Task 2 Can Be Broken Down

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Task 2 can be broken down and thought about more easily in 5 steps:
1. Question Analysis
You must first understand the question to know exactly what the examiner is looking for. One of
the biggest mistakes students make is not answering the question properly. If you do not answer
the question fully, you cant score higher than a Band 5.
In order to do this you must first identify the question type, then identify the keywords in the
question and finally identify the instructions words in order to find out what the examiner wants
you to do with the question. We will look at these skills in more detail below.
2. Planning
The students who get the highest marks plan before they write and they often plan for up to 10
minutes. Planning helps you organise your ideas and structure before you write, saving you time
and helping you write a clear essay.
3. Introduction
The introduction should tell the examiner what the rest of the essay is about and also answer the
question directly. This tells the examiner that you know what you are doing straight away and
helps you write your main body paragraphs.
4. Main Body Paragraphs

This is where you give the examiner more detail. You do this by stating your main points and
supporting these with explanations and relevant examples.
5. Conclusion
Here you provide a summary of what you have already said in the rest of the essay.
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Answer the Question Not the Topic
One of the biggest complaints from IELTS teachers and examiners alike is most students
inability to answer the question. Instead lots of students write very generally about the topic and
do not actually answer the question.
If we look at an example you will see why:
Question-Global warming is one of the biggest threats humans face in the 21st century
and sea levels are continuing to rise at alarming rates.
What problems are associated with this and what are some possible solutions.
Many students will see this question and write as much about global warming as they can think
of. This is a mistake because the IELTS writing test is not a test of your knowledge; it is a test of
your ability to answer the question with a high level of written English.
A good student would read the question carefully and realise that the question is not asking you
to talk about global warming; in fact, it is asking you to comment on sea level rises with
reference to humans. So the answer to the question will only talk about the problems humans
face from sea level rises and nothing else.
I often tell my students that you should answer the question with a sniper rifle, rather than a shot
gun. Talking about the topic is the shot gun approach, you might hit a few things but you are
unlikely to hit the target in the way a sniper would.
Analyse the Question Properly
If you dont answer the question fully you cant get over a band 5. It is that simple and it is
probably the number one thing stopping people getting a high score. It takes a long time to
improve your grammar and vocabulary but you can improve this very quickly.
Answering the question fully simply means reading the question carefully and then doing what it
asks you to do.
Spend time reading the question carefully and think about exactly what the question is asking
you to do.
A good way to think about this is to use keywords (general topic), micro-keywords (specific subtopic) and instructions words (what we must do) when thinking about your answer. Lets look at
an example:
The continued rise in the worlds population is the greatest problem faced by humanity at the
present time.
What are the causes of this continued rise?
Do you agree that it is the greatest problem faced by humanity?
The keywords here are rise in the worlds population. This is useful because we now know the
general topic (population growth), however, we cant simply write about this topic generally, we
must think about it in more detail and figure out exactly what the question is asking us to do.
The micro-keywords are greatest problem and continued rise. Therefore, we have to think
about this topic more specifically and think about if it really is the greatest problem we face and
we also have to comment on why it is continuing to rise.
Now we must look for the instruction words. In this question there are two different instruction
words causes and Do you agree. We must therefore talk about both of these things in our
essay. If we dont or we just write a sentence or two about one and focus on the other, we have
not answered the question and we cant get over a band 5.
Plan
The students who get the highest marks always spend time making a plan before they start
writing. I normally tell my students to spend at least 5 minutes planning and another couple of
minutes analysing the question.
Lots of students dont plan and this leads to them getting lost in the middle of their test and either
having to start over again and losing lots of time or results of a very confused essay that is
difficult to follow. Think about this way; if you were going to travel to a new place would you
take some time to look at a map or would you just start driving?
This only took me a couple of minutes to write and will mean that I have a very clear essay and
save me lots of time when I start to write.
Use an Appropriate Structure
IELTS task 2 questions generally follow a standard format. They will either ask your opinion
about something, ask you to discuss to different points of view, as you to discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of something or discuss the causes/problems and solutions of something.
The great thing about this is there are standard structures you can learn for each of these essays. I
am not talking about memorising essays, you should never do this, but you should familiarise
yourself with the standard structures.
For example in a problem and solution essay your structure should look something like this:
Paragraph 1
Sentence 1- Paraphrase Sentence
Sentence 2- Outline Sentence
Paragraph 2
Sentence 3- State Problem
Sentence 4- Explain Problem

Sentence 5- Result of Problem
Sentence 7- Example
Paragraph 3
Sentence 8- State Solution
Sentence 9- Explain Solution
Sentence 10- Example
Paragraph 4
Sentence 11- Conclusion
Sentence 12- Recommendation/Prediction
The reason why we use structures is they provide us with a proven formula to practice with and
then when you get into the exam you will be able to apply it to any question.
Have a look at my other exam structures for task 2 and use them to practice with. Some of my
students have already achieved a band score of 8 using them.
Dont Show Off
To show off is to try to tell everyone how good you are at something. IELTS candidates try to
show off by using very complicated vocabulary and advanced grammar and believe this will
show the examiner how good they are and that you deserve a high score. The only problem with
this is that many people use vocabulary and grammar they are unsure of and this leads to lots of
mistakes.
If you try to use advanced vocabulary and grammar structures, but use them incorrectly, you will
actually get a lower score. It is much better to use a simpler structure you are 100% sure is
correct. I always tell my students to follow the 100% rule- if you are not 100% sure, dont use it.
This is one of the biggest revelations my students have after their first class with me and it leads
to clearer writing and ultimately higher bands scores.
Lets look at an example:
The first paragraph is very clear and comes from a band 9 essay. The second paragraph tries to
show off too much and this leads to lots of grammar mistakes and inappropriate use of
vocabulary. The second paragraph comes from a band 5 essay.
Next time you practice, follow the 100% rule and your writing will really improve.
Make Your Opinion Clear
Most of the Task 2 questions ask you to give your opinion. You should make this very clear in
the introduction, conclusion and the main body paragraphs. Make sure you state your opinion in
the introduction, if asked to do so, by saying:
I believe that.
It is agreed that
It is disagreed that
This essays agrees that.
This essay does not agree that..
The rest of your essay should then be used to demonstrate why you believe this to be true.
What Are Your Common Grammar Mistakes?
After marking thousands of IELTS papers, I can tell you that students tend to make the same
mistakes over and over again.
These small grammar mistakes might not seem very significant, but unless at least half of your
sentences are 100% error free, you cannot get over a band 7 for grammatical range and accuracy.
You should therefore get a native speaker or a professional IELTS teacher to mark some of your
writing and tell you what your common grammar mistakes are and then you can fix them. If you
know the mistakes you are making, you can practice hard and eliminate them from your writing.
For more information about this have a look at my article on the top 10 IELTS grammar
mistakes.
Write Slightly Over the Word Limit
Did you know that IELTS examiners count every word of your writing test? Its a very boring job
but they still do it.
For task 1 you have to write at least 150 words and for task 2 at least 250 words. That means if
you write 149 words for task 1 you will lose marks. It is therefore essential that you write over
the word limit.
You will not have time to count every word, so the best thing you can do is practice using the
official answer sheets and you will then know what 150 words and 250 words looks like on the
page without having to count every word.
Lots of students also ask if it is better to write over the word limit. The answer is no because you
dont have time and writing more than is required often leads to more grammar mistakes and
your ideas becoming irrelevant. Try to write about 10-15% over what is required. This way you
will always go over the word limit, but not lose time or make mistakes.
Write Clear Topic Sentences
Topic sentences should be the first sentence you write in each main body paragraph and
should tell the reader what the rest of the paragraph is about. These really pop out at the
examiner and tell them exactly what the whole essay is about. They make your essay very clear
and easy to read and this will not only make the examiner very happy, but also get you higher
marks.
Lets look at an example paragraph:
The main cause of the rise in the worlds population is economic growth. As countries get richer
they can afford better health care for their people and this leads to more babies and children
surviving and then having children of their own. For example, since Brazil and India became
developed nations, their populations have increased dramatically by at least 6% a year.
The very first sentence of this paragraph tells the examiner exactly what the whole paragraph is
about and you should do this for your own Task 2 paragraphs.
Explain Your Points and Give Examples
The official task 2 band descriptors state that your ideas should be relevant, fully extended
and have well supported ideas.
This means that your ideas should not only answer the question (see IELTS writing tip #1), but
also be explained and supported with examples.
When you make a point you should assume that the writer has no previous knowledge of the
subject and you have to explain what you mean. I often tell my students to pretend they are
writing to a 10 year old who has never heard of the topic you are writing about and this will help
you to fully explain your ideas.
You also need to include a very specific example of what you are talking about. This could be a
newspaper article, a personal anecdote or some research that was recently done that relates to the
question. The key is to try and be specific. Including specific countries or cities and dates will
help you be more specific.
Lots of students complain that they cannot think of any specific examples. If you are unable to
think of a real example, simply make one up. The examiner will not check your examples for
authenticity; it is not an honesty test, it is an English test. Just make sure your examples sound
plausible.
Learn How to Paraphrase and Use Synonyms
Paraphrasing and using synonyms are two of the key skills required in the IELTS writing test.
In fact, the examiner will be looking for your ability to do this.
Paraphrasing is simply restating a phrase or sentence with different words, so that it has the same
meaning.
Lets have a look at an example:
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Synonyms are different words that have the same or very similar meanings, such as man and
male.
The first paragraph of all your IELTS task 2 essays should be a paraphrase of the question.
This tells the examiner that you have understood the question and you have the ability to
paraphrase.
You will also have to use synonyms throughout your essay because the examiner will be looking
to see how you can vary your vocabulary, thus demonstrating that you have a wide and varied
vocabulary.
Dont Memorise Answers
Every question is unique and will therefore require a unique answer. If you memorise answers
and try to write them in the exam, your grammar and vocabulary will probably be very good, but
it will be very obvious to the examiner that you have memorised an answer. This is considered
copying and the examiner can give you a band score of 0 for this.
The examiner will always know, so it is really not worth the risk.
It is worthwhile looking at good sample answers and using some of the functional language and
structure from these, but please dont copy it word for word.
Start Task 2 Before Task 1
Task 2 is worth two thirds of the total marks of the IELTS writing exam and task 1 is worth one
third. You should take both as seriously as each other, but because task 2 is worth more marks
and takes longer, I advise my students to do task 2 first.
When you mark lots of IELT exams, you notice that lots of students fail to finish task 2. I think
many people try to write the perfect task 1 answer, or take too long trying to understand the data
in task 1 and this leaves them with very little time to finish task 2.
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Timing is key in all parts of the IELTS exam so you should practice under exam conditions
before you do the test.
Its Not an Intelligence Test
One of the biggest complaints I hear from students about the IELTS writing test is that they dont
understand the questions and they cant think of any good ideas.
The IELTS writing test is not a test of your intelligence, it is a test of your ability to express
relevant ideas in English. Your ideas do not have to be the most amazing ideas in the world, just
ones that are relevant to the question. When you go to university, your ideas have to be
intelligent, but in the IELTS test they just have to be relevant and answer the question.
For each question there are probably 10-20 ideas that could get you a band 9; there is no one
perfect idea that will get you a high score.
When you are thinking of ideas for your answer, you should pick the ones you can use. What I
mean by use is the answers you can explain and extend with examples. As stated above, you
cant just list lots of ideas, you have to pick 2 or three and then fully support them with
explanations and examples. It does not matter how good the idea is, if you cant fully support and
extend it, dont use it.
Only Use Cohesive Devices Appropriately
I post lots of band 9 IELTS task 2 sample answers on this site and I am often surprised when
students tell me that they are not band 9. The main reason they think this is You havent used
enough cohesive devices.
Below are lots of examples of cohesive devices:
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The problem with these is they are overused by most students. Some people think that the key to
a good score is using as many of these as possible, when in fact it will only harm your score if
your use them incorrectly.
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Similar to my rule for grammar, only use them if you are 100% sure what they mean and how
they are used.
Keep It Simple
The examiners know that you have only 40 minutes to write an essay and you are doing it in a
foreign language. They do not expect you to write to the same standard that you would if you
were given lots of time to think about the questions, research your answer, write a first draft,
have it checked and then correct all of your mistakes. The examiners are not expecting an essay
of that standard so dont try to overthink it. Just show them in a simple way that you have
understood the question and you can express yourself in English. Thats it.
I hope you have found these tips useful. If you have any questions, let me know below.
How to Plan an IELTS Essay

