13 of 17
IELTS Writing Question Types: Thematic
Page 14 of 17
IELTS Essay Conclusion
Learn how to write a quick conclusion for an IELTS essay.
You should also have a formula for writing the conclusion quickly so you can focus your
time on developing your ideas and supporting them in your body paragraphs.
Question:
Blood sports have become a hot topic for debate in recent years. As society
develops it is increasingly seen as an uncivilized activity and cruel to the helpless
animals that are killed. Blood sports should be banned.
Despite the fact that killing animals for sport is popular in modern society, it remains a
contentious issue. (thesis) I believe that blood sports are cruel and uncivilized
and so should be banned as soon as possible.
Sample IELTS essay conclusion:
In order to write the first sentence of the IELTS essay conclusion, you can paraphrase
your thesis statement - remember to use a phrase to make it clear it is a conclusion.
Page 15 of 17
For your final sentence, you can give some personal opinions, hopes, fears, or
recommendations about the future.
I hope that governments around the world discuss this issue with haste and
forbid this inhumane type of sport as soon as possible.
This then, is the full IELTS essay conclusion:
Introduction:
To sum up, I strongly believe that conventional medicine and alternative therapies can
and should coexist. They have different strengths, and can both be used effectively to
target particular medical problems. The best situation would be for alternative
therapies to be used to support and complement conventional medicine.
Page 16 of 17
Question:
Some people believe the aim of university education is to help graduates get
better jobs. Others believe there are much wider benefits of university education
for both individuals and society.
Introduction:
These days, more and more people are making the choice to go to university. While
some people are of the opinion that the only purpose of a university education is to
improve job prospects, others think that society and the individual benefit in much
broader ways.
Conclusion:
All in all, I believe that although a main aim of university education is to get the best
job, there are clearly further benefits. If we continue to promote and encourage
university attendance, it will lead to a better future for individuals and society.
Question:
Global warming is one of the most serious issues that the world is facing today.
What are the causes of global warming and what measures can governments and
individuals take to tackle the issue?
Introduction:
Probably the most worrying threat to our planet at the present time is global
warming. This essay will examine the reasons why global warming is occurring and
discuss some possible solutions.
Conclusion:
To conclude, although global warming is a serious issue, there are steps that
governments and individuals can take to reduce its effects. If we are to save our
planet, it is important that this is treated as a priority for all concerned.
Page 17 of 17