How do I write an IELTS essay?

In order to answer this, lets first

look at a sample question:
In the last 20 years there have been
significant developments in the field of
information technology (IT), for example the
World Wide Web and communication by
email. However, future developments in IT
are likely to have more negative than
positive effects.

To what extent do you agree with this view?

An IELTS essay is structured like any other
essay; you just need to make it shorter.
There are three key elements:
1. Introduction
2. Body Paragraphs
3. Conclusion
We will look at each of these, using the essay
question above as an example.
Identify the Topic
In the writing for task 2, one of the first
things you need to do is identify the topic of
the essay.
In the last 20 years there have been
significant developments in the field of
information technology (IT), for example the
World Wide Web and communication by
email. However, future developments in IT
are likely to have more negative than
positive effects.

To what extent do you agree with this view?

In the last 20 years there have been
significant developments in the field of
information technology (IT), for example the
World Wide Web and communication by
email. However, future developments in IT
are likely to have more negative than
positive effects.

To what extent do you agree with this view?

Identify the Task

Once you have identified the topic for your

essay, you need to identify the task.
The task is the part of the question that tells
you what you have to do to answer it.
In the last 20 years there have been
significant developments in the field of
information technology (IT), for example the
World Wide Web and communication by
email. However, future developments in IT
are likely to have more negative than
positive effects.

To what extent do you agree with this view?

Brainstorming and Planning

Once you have analyzed the question in the

IELTS test you need to brainstorm some
ideas to include in your answer.
If you look at the IELTS prompt, it says this:

"Give reasons for your answer and include

any relevant examples from your own
experience or knowledge".

So you need to support your ideas using

reasons and examples.
Developing Focus Questions

For this question, you need to write about

what positive and / or negative effects IT
has / may have on us.
These are possible focus questions for this
essay question:

Focus question 1: What are the positive

effects of IT? Future?
Focus question 2: What are the negative
effects of IT? Future?
 You then need to
brainstorm answers to
these questions
What are the positive effects of IT?
Communication; email and the web
• Communication simpler and faster
• Information easily available on the web
What are the negative effects of IT?
Destroying traditional forms of
communication
•Telephone and face to face conversation
dying out

The web is impossible to regulate

• Unsuitable websites for children and virus
Now that you have organised what you are
going to write about, you now need to write
the introduction.
Introduction

State the topic of the essay, using some basic

facts (that you may be able to take from the
question)
Say what you are going to write about
The last two decades have seen enormous
changes in the way people's lives are
affected by IT and the many advances that
have been made in this field. However, while
these technological advances have brought
many benefits to the world, it can be argued
that future IT developments will produce
more negative effects than positive ones.
Now write the body paragraphs
consisting of the main ideas you
brainstormed.
What are the positive effects of IT?
Communication; email and the web
• Communication simpler and faster
• Information easily available on the web
To begin with, these developments have
brought many benefits to our lives.
Compared to the past, email has made
communication, especially abroad, much
simpler and faster, resulting in numerous
benefits for education, commerce and
business. Furthermore, the World Wide Web
means that information on every conceivable
subject is now available to us. It is evident
that this has made life far easier and more
convenient for large numbers of people.
What are the negative effects of IT?
Destroying traditional forms of
communication
•Telephone and face to face conversation
dying out
Nevertheless, the effects of this new
technology have not all been beneficial. For
example, many people feel that the
widespread use of email is destroying
traditional forms of communication such as
letter writing, telephone and face-to-face
conversation. Furthermore, with the ever
increasing use of information technology
these negative elements are likely to
increase in the future.
The second negative aspect of IT

The web is impossible to regulate

• Unsuitable websites for children and virus
In addition, the enormous size of the Web
has meant that it is nearly impossible to
regulate and control. This has led to many
concerns regarding children accessing
unsuitable websites and viruses.
Unfortunately, this kind of problem might get
even worse in the future, at least until more
regulated systems are set up.
A common mistake is to have lots of
ideas that are not explained properly.

However, brainstorming some key ideas

and making sure you have explained
each of them will result in a fully
supported and well organized essay.
Conclusion

The conclusion only needs to be one or two

sentences and should be a paraphrase of the
main points. You could re-state what the
essay is about by paraphrasing the last
sentence of the introduction.
In conclusion, developments in IT have
brought many benefits, yet I believe
developments relating to new technology in
the future are likely to produce many
negative effects that will need to be
addressed very carefully.
 Analysing the
completed essay
270 words