The Benefits of Planning
There are normally around 15 students in my IELTS classes. Every new class gets at least a 30
minute session with me on planning and how much it improves your essays. I normally give the
students 20 minutes to plan a Task 2 essay which they finish for homework.
This is always interesting because normally only 2 or 3 students actually follow my instructions
and use the time to plan. The rest of them go straight into writing the essay. The result? The
students who took the time to plan always (and I mean EVERY time) produce better essays.
Writing an IELTS essay without a plan is like trying to put IKEA furniture together without any
instructions. You will get half way through it, get lost and frustrated and you will lose control of
your entire essay and end up with something like this:
A good plan should be like a map that guides you through the essay and makes sure you get to
where the examiner wants you to go. Every sentence should have purpose, if you are just writing
for the sake of writing then it wont be a very good essay. Less is more in many cases and a good
plan makes sure that every single sentence has a purpose.
But Teacher, I Dont Have Time!
This is the number one excuse for not planning.

What if I told you that the longer you plan, the less time it will take you to write the essay?
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Lets look at two examples: student A who doesnt like to plan and student B who spends 10
minutes planning.
Student A does this: write-think-think-write-delete-think-write-write-delete-think-write.
Student B does this: think-write.
It is impossible for most people- including IELTS examiners and teachers- to sit down and write
a good essay without thinking it through first. If you dont plan you have to think as you write
and doing these two things, plus writing in a foreign language, thinking about grammar and
vocabulary and thinking about writing skills all at the same time, results in a very confused piece
of writing. I also find that students who dont plan have to re-start their essays and it is not
uncommon to see students delete entire essays and start again.
How Does a Plan Save You Time?
You have 40 minutes to write a Task 2 essay. Even if you took 10 minutes to plan and 5 minutes
to check your work at the end this still leaves you with 25 minutes to write your essay.
The average 250 word essay is about 12 sentences long, so you have over 2 minutes to write one
sentence. I think everyone is capable of doing that.
When you have a good plan, you know exactly what that sentence is going to be about already
and how it fits in with the rest of the essay. You dont have to think of ideas or about structure,
just writing sentences that are grammatically correct and clearly say what you think about the
question.
You dont have to spend exactly 10 minutes planning and 5 minutes checking at the end. You
could plan for 7-8 minutes and checking for 2-3 minutes. Practice to find out what works best for
you.
How To Plan
Planning has 4 stages:

1. Question Analysis
2. Idea Generation
3. Structure
4. Vocabulary
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Question Analysis
This is probably the most important stage. The number one problem most IELTS students have is
not answering the question properly. Did you know you cant get above a band score 5.0 if you
dont address all parts of the question?
Lets look at an example question:
One of the consequences of improved medical care is that the people are living longer and life
expectancy is increasing.
Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
The keywords here are improved medical care. This is our general topic. It is important to
know this, not for what we should write about but about what we shouldnt write about. A
common mistake is to highlight the main keywords, or main topic, and write about this very
generally. If you do this you have not answered the question.
We therefore need to think about things more specifically and look for what I call microkeywords. They are living longer and life expectancy is increasing. We therefore need to
write about these and how improved medical care has increased life expectancy. But we cant
just write a general essay about this, we must look at the instruction words next.
The instruction words are Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
In this example we will have to decide which side (advantages or disadvantages) is stronger. If
you choose advantages then you will have to say why these are much stronger than the
advantages and why the disadvantages are not so strong. If you just discuss the advantages you
will not answer the question correctly. We will also need to make our opinion about his very
clear.
So in summary we must:
Find keywords (general topic)
Find micro-keywords (specific topic)
Find instruction words (how to answer question)
Idea Generation
Lots of teachers and books about IELTS advise students to brainstorm (thinking of as many ideas
as possible) at this stage. I dont think that brainstorming is very effective because it leads to
irrelevant ideas and wastes valuable time.
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Instead of brainstorming we need to answer the questions directly. If one of your friends asked
you this question in a coffee shop, you would have no problem thinking of an answer, so do the
same in the exam. It helps to frame it within Why? questions.
So for the example above we could ask ourselves two questions:
Why are the advantages of increased life expectancy strong?
Why are disadvantages of increased life expectancy weak?
We can then simply think of one or two relevant ideas for each of these questions.
The advantages of increased life expectancy are strong because most people think it is good if
their friends and family dont die too quickly and everyone is happier.
The disadvantages are that there is more demand for food and resources but this a weak
argument because technology can solve these problems.
We now have two very relevant ideas and we can now move on to our next stage.
Structure
Next we need to put our ideas into a structure. This is very important because it helps us organise
our ideas in a coherent way, just like the examiner wants us to.
There are several different types of essay and each of them has a different structure.
For this essay our structure will look like this:
Paragraph 1- Introduction
Sentence 2- Thesis Statement
Sentence 3- Outline Statement
Paragraph 2- Why advantages are strong
Sentence 4- Topic Sentence
Sentence 5- Explanation
Sentence 6- Example
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Paragraph 3- Why disadvantage are weak

Sentence 8- Explanation
Sentence 9- Example
Paragraph 4- Conclusion
Sentence 1- Summary of main points
We can these fill in our ideas:
Sentence 2- These Statement advantages outweigh disadvantages
Sentence 3- Outline Statement Advantages- happiness Disadvantages- technology
Paragraph 2- Why advantages are strong
Sentence 4- Topic Sentence happiness
Sentence 5- Explanation death causes unhappiness and longer lives lead to happiness
Sentence 6- Example Okinawa and Sardinia
Paragraph 3- Why disadvantage are weak
Sentence 7- Topic Sentence technology
Sentence 8- Explanation technology can solve any of the drawbacks
Sentence 9- Example GM crops and renewable energy
Now we have all our ideas and we can think of some vocabulary.
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Vocabulary
Another common problem students have is repeating the same words, especially words from the
question, over and over again. This lowers our mark for vocabulary because it shows that we
cant think of synonyms. A solution to this problem is to identify words in the question that we
might need to use more than once in the question.
Lets look at the question again:
One of the consequences of improved medical care is that the people are living longer and life
expectancy is increasing.
Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
We can think of the following synonyms:
Improved medical care- enhanced medical treatment
Living longer- improved longevity
Life expectancy is increasing- the length of time people live is rising
Advantages- benefits
Disadvantages- drawbacks
What It Looks Like On Paper?
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Next Steps
The more you plan, the better and more quickly you will write and it will lead to every single
sentence in your essay having a purpose, which is exactly what the examiner wants.
Like everything on this website, you need to not only take the advice but to practice using it.
Next time you are practicing an Task 2 essay try using my advice and I guarantee your writing
will improve.
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HOW TO THINK OF IDEAS FOR IELTS WRITING TASK 2

One of the biggest fears students have is opening up the writing paper, looking at task 2 and
having no ideas. Idea generation in IELTS writing task 2 is something students worry a lot about,
but it doesnt have to be that way.
The reason for this fear is natural, but there are easy solutions.
First World Problems
Most of the students I teach come from developing countries and they often complain that IELTS
writing part two questions are biased towards Western countries and are mostly First world
problems. For example:
In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between
finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and
disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.
What the hell is a gap year? shouted most of the learners in my class. I did have some
sympathy for them on this question. Most of the Vietnamese students I currently teach have no
first hand experience with taking a year off before going to University. This seems like a very
Western idea to them and they felt a little bit annoyed with the question, which is totally
understandable.
Fortunately, questions like these are rare and most of them will be on familiar topics that most
people have an opinion on, such as health, education and the environment. Remember that this is
a language test not a general knowledge test.
Do my ideas have to be entertaining?
Many students also worry that their ideas are not interesting enough or they are too boring. The
examiner is not looking for you to entertain her. They are looking for you to demonstrate an
ability to write an essay in English supported by evidence and relevant examples. There are no
extra points for interesting ideas. What the ideas must be is relevant to the question being asked.
Have a look at my post on question analysis for help with that.
You can have the most boring ideas in the world and still get a band score 9, as long as your
ideas are relevant.
This may seem illogical to some people who have already been to university and know that your
ideas should be both relevant and interesting. Stop thinking about how you write at university
level, this is an IELTS exam, not a university essay. Give the IELTS examiners what they want
and nothing else.
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Solutions
Below I will outline several solutions that have worked well for my students in the past. They
are:
1. Common Topic Familiarisation
2. Brainstorming (least effective)
3. Mind Mapping
4. 5 Questions Method
5. Personal Opinion Method (most effective)
No One Size Fits All

The main thing I have learned from teaching my students these methods is that no one method is
suitable for everyone. You have to try each of them out and see which one works for you. When
you are practicing remember, the examiner is looking for relevant ideas that you can support by
explaining them and giving examples. You should also use the one that gives you ideas quickly.
You will only have 2 or 3 minutes for idea generation in the exam. Dont worry if this is taking
you a lot of time at the moment, you will improve with practice. Pick a method below, set
yourself a time limit and practice with some old past exam papers.
1. Common Topic Familiarisation
This simply means knowing the 10 common topics that come up in the exam and learning
some vocabulary associated with these repeated topics. The wider your vocabulary the easier it
will be for you to think of ideas. If you have time, dont just stick with the 10 most common
topics, go even further.
When you have free time, have a look at some English newspapers and identify some topics that
might come up in the IELTS test. When you do this you should be doing two things. The first is
simply noting down any unknown vocabulary, try to guess the meaning from the context and
then look up the meaning to confirm on your smart phone or dictionary. This will really help you,
not only for writing part 2 but also for all the other parts of the IELTS exam.
2. Brainstorming
Brainstorming is basically thinking of as many ideas as possible relevant to your topic. It was
developed by an advertising agency, in order to come up with new ideas for advertising
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campaigns. The technique involves putting keywords in the middle of a page and then writing
down as many ideas associated with that idea as possible.
Some students, and many teachers, love this method and if it works for you then continue to use
it, but I have a few problems with it. Firstly, some students spend too much time on this stage
and try to think of too many ideas. Secondly, because they are thinking very generally, their ideas
are not relevant. It then takes extra time, which you dont have in the exam, to sort out the
relevant from the irrelevant ideas.
3. Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a way to visually organise your thoughts on to paper.

Some people love this method, because it represents how their brain is working and allows them
to organise their thoughts. It is much more organised than simply brainstorming and can be done
very quickly once you have practiced a few times with different questions.
A good technique is to place the keywords in the middle and then place the micro-keywords on
the branches.
The only disadvantage to this method is that some students spend too much time creating the
perfect mind map. There are no points for creating beautiful mind maps; they are only there to
help you with ideas so do it quickly.
4. 5 Questions Method
This method uses who/what/why/where/how question words in order to generate ideas. This
works best for people who think very logically and also know a little bit about the topic already.
Lets look at an example:
In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between
finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and
disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.
Why- to gain work experience, to experience life in different countries, to understand different
cultures, to make money before going to university, lazy, not mature.
Where- tourist destinations, developing countries, local business, internship in big company.
How- save money, permission from parents and university, apply for internship/job, travel to
inexpensive countries.
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So as you can see, in a couple of minutes we have generated many ideas by asking ourselves just
three of the five questions. These ideas are much more than we need to complete the task, so
always remember to choose the ones you feel comfortable writing about after you generate your
ideas.
5. Personal Opinion Method (or coffee shop method)
Personally, I think this is the most effective method because it is both the fastest and helps
students focus on the question.
The method is simple. I ask students to imagine they are sitting with their friend or family
member in a coffee shop and they ask your opinion. In an exam there is a lot of pressure on you
and you often find it difficult to think, but if you were in a relaxed environment with a friend you
would have no problem giving your opinion.
To think of more ideas you just imagine that your friend has the opposite feelings to you about
the topic and write their ideas down.
Lets look at the example below:
Your friend- Do you think its a good idea that young people take a year off between school and
university to work or travel?
You- Yes. Many young people are not mature enough to go to university at 18 and travelling or
working will help them mature. Working for a year could also allow them to save money and
gain valuable work experience. If they go travelling, they will get to experience different
cultures.
So you see you have just thought about all the ideas you will need for this question. You can
write your ideas down (recommended) or just think about it for a minute.
This idea gives you a very clear idea about your opinion on the question and will help you stay
relevant and write a clear, coherent essay. Like any method it takes practice, so try it out with a
few past questions.
IELTS Writing- How To Write a Complex Sentence

Introduction
One of the biggest mistakes students make in IELTS writing is to try and show off and be overly
ambitious with their grammar. This is because many students think that all of their sentences
need to be complex (they dont!) and them not understanding what a complex sentence is.
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Trying to write overly complicated sentences leads to grammar mistakes and this will lead to lost
marks in many different areas.
This post will look at:
how many complex sentences you actually need in each paragraph
what a complex sentence actually is
how to make complex sentences
examples to help us understand and transfer this knowledge to our own writing
What does the examiner expect?
If we look at the examiners marking scheme it states that in order to get a band 6 for grammar
we need to:
use a mix of simple and complex sentences.
For band 7 it states:
Use a variety of complex structures.
This obviously means that we should use complex sentences in our writing, but it does not mean
that we should try to make all of our sentences complex. All band 9 answers that I have seen use
a mixture of both simple and complex sentences. The key is to know when to use them and we
will look at this below. But first, we need to understand what a complex sentence actually is.
What is a complex sentence?
The main problem here seems to be the word complex. Complex, in this situation, does not
mean complicated, long or impressive. This is a common misconception and leads to students
writing very long and grammatically incorrect sentences that are very difficult to understand.
For example:
In the modern world, global warming is one of the most popular topics causing many
environmental difficulties and tough challenges arising from its serious consequences.
This is a very typical sentence from an essay that is trying to be overly complex. This student has
tried to put four simple ideas in to one paragraph and the result is an awkward and incoherent
sentence. They have lost control of the grammar and this affects the meaning. When meaning is
affected it stops the reading understanding what is being said and that is really bad for you
IELTS writing band scores.
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Complex sentences are not actually very complex; they are just simple two or more simple
sentences put together. Putting them together makes the essay more coherent and cohesive.
Lets look at the first example again. In the sentence above there are four simple ideas that we
can put in to simple sentences:
1. Global warming is a common topic these days.
2. Global warming causes environmental problems.
3. There are tough challenges associated with global warming.
4. Global warming has very serious consequences.
If we write all of our sentences in the IELTS exam like this we lose marks because they are too
simple. What we need to do is put them together to make complex sentences.
Complex Sentence Examples
For example:
One of the most common environmental issues is global warming which causes many serious
environmental problems. There are tough challenges associated with this issue and its effects
have very serious consequences.
I dont think there is anything complex about these sentences, just simple ideas, simply put
together.
Complex is just a label, not a description.
What I have done is take each of the four simple sentences and put them together in two complex
sentences. This result is a grammatically correct, easy to understand paragraph.
When should I use complex sentences?
In general, we should use simple sentences when making main points; normally at the beginning
of a paragraph. We should then use complex sentences when expanding on the main point, for
instance when giving a supporting example or explaining your main point.
Example:
This is a question about whether fast food or junk food should be taxed at a higher rate than
normal food.
Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption. Fast food companies would pass on
these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices and this would lead to people not being
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able to afford junk food. For instance, the cost of organic food has proven prohibitively
expensive for most people. Despite this, people in many developed countries, where the problem
is most acute, can afford price hikes and will continue to eat high fat meals.
The first sentence is the topic sentence and makes the main point. It is therefore acceptable for
this to be a simple sentence.
The second sentence explains the main point and uses the word and to link two simple
sentences together, to make one complex sentence.
The third sentence gives an example and uses the linking phrase for instance. The final
sentence makes a concession (shows the limitation of the argument) and is also a complex
sentence, linking more than one idea together.
This paragraph has a mix of simple and complex sentences and therefore satisfies the marking
criteria.
How do I make a complex sentence?
Remember that a complex sentence is just more than one simple sentence put together to make
one sentence. We therefore need to learn and become confident using the various grammatical
structures that allow us to do that. Below are a few ways we can link ideas together in a sentence.
To make a complex sentence we normally should have two things- a dependent clause and an
independent clause. A clause is a group of words with both a subject and a verb.
An example of a dependent clauses is .because the weather was cold. This is a dependent
clause because it has a subject and a verb but it doesnt make any sense on its own. To make
sense we need to add an independent clause.
As the name suggests, an independent clause can make sense on its own. For example, I wore a
warm coat. If we combine these two clauses we get a complex sentence- I wore a warm coat
because the weather was cold.
As you can see, complex sentences dont have to be complicated. Lets now look at other ways
we can make complex sentences.
1. Relative Clauses
You can use relative clauses to give essential or extra information about a person, place, or thing.
This makes our writing more fluent and more coherent. We do this by using relative pronouns
like who, which and that. For example, Hes the kind of person who is always friendly.
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For example:
Air pollution can cause health problems. Air pollution is largely caused by motor vehicles.
We can convert these two simple sentences in to one complex sentences by using the word
which.
Air pollution, which is mostly caused by motor vehicles, can cause health problems.
For example:
There is evidence that some people are more likely to smoke. These people have parents and
friends who smoke.
We can link both of these sentences together by using the word that.
There is evidence that people who have parents and friends that smoke are more likely to smoke.
2. Subordinate Clauses
A subordinate clause can describe nouns and pronouns; describe verbs, adverbs, and adjectives;
or act as the subject or object of another clause. They are made by connecting an independent
clause with a dependent clause with words like as, because, while, until, even though, although,
when and if.
3. Conditional Clauses
Also known as If clauses, they are used to express that the action in the main clause can only
take place if a certain condition is met.
For example:
If I had a million dollars, I would quit my job.
I will be really happy, if I pass the IELTS test.
These clauses are good for giving examples in IELTS writing part 2.
For example:
Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption. Fast food companies would pass on
these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices and this would lead to people not being
able to afford junk food. If the cost of organic food proves prohibitively expensive for most
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people, they will simply not buy it. Despite this, people in many developed countries, where the
problem is most acute, can afford price hikes and will continue to eat high fat meals.
They are also useful for talking about unreal situations or to speculate about results in the past or
present.
There are four different kinds of conditionals which I will outline below:
Zero Conditionals are used to talk about information that is true or facts. We can use if or when
to introduce the conditional.
Example: Nowadays when we travel long distances, we usually use air travel.
First conditionals are used to talk about things in the present or future.
Example: If the citys population continues to grow, we will need to build more infrastructure.
Second Conditionals are used to talk about things that are impossible.
Example: If the sun didnt come up tomorrow, we wouldnt have any life on earth.
Third Conditionals are used to speculate about past events. It is often used when we regret
something or to imagine a past unreal situation.
Example: The Second World War would have never happened, if Germany had been given a
fairer peace settlement in Word War One.
4. Compound Sentences
Compound sentences consist of two independent clauses linked together with a conjunction such
as and, for or but.
Examples:
I really want to study, but Im too tired.
She got to the test centre early, and she did really well on her IELTS test.
Some students think these sentences are too simple to count as complex but they are wrong.
Warning
The crucial thing is to understand and be able to use these grammar structures before your IELTS
test. Some students memorise lots of structures and try to insert them in to their essays without
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giving much thought to how they work or if they are accurate. This will only lead to unnatural
and incoherent sentences. Remember that your sentences need to be also error free so only use
structures you are confident using.
They key is to only use them appropriately. Concentrate on answering the question and if you
know how to use these structures they will flow naturally.
Next Steps
I hope this post has demonstrated that you can write your ideas down in a clear and simple way
and still satisfy the marking criteria for complex sentences.
When you are practicing IELTS writing questions try to think of what you want to say in simple
sentences and then think of how these might be linked in to complex sentences. After enough
practice it will become a natural thing to do and your writing will really improve.
How to Paraphrase in the IELTS Test

Paraphrasing is an essential IELTS skill. This post will show you how to paraphrase effectively.
Paraphrasing is simply re-writing a phrase or sentence so that it has the same meaning, but with
different words. Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills to learn before doing your
IELTS test. It is most important for writing and speaking, but will also help you in the reading
and listening tests. In other words, if you know how to paraphrase you are more likely to get the
score you need.
The mental processes required to paraphrase will also help you to fully understand the question
and this is one of the reasons I tell my students to begin all of their answers in the writing test by
paraphrasing the question.
Lets look at an example.
Example: Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills to learn before doing your
IELTS test.
Paraphrased: Prior to taking the IELTS test, mastering paraphrasing is one of the most
crucial things to do.
As you can see, the second sentence (paraphrased sentence) uses synonyms to change some
vocabulary (e.g., important for crucial and prior to before and changes the grammar (e.g.,
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Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills for mastering paraphrasing). You can also
change the word order.
These are the three main methods you should use in the IELTS test to paraphrase sentences.
Ideally, you should try to use all three but sometimes two will only be possible.
We will now look at each method in detail and also have a look at the passive.
Method Number 1: Using Synonyms
Synonyms are different words that have the same meaning. For example, humans is a synonym
of people and attractive is a synonym of beautiful. This method simply replaces words with
the same meaning in order to produce a new sentence.
For example:
My car needs petrol.
My vehicle requires fuel.
As you can see, I have replaced 3 out of four words with synonyms to produce a new sentence,
with the same meaning as the first one. You will notice that I didnt replace all of the words, but
you should try to replace most of them.
This is the most common method that students use and it can be used effectively, but you should
be careful. The biggest mistake students make is trying to paraphrase and the word having a
similar meaning, but not the same meaning. Similar meanings are not good enough and will lose
you marks. Lets look at some examples of poor paraphrasing because of using similar instead of
the same meanings.
Violent crime is on the rise among teenagers.
Violent offences are rising among young people.
This student has changed the word teenagers for young people. They are similar words and
teenagers are of course young people; however children and young adults, aged between 18-30,
could also be described as young people. A more term would be adolescents or young people
between the ages of 13-19. A better way to paraphrase this sentence would therefore be:
Violent offences are rising among adolescents.
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You should therefore only use words you are 100% sure about. Dont change a word unless you
are 100% sure that it is a direct synonym, otherwise you are likely to make mistakes and this will
bring down your score.
Lets look at another good example:
Global warming is mostly caused by emissions from internal combustion engines.
Climate change is mainly caused by the release of fumes from motor vehicles.
Method Number 2: Change the Word Order
Changing the word order also allows us to effectively paraphrase a sentence, but again, we have
to be careful. Dont change the word order without thinking about how this affects the grammar
of the sentence. By changing the word order you may have to add a word, subtract a word or
change the form of the word.
The 100% rule applies again; dont change it if you are not 100% sure it is grammatically
correct. Remember that you are being judged on your ability to produce error free sentences in
the IELTS test as well as use a range of grammar structures.
Fortunately, there are two straightforward ways we can change the word order in most IELTS
questions.
1. You can easily change the order of the clauses, if the original sentence has
more than one clause.
Question: As languages such as Spanish, Chinese and English become more widely used,
there is a fear that that many minority languages may die out.
Paraphrased by changing word order: There is a fear that many minority languages may die
out, as languages such as Spanish, Chinese and English become more widely used.
We could also add some synonyms to paraphrase it even more:
Paraphrased with changing word order AND synonyms: There is dismay that many lesser used
languages may pass away, as languages such as Chinese, English and Spanish become more
broadly spoken.
2. You can also change the word order if there is an adjective or noun in the
question. You do this by simply changing the adjective into a relative clause.
Question: Learning to manage money is one of the key aspects to adult life.
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Paraphrased using a relative clause: Learning to manage money is one of the aspects to adult
life that is key.
Method Number 3: Change the Form of the Word
There are many different forms of words including nouns, verbs, adjectives and
adverbs. Changing the form of a word allows us to paraphrase effectively. Again, dont just
change the form of the word; you also need to check that your changes make grammatical sense.
You might need to change the words around it to make the sentence error free.
Question: Longer life spans and improvements in the health of older people suggest that
people over the age of sixty-five can continue to live full and active lives.
Paraphrased by changing word form: Longer life spans and improvements in the health of
older people are suggesting that people over the age of sixty-five can continue living full
and active lives.
Method Number 4: Change from Active to Passive
The passive voice is often used in academic writing and can therefore be used in the IELTS
academic writing test. Only verbs with an object can be turned into the passive.
Example active sentence: The property developers invested $20 million in the development
of the shopping centre.
Example passive sentence: $20 million was invested in the developments of shopping centre.
We often use the passive voice in academic writing when we dont want to say it is our opinion.
Example active: People say that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Example passive: Global warming is said to be caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
How many of these methods should I use?
The four methods can be used independently or together. I advise my students to try and change
the grammar (word order and/or word form) and use synonyms. Remember only use the methods
you feel 100% comfortable using and that you are sure your work is error free.
Next Steps
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These paraphrasing methods will only help you in the IELTS exam if you practice using them.
Find some example writing questions and try paraphrasing them using these methods. You can
use the methods individually and then combine them. Try all of them to see what works for you.
If you practice enough you will begin to see patterns in the questions and common words and
phrases will become easy for you to change.
If you want to see examples of paraphrasing simply use Google. If you Google certain keywords,
lots of articles will come up on the same topic. By comparing these you will be able to see how
different writers have expressed the same ideas.
How to Write a Good Supporting Paragraph
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Most IELTS task 2 essays follow the same basic four paragraph structure:
1. Introduction
2. Supporting Paragraph 1
3. Supporting Paragraph 2
4. Conclusion
These paragraphs take up most of your essay and are therefore where most marks are won and
lost. Write two good supporting paragraphs and you are most of the way to getting a good final
mark.
This post will:
look at what the examiners want
look at good and bad examples
show you how to write topic sentences
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show you how to develop your topic sentence with explanations and
examples.
What do the examiners want?
If we look at the public band descriptors or my guide on the difference between band 5 and
band 8 answers you can see that the examiner wants you to respond to the question with
relevant, extended and supported ideas. This means that your ideas must actually relate, or be
linked, specifically to the question and then you have to explain what your ideas mean and then
support them with examples.
Good and Band Examples
Look the following examples and think about what the examiner wants. Which one is a good
essay and which one is not?
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Question- Some parents think that childcare centres provide the best services for children
of pre-school age. Other working parents think that family members such as grandparents
will be better carers for their kids.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Sample 1 Many parents in full-time employment prefer to leave their children with
grandparents when they are at work because they feel their child will be safer with someone from
within the family circle. In other words they do not trust a stranger to look after their child and
feel confident that no harm will come to the child whilst being look after by grandma or grandpa.
For example, a 2013 study from Cambridge University showed that 62% of working mothers
prefer a member of the immediate family to provide care when they are at work.
Sample 2 Grandparents are the best people to look after children for very obvious reasons.
Grandparents really love their grandchildren and would never harm them. Also, the children
really love their grandparents and feel comfortable with them. Finally, grandparents have lots of
experience taking care of children because they are old and looked after children for many years
themselves.
Can you tell which one is better?
Sample 1 has one main argument- parents prefer grandparents because they trust them. They
have stated this very clearly in the first sentence and then explained why this is, in the second
sentence. They have also used a very specific example to support their idea. This is exactly what
the examiner wants.
Sample 2 has many different arguments and most of them are very general. They have not been
extended with explanations and lack examples. This is exactly what the examiner does not want.
How to Write a Topic Sentence
The very first sentence in your supporting paragraph should be the topic sentence. Each
paragraph should have one main idea only and the topic sentence tells the reader what this idea
is. This makes your paragraph and the whole essay clearer and easier to read. You will gain
marks for coherence in the IELTS writing test if you do this. Think of them as signposts that
direct the reader to where you want to go.
We think of topic sentences in an argument (agree or disagree) essay by thinking of ideas why
we support one side or the other.
Lets look at another question:
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Most high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce in
many developed countries is more than 50 percent female. Companies should be required
to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. Do you agree?
So we have to think of reasons for and against allocating a certain percentage of positions in the
workforce to women.
For:
Fairness
Equality
Prevent discrimination
Women outperform men in many jobs
Women outperform men in many schools and university subjects
Against:
Should be based on merit not gender
A few jobs, like construction, are better suited to males
I support the for category so I am going to pick two of those reasons and write topic sentences
for them. You should always pick the ideas you know most about, or in other words, can explain
and support with examples.
Topic Sentence 1: Women should be allocated a certain percentage of roles because to not do so,
discriminates against them because of their gender.
Topic Sentence 2: Females should be given a bigger share of jobs because women currently
outperform males in most university subjects.
As you can see, all I have done is simply introduce my ideas in a very clear way. There is no
need to use very advanced to do this, stating your position in simple language is all you need to
do.
Task: Try taking some of the other ideas above and writing a topic sentence.
Explaining Our Ideas
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Explaining ideas is a problem for most students, not because they cant do it, but because they
dont see the point in doing it. They think that the examiner must be an educated person and
explaining simple ideas to them is wasting their time.
You should never assume this and instead I tell my students to assume that the reader has no
knowledge of this subject at all and you need to explain what you mean in order for them to
understand.
There are certain phrases we can use to explain our ideas such as:
That is to say. (linking)
In other words (linking)
This is because (giving reasons)
The reason is. (giving reasons)
As a result. (describing result)
As a consequence. (describing result)
Therefore. (describing result)
Use one of these phrases to explain what your topic sentence means, the reason why, or the result
of your topic sentence. You dont need to do all three, just one. Make sure that anyone with no
knowledge of the subject can understand what your main point is.
Example 1 Women should be allocated a certain percentage of roles, because to not do so
discriminates against them because of their gender. As a result, women will be denied jobs, not
because of their intellect or skill, but simply because of their sex.
Example 2 Females should be given a bigger share of jobs, because women currently
outperform males in most university subjects. That is to say those young women are just as
qualified as men, if not more, and should therefore be given at least an equal share in the job
market.
The last point I will make about explanations is they should relate specifically to the question.
They should not generally explain what the idea is; they should explain how the idea answers the
question.
Make sure you read the question again before you write a topic sentence or explanation.
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Supporting Examples
The last part of a good supporting paragraph is a relevant example. Examples give your points
more authority and make your argument stronger.
The two main problems here are not being able to think of examples and examples not being
specific enough.
In the IELTS test, if you cant think of a good example, make one up. In school or university you
should research and use real examples, but in the test it is fine to make them up. It is not a test of
your knowledge; it is a test of your written English. The examiners will never check the
examples and they are only worried about how the examples support your ideas.
Two good ways to make up examples are using newspaper articles or university research. I often
do this when I am writing sample answers and they also help you be more specific (see below).
The examiner wants your examples to be as specific as possible. To illustrate this we will look at
three examples.
Women should be allocated a certain percentage of roles, because to not do so discriminates
against them because of their gender. As a result, women will be denied jobs, not because of
their intellect or skill, but simply because of their sex.
Example 1- For example, lots of women fail to get jobs solely on the basis of their gender.
Example 2 For example, many business women in Asia find it difficult to get jobs as CEOs,
despite having the same qualifications as men.
Example 3 For example, in 2014 it was reported in The Straits Times that only 9 of Singapores
top 100 companies have female CEOs, despite making up 50% of the total workforce.
The first example is very general and is not a satisfactory example.
Example 2 is much better but again business women in Asia is very general and does not really
support our argument because of this.
Example 3 is a very good example because it used an actual newspaper to report specific
statistics (9%), from a specific place (Singapore) at a specific time (2014).
Putting It All Together
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Below I will put everything we have learned to write two supporting paragraphs for this
question:
Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution
problems.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Raising fuel prices is the best option because it would lower demand. This is because the laws of
economics dictate that the higher the price of a commodity, the lower the consumption of that
product and this will lead to less people using vehicles. For instance, when the price of fuel
skyrocketed during the oil crisis in the 1970s, there was a huge reduction in the amount of cars
on the road.
Raising the price of fuel would also have a knock on effect on the price of goods because they
cost more to transport. This would result in people having less money to spend at the pump, thus
reducing the number of cars on the road even further. For example, the New York Times reported
that the higher the price of food in a city, the more likely people were to use public transport,
principally because they couldnt afford a car.
You are here: Home / Writing Task 2 / How to Write a Thesis Statement
How to Write a Thesis Statement

This post will show you how to write a good thesis statement and how we need to vary them
according to which kind of question we are asked in the IELTS writing test.
o
what a thesis statement is;
how to identify the different question types;
how to write a thesis statement for each question.
What is a thesis statement?

Thesis- An idea put forward for consideration, especially one to be discussed or analysed.
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A thesis statement is the most important sentence in your IELTS writing task 2 answer. It is
contained in the introduction and each introduction should have one; along with a paraphrase of
the question and an outline statement.
A thesis statement is your main idea and I often describe it to students as how you feel about the
whole issue in one sentence. It tells the examiner that you have understood the question and will
lead to a clearer; more coherent essay.
Lets look at an example of a thesis statement:
Question: There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use is contributing to global
warming and having other undesirable effects on peoples health and well-being.
Thesis statement: It is agreed that increasing use of motor vehicles is contributing to rising
global temperatures and certain health issues.
As you can see, this sentence makes it absolutely clear to the examiner how you feel about the
question. The rest of your essay should support this statement.
How do I know what to write?
The first thing we need to do is to identify which type of question it is and look at the action
words. For example, in the question below the action words are do you agree or disagree?
We therefore need to tell the examiner clearly whether we agree or disagree and this will
influence our thesis statement.
Lets look at other examples:
1. Computers are being used more and more in education.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your own opinion.
2. Computers are 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.
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Discuss both sides of this argument and then give your own opinion.
3. Students are becoming more and more reliant on computers.
What are some of the problems associated with reliance on computers, and what are some of the
possible solutions?
In each of the three questions above the main keywords are more or less the same- education
and computers. However, if we look at the action words we can see that we are required to
answer the three questions in very different ways and this will affect our thesis statement.
The action words are:
1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your own opinion.
2. Discuss both sides of this argument and then give your own opinion.
3. What are some of the problems and what are some of the possible solutions?
It is therefore important to take some time to analyse the question and establish what the question
is actually asking us to do.
How do I write a thesis statement for each question?
Once we have established what the question wants us to do, we can now think about our thesis
statement. Below we will look at how to write a thesis statement for four different kinds of
question:
Opinion Question (Do you agree or Disagree)
Discussion Question (Discuss both points of view)
Advantages and Disadvantage
Problem and Solution.
You should remember that although IELTS writing part 2 questions normally follow a standard
format as above, they sometimes change and you should be prepared for that.
Opinion Question
Some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on young people.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
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We have three choices with this kind of question:

1. I agree
2. I disagree
3. I both agree and disagree
I tell my students to only choose options one or two. Choosing option three will often lead to a
confused and/or very long essay. If you have just one opinion and you stick to this, it will lead to
a clear and well argued essay.
You therefore have two choices.
1. I agree that some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on young
people.
2. I disagree that some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on
young people.
All of your thesis statements for this kind of question should start with:
It is agreed that..
or
It is disagreed that..
We should try to avoid using personal pronouns like I and we therefore use It is agreed that.
instead.
Also remember that we should not copy the question as this is not allowed in the IELTS writing
test and instead we should paraphrase.
For example, It is agreed that the some famous peoples lifestyles have a detrimental effect on
the youth of today.
Second Example Opinion Question
Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution
problems.
Thesis Statement: It is disagreed that the best way to resolve increasing pollution and
congestion problems is to raise the cost of fuel.
Discussion Question
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Computers are 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.
For this kind of question we need to clearly state both sides of the argument and state our own
opinion.
We do this by simply paraphrasing the question; thus stating both sides, and then giving our own
opinion. Our own opinion will be just one side of the argument.
Even if you favour both sides of the argument, just state one. Again, this leads to a clearer
answer.
Thesis statement: Some argue that schools and universities increasing use of computers is a
beneficial trend, while others are opposed to this view. It is agreed that growing use of
technology by educators is a positive development.
As you can see, this student has clearly stated both sides of the argument and stated which side of
the argument she prefers.
Second Example Discussion Question
Some people think that parents should teach children how to be good members of society.
Others, however, believe that school is the best place to learn this.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Thesis statement: Some argue that teachers should teach youngsters how to be upstanding
members of the community, whereas others feel this is the role of the mother and father. It is
agreed that this duty should be filled primarily by parents.
Advantage and Disadvantages Question
Computers are being used more and more in education.
In this kind of question we need to clearly state what we think the main advantage is and what
the main disadvantage is.
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Thesis Statement: The principal advantage is the amount of information instantly available to
students and the main disadvantage is the lack of discipline and motivation provided by
computers.
Second Advantage and Disadvantages Question
Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at
primary school rather than secondary school.
Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Thesis statement: The principal advantage is that exposing children to languages as early as
possible leads to higher levels of proficiency later in life and this outweighs the main
disadvantage of young children being overwhelmed by too many subjects.
Problem and Solution Question

Students are becoming more and more reliant on computers.
What are some of the problems associated with reliance on computers, and what are some
of the possible solutions?
Our thesis statement will need to state one main problem and one main solution. Some teachers
will advise you to state more than problem and solution. There is nothing wrong with this, but I
like my students to choose two good ideas and develop these fully.
Thesis statement: The principal problem is students allowing machines to do all the work for
them without thinking for themselves and a possible solution is to have stricter supervision from
teachers and parents.
Cause and Solution Question
In some countries the average weight of people is increasing and their levels of health and
fitness are decreasing.
What do you think are the causes of these problems and what measures could be taken to
solve them?
Thesis statement: The principal cause of this problem is peoples sedentary lifestyles and a
possible solution is to educate society about the dangers of not keeping fit.
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Next Steps
This is just a broad overview of thesis statements and it should be read in conjunction with my
article on how to write an effective introduction in order to be fully understood. It should be
reiterated that although these are the four common question that normally come up in the IELTS
writing test, they sometimes do vary and you should be ready to change your thesis statements
and introductions accordingly.
How many words should I write in the IELTS exam?

This is one of the most common questions my students ask me and it is always interesting to hear
how many different opinions there are.
Unfortunately, there is some really bad advice and misconceptions surrounding this question.
The two worst pieces of advice Ive heard are You dont have to write 250 words in writing part
2, 10% below this is OK. and You should write as much as possible to get a good mark. These
two statements are simply wrong and will lead to lost marks.
What happens if I write under the word count?
The only advice you should listen to is this- If you want to answer the question properly, you
must write at least 250 words in part 2 and at least 150 words in part 1. If you write less than
these totals you will lose marks under Task Achievement because you havent answered the
question properly.
IELTS examiners have to sit and count all of your words for this reason. It is really heart
breaking when a good candidate produces a great answer and only writes 249 words in part 2.
Unfortunately, we have to mark them down.
Should I write more words to get a good mark?
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No! This is a bad idea for a few reasons.

Firstly, you only have a set amount of time to answer both questions. Time management is one of
the most important things to learn in the IELTS writing exam. If you spend too much time on one
question you are sacrificing marks on the other part.
Secondly, you are more likely to make grammar mistakes if you keep writing over the word limit
and this will bring your overall mark down.
Finally, you are being judged on quality, not quantity. Focus on making your answer the best it
can be, rather than the longest it can be. Remember you should allocate time to planning and
checking, as well as writing.
How many words should I write?
In the exam you wont have time to count all your words. I therefore suggest that you aim to
write about 10% over what you are expected to write. In other words aim to write around 160170 words for task 1 and 270-280 words for task 2. If you aim for this amount, you are far more
likely to go over the required word limit.
How do I know how many words I have in the exam?

As stated before, you wont have time to count all of your words, but there are other ways to
judge this. I advise my students to download the official IELTS writing answer sheets, print them
out and practice using these. All of the answer sheets are the same size; therefore you will be
able to see how much of the sheet you use for the required word limit.
Practicing with the official answer sheets will also familiarise you with the test and you will not
get any surprises on test day.
Are all words counted the same way?
Unfortunately, no! Hyphenated words like First-class or State-of-the-art count as one word
only. Contractions like Ill or were also count as one word. (Ideally you should not be using
contractions in academic essays).
Words like a an and the are always counted towards the word limit.
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Punctuation is not included in the word count.

Can I copy words from the question?
You can copy single words, but you cant copy whole parts of the question. You should never
copy full sentences from the question. Repeating the question will mean the examiner subtracts
these words from your word count and is therefore the same as writing nothing at all. You are
being judged on your ability to paraphrase using synonyms, so try to master this skill and you
will avoid copying.
Example Question Successful sports professionals can earn a great deal more money than
people in other important professions.
Example Paraphrasing- It is possible for successful athletes to make a lot more money than
people working in other important jobs.
As you can see, I have repeated the words successful, money and important, but I have
replaced most of the other words with synonyms.
Can I repeat sentences?
Again, simply repeating yourself will lead to the examiner not counting these words. Some
students try to repeat themselves if they are running out of time. It is always better to write
something new than repeat the exact words again.
How to Understand and Analyse an IELTS Writing Task 2

Question
This article will help you understand IELTS writing questions and answer these questions more
effectively.
One of the main reasons students fail to get the score they deserve in writing task 2 is not
analysing the question effectively. I had one student recently who had great grammar and
vocabulary, but always failed to read and analyse the question properly and therefore didnt
understand the question. He was so confident in his ability that he went straight in to writing
without really thinking about what the examiner wanted him to write. He should have got at least
a 7 or 8 but ended up with a 6 instead.
Some students think that analysing the question will take up too much time, but they are
normally the students who dont do as well as they should. I know teachers say over and over
again read the question but what does this actually mean?
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The examiner is actually looking to see if you have understood the question properly and a
failure to take the time to do so could result in you dropping down a few band scores.
So why do some students not do so well? There are four main reasons:
1. Failure to take the time to actually read the question;
2. Writing about the topic generally and not answering the specific question;
3. Failing to recognise the kind of question being asked and
4. Misunderstanding the question.
Luckily, there are simple steps you can take in the exam that will save you time and help you to
understand and analyse the question effectively, therefore boosting your band score.
These 3 easy steps are simply identifying three easy things:
1. The topic words;
2. The micro-topic words and
3. The instruction words.
I will explain how you can do this below.

What do questions normally look like?
It is a good idea to at least have a look at the different types of questions that normally come up
in this part of the exam. You will be much more confident in the exam and there will be no
surprises.
The question will always start off with one or two statements. It will then give a set of
instructions that will differ from question to question. For a summary of question types, click
here.
Now we know the format, we can get in to analysing the question.
1. Identify the Topic Words
Each essay will be about a general topic and we must identify this first.
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The internet allows us to stay connected with each other no matter where we are. On the
other hand, it also isolates us and encourages people not to socialise.
Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge or experience.
The topic word here is obviously The internet. If it is obvious why am I telling you about it?
Because too many students will simply write generally about the topic and this is how you lose
marks. It is fine to write about the topic, but it is must be linked to the rest of the question. This
is where micro-topic words come in.
2. Identify Micro-Topic Words
These words define the question and tell you which particular part of the main topic the question
would like you to discuss and what the examiner is looking for. They often give an opinion or
qualify the statement in some way.
Lets look at our example question again:
The internet allows us to stay connected with each other no matter where we are . On the
other hand, it also isolates us and encourages people not to socialise .
So as you can see, we should only include things in our essay that are relevant to the words
highlighted above. If we discuss anything else, such as how the internet helps us study, how it is
dangerous for children, the history of the internet or how the internet is used for entertainment,
then you are not being relevant.
Lets look at another question:
Many children these days have an unhealthy lifestyle. Both schools and parents are
responsible for solving this problem.
To what extent do you agree with this statement.
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The main topic is childrens unhealthy lifestyle. This is a very wide topic and we cant write
about it in general. Instead, we have to look at the second sentence for the micro-topic words.
Here we have to look at both schools and parents and how they are responsible for solving this
problem.
Remember; write about the micro-topic words, not the topic in general.
3. Identify Instruction Words
The next stage is looking to see what the examiner wants us to do. They could ask us to give an
opinion, or evaluate the advantages and disadvantages or present problems and solutions. For a
guide on the different question types click here.
Lets look at our example question again:
The internet allows us to stay connected with each other no matter where we are. On the
other hand , it also isolates us and encourages people not to socialise.
We can clearly see that this is an agree or disagree question and we therefore must follow this
format or we will lose marks. We should also give reasons and include some relevant examples.
Thats it! Youre now ready to present relevant arguments backed up by supporting information.
This will also keep you focused throughout the essay and you should refer back to it from time to
time to make sure you are staying within what the question asks.
Lets practice
Have a look at this example question below and identify:
1. The topic words;
2. The micro-topic words and
3. The instruction words.
Women and men are commonly seen as having different strengths and weaknesses. Is it
right to exclude males or females from certain professions because of their gender?
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Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge
or experience.
Do you think the examiner wants you to discuss men and womens strengths and weaknesses or
something else? Comment below with your answers and we will reply.
How To Write an Effective Introduction For IELTS Writing

Task 2
IELTS Writing Task 2 Introductions
This post will help you write better introductions in your Task 2 IELTS essays and show the
specific sentences I advise all of my students to use.
The introduction is the first part of the essay the examiner will read and it will give them a good
first impression of what to expect in the rest of the essay.
Just like in person, first impressions last.
I often tell my students that a bad introduction in IELTS writing part 2 is the same as going in to
the speaking exam and being rude to the examiner- no matter how good you are in the rest of it,
the examiner wont be happy and unhappy examiners are more likely to give you a lower mark.
Despite this warning, many good students go on to produce introductions with a few common
problems in them.
Common Problems
1. Talking too generally about the topic.
Most of these essays start off with Nowadays or In modern life. followed by general
information about the topic. In my opinion, this is the worst start you can possibly make.
Remember that you are supposed to answer the question not write generally about the topic.
2. Not including a thesis statement
This is the most important sentence in the essay. Not including one will lose you marks in several
different ways. I will tell you more about this below.
3. Not outlining what you are going to do
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If you dont include a sentence outlining what your essay will say, the examiner doesnt really
know what you are going to write about in the rest of your essay. This will also lose you marks.
Ill show you how to write an outline sentence below.
4. Trying to write a hook or be entertaining
Remember this is an IELTS exam, not a university essay. There are no extra points for being
interesting, in fact being boring will probably help you. This will help you avoid flowery
language.
5. Using an informal style
Know your audience. You are expected to write in an academic style.

Good and Bad Examples
Good Introduction
Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness issues are often viewed as being
caused by the expanding use of automobiles. It is agreed that increasing use of motor vehicles is
contributing to rising global temperatures and certain health issues. Firstly, this essay will
discuss the production of greenhouse gases by vehicles and secondly, it will discuss other toxic
chemicals released by internal combustion engines.
Bad Introduction
Nowadays, cars are a very popular way of getting around. Day by day many more people drive
cars around but others feel that they cause global warming. Global warming is one of the most
serious issues in modern life. They also affect peoples health and well-being which is also a
serious issue.
As you can see the bad example talks about the topic very generally, copies words and phrases
from the question and doesnt include a thesis statement or outline statement.
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If your introductions look something like this, dont worry. Most of my students write
introductions a lot like this when they first start in my class and the structure below always helps
them fix any problems and write very effective introductions.
Structure of a Good Introduction
If you use this structure you will not only score higher marks but you will also save time in the
exam. If you practice enough, introductions will become easy and you will do them in just a few
minutes. This will leave you lots of time to focus on the main body paragraphs where you can
pick up lots of mark.
An IELTS writing task 2 opinion essay should have three sentences and these three sentences
should be:
1. Paraphrase question
2. Thesis statement
3. Outline statement
Thats it. Simple! Lets look at each sentence in more detail.

1. Paraphrase Question
Paraphrasing means stating the question again, but with different words so that it has the same
meaning. We do this by using synonyms and flipping the order of the sentences around.
Paraphrase: Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness issues are often viewed as
being caused by the expanding use of automobiles.
The synonyms Ive used are:
Increasing- expanding
Car use- use of automobiles
Global warming- rising global temperatures
Peoples health and well-being- human health and fitness
As you can see, I then switched the order of the sentence around.
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I have therefore demonstrated to the examiner that I can paraphrase and have a wide range of
vocabulary. These are two of the things that the examiner is specifically looking for and you will
gain marks for including them.
You should practice this with past paper questions.
2. Thesis Statement
This is the most important sentence in your essay. This is your main idea and I often describe it
to students as how you feel about the whole issue in one sentence. It tells the examiner that you
have understood the question and will lead to a clear and coherent essay.
Lets look at the thesis sentence from the previous example:
Thesis statement: It is agreed that increasing use of motor vehicles is contributing to rising
global temperatures and certain health issues.
It is always just one sentence long so you will have to practice summing up your opinion in one
sentence. It should also address the micro-keywords and not the topic in general.
You should start your thesis statement with:
It is agreed that.. or it is disagreed that.. (Opinion essays)
The main cause(s) of this issue is.. (Causes and solutions)
The principal advantage(s) is (xxxxx) and the main disadvantage is (xxxxxx). (Advantage and
disadvantages).
For a discussion (of two points of view) essay you should state both points of view clearly.
Lets look at another example:
Some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on young people.
To keep things simple, we have two options1. Agree that some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on young
people.
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2. Disagree that some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on
young people.
My essay will argue that celebrity culture does have a bad influence and my thesis statement will
there be:
It is agreed that the some famous peoples lifestyles have a detrimental effect on the youth of
today.
I have stated my opinion in one sentence and used synonyms to make sure I dont just repeat the
question.
Thesis statements are very important but only in question that ask you for your opinion. Some
IELTS questions do not ask you for your opinion and in these cases you can leave it out.
3. Outline Statement
Now that you have paraphrased the question and told the examiner what you think in your thesis
sentence, you are now going to tell the examiner what you will discuss in the main body
paragraphs. In other words, you will outline what the examiner will read in the rest of the essay.
This should be one sentence only.
Example:
Outline statement: Firstly, this essay will discuss the production of greenhouse gases by vehicles
and secondly, it will discuss other toxic chemicals released by internal combustion engines.
So what I have done is just look at my main body paragraphs and wrote about what they contain.
You should have only one main idea per paragraph. In this essay, I have only two main body
paragraphs, so I only need to say two things in the outline statement.
Main body paragraph 1- production of greenhouse gases by cars.
Main body paragraph 2- toxic chemical produced by car engines.
Again, your main body paragraphs should have only one main idea so it should be easy to spot
these and then write a sentence about them.
For advantages and disadvantages essays and problem and solution essays you could write
something like this:
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Advantages and disadvantages: this essay will first discuss the (main advantage(s)) followed
by an analysis of the (main disadvantage(s)), and finally will come to a reasoned conclusion.
Problem and Solution: This essay will analyse the principal problem(s) and offer solutions to
this issue, before coming to a reasoned conclusion.
Final Example
Question: Learning to manage money is one of the key aspects to adult life. How in your
view can individuals best learn to manage their money?
Good answer: One of the keys to adulthood is appreciating how to budget your finances. It is
clear that the best way someone can learn this, is by managing money during childhood. Firstly,
the essay will discuss the importance of parental involvement during childhood and secondly, the
essay will look at the importance of having a part time job during childhood.
As you can see, the above introduction follows the structure I laid out above.
Whats The Difference Between Band 5 and 8 in IELTS

Writing Task 2? Band Scores Explained.
One of the keys to success in the IELTS writing test is understanding how the test is marked and
using this knowledge to increase your band score. You can then give the examiners exactly what
they want and focus on doing the things that get high scores.
This post will look at what each of the four criteria mean and the practical differences between
typical band 5 answers and band 8 answers. I have also put each band score for each category in
a helpful table for you, so its easy to compare and understand.
The four criteria you will be marked on are:
Task Achievement
Coherence and Cohesion
Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
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The examiner will be looking for your ability to answer the question properly. What does this
actually mean?
If we look at the marking criteria above we notice that essays in bands 6, 7 and 8 fully address all
parts of the question. This means that if you do not fully address all parts of the question you will
get a band 5 or below.
This means that you should read the questions very carefully and make sure you cover
everything it asks. Lets look at an example:
More and more people nowadays have to compete with younger people for the same job.
What problems does this cause?
What are some possible solutions?
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There are two different things we need to talk about- problems and solutions. If we dont
include these in our answer we cannot score higher than band 5 for task achievement. Also, if
you talked about causes instead of problems you would also score 5 or below, because this is
not what the question asks you to talk about.
Some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of
sports facilities. Others, however, say that this would have little effect on public health and
that other measures are required.
Discuss both of these views and give your own opinion.
This question requires us to do three things:
1. Discuss increasing number of sports facilities to improve public health
2. Discuss the view that sports facilities would have little effect of public health
3. Give our own opinion
If we dont do all 3 of these we cannot score above a 5 for task achievement.

Now that we know how to score above a 5 we need to look at the difference between bands 6, 7
and 8 for task achievement.
The difference between these scores is about how we support our ideas with explanations and
examples.
Band 6 Gives relevant ideas but these may not be fully developed with explanations or
examples or the explanations and examples given are irrelevant.
Example The main problem causing traffic jams is too many cars. There are lots more cars
these days.
The idea is relevant but they have failed to explain why cars cause traffic jams or give examples.
Band 7- Gives relevant ideas and these are developed with explanations or examples but these
ideas may be too general or lack focus.
Example- The main problem causing traffic jams is too many cars. In lots of cities around the
world there are lots of cars and this causes traffic jams. For example, the number of cars
purchased in developing countries is increasing year after year.
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This student has presented a clear position, but they have given a very general explanation and
their example lacks focus and is not specifically linked to the main point.
Band 8 Gives relevant ideas and these are developed with focused and specific ideas and
examples.
Example- The main problem causing traffic jams is too many cars. When we have more vehicles
than a citys infrastructure was designed for it leads to congestion. For example, Ho Chi Minh
City was designed to cope with around 500,000 cars and the city now has over 2 million cars,
resulting in chronic traffic problems.
This student has explained their point very well, explaining exactly why they think too many
cars are the problem and given a very specific and relevant example to prove their point. If you
cant think of a specific example, make one up. The examiners are not interested in how factual
your examples are, just your ability to make one.
Task Achievement Key Points
Answer all parts of the question
Present relevant ideas
Fully explain these ideas
Support ideas with relevant, specific examples
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Coherence refers to your ability to be clear and easily understood.

For answers in bands 6, 7 and 8 in this category all parts are easy to read and understand. Parts of
band 5 answers are not easy to understand.
This may be because you have lots of grammar mistakes, you have lost grammatical control of
your sentences, the words and sentences are in a very illogical order or you have used words and
phrases that are not appropriate or accurate.
The examiner will be able to understand all parts of band 6, 7 and 8 answers but the ease of
understanding will increase as we go up the bands.
Band 5 answers tend to have lots of different ideas in each paragraph. Band 7 and 8 answers have
only one idea in each paragraph and they then use the rest of that paragraph to explain and
support that point.
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You can increase your band score by making it very clear to the examiner what each paragraph is
about and then logically organise each sentence within that paragraph.
At a sentence level, main body paragraphs should follow this structure:
Topic Sentence
Explanation
Example
Example-The best way to improve the health and fitness of the public is through advertisement
campaigns. Many people are unaware of the health benefits regular exercise and a healthy diet
brings and an advertising campaign could be used to educate people. For example, the 5-a-day
campaign used in the UK was extremely effective in getting people to eat 5 portions of fruit and
vegetables a day.
The topic sentence makes it clear to the reader what the main point is and this is extended with
an explanation in the second sentence and a relevant example in the third. If we were to order
these sentences differently, they would be more difficult to understand.
At a paragraph level, task 2 essay should have:
Introduction
2-3 Main Body Paragraphs
Conclusion
You can further increase your score for coherence by writing an effective introduction and then
linking your points to this introduction.
Cohesion refers to your ability to link ideas, sentences and paragraphs together and one of the
ways we do this is through the use of cohesive devices.
Cohesive devices are also sometimes called linking devices or linking words. Below are some
examples:
Band 5 answers either fail to use any of these devices or use them inaccurately. Some band 5
answers use these devices but they overuse them. You dont get any marks for using them in
every sentence and you will actually lose marks for using them too much.
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Band 6 answers tend to use linking phrases but their use is not appropriate or there is too much
repetition of the same phrase. Try to vary your phrases by using synonyms.
Band 7 answers use a good range of these linking phrases effectively but there might be some
over or under use.
Band 8 candidates make no mistakes when using cohesive devices. They are used accurately and
there is no over use.
Coherence and Cohesion Key Points
Structure your answers in logical paragraphs
One main idea per paragraph
Include an introduction and conclusion
Support main points with an explanation and then an example
Use cohesive devices accurately and appropriately
Vary your linking phrases using synonyms
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Lexical resource is just a complicated name for the words and phrases you use, or in a word,
vocabulary.
Band 5 users have very limited vocabulary and rarely use topic specific words. For example, if
we were asked this question:
Nowadays lots of young people dont have a job.
What are the main causes of this?
A band 5 answer might say:
Lots of young people dont have a job because there is no money. There is no money because
countries are not doing well with money now. For example, countries in Europe dont have any
money and lots of young people dont have jobs.
This candidate has repeated words from the question because they are not aware of synonyms for
words like young people and job. They are also unable to express their opinion effectively
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because they dont know vocabulary that is specific to the question like unemployment,
recession, financial crisis and economic.
A good candidate would use topic specific vocabulary to improve the answer like so:
Many of todays younger generation are unemployed because of the financial crisis. The
financial downturn caused huge economic problems all over the world. For example, European
nations find themselves with massive youth unemployment, with over half of 18-25 year olds out
of work in countries like Greece.
This answer has basically the same meaning but the authors points are clearer and more
developed because of a wide ranging vocabulary.
Band 6, 7 and 8 answers generally have some question specific vocabulary but as we go up the
bands their word choices are more accurate and question specific vocabulary is used more
frequently.
Band 6 answers attempt to use lesson common words, but there is some inaccuracy and there are
some errors with word formation and spelling.
Band 7 answers have far fewer of these errors, however some errors are permitted. The words
chosen here are more likely to show use of correct style and collocations. There is still some
repetition of words permitted.
Band 8 answers have very few spelling or word formation errors and use very appropriate words
to convey meaning precisely. There is also very little repetition of words.
It should be noted that the cohesive devices mentioned above do not contribute to your score for
lexical resource.
Finally, getting a high score for lexical resource is NOT about including lots of long or
complicated words. If you do this and they are not appropriate and accurate, you will lose marks.
To get a high band score you do need to use less common words but these need to be used
precisely.
Lexical Resource Key Points
Try to vary your vocabulary using accurate synonyms
Use less common question specific words that accurately convey meaning
Check your work for spelling and word formation mistakes
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In order to understand this section you should first appreciate what a complex sentence is
and understand and analyse a complex sentence.
A complex sentence does not need to be very long, complicated or even difficult to write and my
guide on how to write a complex sentence should help you improve your score.
Band 5 answers use mostly simple sentences and frequent errors occur when complex
sentences are attempted. Most of the sentences have grammatical errors. The errors make it
difficult for the reader to understand the points being made.
Band 6 answers use a mix of simple and complex sentences and frequent errors still occur
when attempting complex sentences. The majority of sentences have errors but these errors
rarely stop the reader understanding the points being made.
Band 7 answers use a variety a complex structures and around 50% of the sentences are
completely error free.
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Band 8 answers have wide range of appropriate structures. Most of the sentences are completely
error free.
It should be noted that the more small errors you make the more likely you are to get a lower
band score, especially if these errors prevent the reader understanding what you have written.
You should therefore only use structures you are comfortable using and you know are 100%
error free.
Have your writing marked by a teacher and establish your common errors and fix them.
Grammatical Range Key Points
Use a variety of complex and simple sentences
Use a variety of appropriate structures
Check your writing for errors
How to Write Effective IELTS Conclusions

The conclusion is the easiest paragraph to write because in many ways you are just using ideas
you have already mentioned in your introduction and main body paragraphs. However, this is the
last thing the examiner will read and it is therefore crucial that you finish strongly.
You will probably not have much time remaining when you are writing your conclusion so it is
very important that you practice them and learn how to write them quickly. I will show you how
below.
IELTS Conclusion Quick Tips
1. Never write any new ideas in your conclusion. A conclusion should
always simply restate the ideas you have in the rest of the essay. New ideas
should be in the main body and not in the conclusion.
2. Make sure you answer the question in the conclusion. The conclusion
should state what you think about the question and make it clear how you
feel about the issue.
3. Vary your language. Just because you are restating the ideas you have in
the rest of your essay, doesnt mean you use the same language. Instead you
show the examiner you have a wide vocabulary by paraphrasing.
4. Dont try to include everything. You are not required to go into detail, you
have already done that in your main body paragraphs. Instead you will just
summarise your main points.
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5. Always write one. It is very difficult to get a good score in task 2 if you
havent finished your essay with a conclusion. Even if you are running out of
time, make sure you write one.
6. Two sentences are enough.
Linking Phrases
First you should start with a linking phrase, but some are better than others . Here are some
examples:
Finally
In a nutshell
In general
In conclusion
To conclude
Finally isnt really suitable because it indicates that you are making a final point and therefore a
new idea. Finally belongs in the main body of your essay, not the conclusion.
In a nutshell is too informal and we should never use it in IELTS conclusions.
In general tells the reader you are going to talk generally about a topic. This is not what we are
going to do in our conclusion and we should therefore not use it.
In conclusion and to conclude are the only two linking phrases you should use to start your
conclusion. They tell the reader exactly what the paragraph is about and they are formal.
How to Write a Good Conclusion
There are two elements to a good conclusion:

1. Restating the main points of your essay
2. Varying your vocabulary by paraphrasing
Luckily we have already stated our main points in the introduction, so all we have to do is look
back at the conclusion and paraphrase this.
Lets look at some examples:
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Question : Practical skills such as money management should be taught at school

Do you agree or disagree? Give your opinion and real life example.
Introduction
It is argued that students should be taught real life skills, like how to look after money. This
essay agrees that they should be part of the curriculum. The essay will first discuss how
everyday competencies benefit people later in life and then talk about the dangers of not
being taught how to manage money at an early age.
I have completed an effective introduction by doing three things:
1. Paraphrasing the question
2. Stating my opinion
3. Outlining what I will talk about in the rest of the essay or in other words,
the main points Im using to support my opinion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this essay supports the idea that teenagers ought to be taught functional
subjects like financial planning because it helps them in adulthood and a lack of education
related to these topics can have serious consequences.
So all I have done is restate my opinion and included my main supporting points. However, I
have not simply copied the words, I have used synonyms and paraphrasing to vary my language.
Here are the paraphrases I used:
This essay supports- This essay agrees
should- ought to
students- teenagers
functional subjects- real life skills
look after money- financial planning
later in life- adulthood
dangers- serious consequences
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Modern technology has a big impact on our environment. Some say that people should
adopt a simple lifestyle to solve this problem, while others argue that technology itself
should provide a solution,
Introduction
Contemporary advances have a serious effect on the planet. While I appreciate that critics
may hope that people will shun the latest developments, I believe that technology itself can
give us an answer. This essay will first discuss how not using electronics is unfeasible,
followed by a discussion of how science is now coming up with ways to reverse global
warming and pollution.
This introduction does three basic things:
1. Paraphrases the question
2. States opinion
3. Outlines what the essay will discuss
Conclusion
In conclusion, this essay acknowledges that technological progress does jeopardise the
planet, but cutting-edge discoveries can actually halt and even heal this destruction.
Again, all I have done is repeat what I said in the introduction using paraphrasing.
Adding a Prediction or Recommendation to Our Conclusion
It is recommended that ..
It is predicted that.
We can also add a prediction (what we think will happen) or a recommendation (what we think
should happen) to our conclusion. This is optional and really depends on how much time you
have left. Remember that you will have to complete task 2 in 40 minutes.
They are also useful if you think you might not have reached the word limit.
Here are my two previous conclusions with one added sentence:
In conclusion, this essay supports the idea that teenagers ought to be taught functional
subjects like financial planning because it helps them in adulthood and a lack of education
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related to these topics can have serious consequences. It is recommended that governments
make this a compulsory part of the education system.
In conclusion, this essay acknowledges that technological progress does jeopardise the
planet, but cutting-edge discoveries can actually halt and even heal this destruction. It
is predicted that climate change will be successfully tackled with such inventions.
Using Examples in Writing Task 2

Introduction
If you look at the official Writing Task 2 Marking Criteria you will notice that to get a band 9
you must:
present a fully developed position in answer to the question with relevant,
fully extended and well supported ideas
This post will show you how to fully extend and support your ideas using examples.
Examples, if used properly, not only help you get higher marks for Task Response
but also for Coherence. Examples make your writing easier to understand by
illustrating points more effectively. They are also easy to write because it is much
simpler to use an example than to try and explain a complex issue. However, this
does not mean that you can insert any example and hope that it will get you high
marks, each example must be done properly if it is to be effective.
Paragraph Structure (support ur opinion and easy for reader to understand)
In order to be easy to understand a paragraph should have only one main idea. A common
mistake by IELTS students in Task 2 is thinking that if they include lots of ideas they will get
higher marks. In fact, the opposite is true. You get higher marks for developing your ideas with
explanations and examples. You dont get any extra marks for just listing lots of ideas.
Today people are traveling more than before. Why is this the case?
Supporting Paragraph A
I think more people are traveling because people are earning more money these days and they
can afford to travel. Additionally, flights are much cheaper than they were in the past. Moreover,
people have very stressful lives these days and need to go on holiday. Furthermore, children
expect to be taken on holiday when they are off school during the summer. Finally, it is good for
the family to spend time with one another.
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The person who wrote the above paragraph thinks that the way to get a high score is to list as
many ideas as possible and show the examiner how much they know about the topic. This is
actually one of the worst things you can do because Task 2 is not a test of your knowledge, it is a
test of your academic writing ability. The paragraph above is simply a list, not a coherent,
cohesive paragraph that takes ideas and fully develops them.
Supporting Paragraph B
In the past, air tickets were only for the rich and famous because most salaries could not cover
the price of a flight to a foreign country. This meant that the majority simply stayed at home or
took their holidays domestically; however, this has all changed with the creation of budget
airlines. Low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair in Europe or Tiger Air in Asia, have meant that
anyone can save up and travel to a new country, with prices starting as low as $1.
The paragraph has only one main idea- that air travel is cheap. The author of this paragraph has
stated their main point in the first sentence, then explained what this means and how it relates to
the question and then used a specific example to illustrate their point. This is exactly what the
examiners are looking for and you should try to use the following structure to help you write
your supporting paragraphs:
1. Topic sentence (state your main point)
2. Explanation (What does your main point mean? Why have you
included it? How does it answer the question?)
3. Example (A specific example that illustrates your main point)
Vocabulary
The following can be used to give examples:
For example,
For instance,
This is illustrated by.
such as.
.namely.
You will notice that this is not a very long list. I have intentionally made it short for two reasons.
You are only going to have time to include 2 or 3 examples in Task 2 and you have enough new
vocabulary to learn already without trying to learn ten different ways to say For example,.
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Below are some examples to show you how they are used in a sentence:
For example, thousands of Palestinians and Israelis have joined the same online groups
that show support for peace and solidarity, something that would not have been impossible
25 years ago.
For instance, Cambridge University found in a recent study that 62% of men and women
who paid for an annual gym membership failed to go entirely after just one month.
This is illustrated by the fact that in the United States you must complete four years of
higher education before you can study law.
Many sports brands, such as Adidas and Nike, pay professional athletes million of dollars
to endorse their products.
There are now a few low cost airlines in the UK, namely Ryanair and Easyjet, that offer
very affordable flights.
How to Think of Examples
One of the biggest complaints I get from students is But teacher, I can never think of an
example!. There is a very quick solution to this problem- make them up, or in other words,
create them. The examiners will never check your examples for authenticity. They do not care if
your example is real or not, just that you know how to write one.
You should obviously never do this in school or university, only the IELTS exam.
It is always better to write about a real example, but if you cant think of one use one of the
examples below:
1. The University Study

Universities do research all the time and you can use this to invent a study that supports your
main point. Lets say your main point is that using iPads and iPhones increases literacy amoung
young children. You could say:
For example, a recent study by Queens University found that regularly using smart phones
or tablets increased literacy rates by 28%.
2. A Government Opinion Poll
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Governments often ask their citizens their opinion on various issues and you can use this to
support your main points. Lets say you get a question on whether it is better to educate children
in mixed or single-sex schools. You could say:
For instance, a recent poll by the UK Government found that 68% of people who attended
single sex schools would have preferred to have gone to a mixed school.
3. A Newspaper Report
It is also very easy to use newspaper stories to support your view. Say your question asked you to
discuss whether you think violent video games are to blame for rising levels of youth crime.
The New York Times reported in March 2015 that violent crimes commited by under 15
year olds, such as assault, murder and rape, were linked to playing violent video games.
4. Personal Experience
You can also use experience from your own life to illustrate a point. In general you shouldnt use
personal pronouns in Task 2, but it is fine to do it here. Say you are given a question about
solutions to traffic jams. You could say:
In my local city they have installed bike lanes and places where you can safely park your
bike and this has encouraged thousands of people to stop using cars.
Avoiding Generalisations
The best examples not only illustrate your main point, but are
also very specific. You can make them more specific by including
dates, names, places, and statistics.
So now you know how to structure a paragraph and how to give examples, you now need to
avoid one of the most common mistakes students make when using examples- being too general.
If you look at academic journals or books you will notice that the examples they give are as
specific as possible. This gives your points more authority and strengthens your arguments.
Below we will look at a question asking why women should receive equal pay. Our main point is
that women achieve higher grades than men at university.
Lets look at three examples:
1. For example, women achieve more than men at university.
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This is a very general statement and does not really support our main point and because it is so
general, it sounds like we are just repeating the main point again.
2. For instance, most women on my university course did better than men.
This is a little better because the author has been a little more specific about which university and
which course, but there are no details so it is still a little vague.
3. For example, at Queens University in 2009 32% of female law graduates achieved First
Class Honours , while only 8% of males achieved the same.
This is a very specific example because it includes a time, place and specific numbers. Think
about it this way, if you were arguing with someone about this point and they gave you one of
the three examples above, which one would you accept? By being as specific as possible we can
add weight to our argument and give a more academic answer.
You can make your example more specific by adding:
dates
place/business/university names
names of people
statistics
You dont have to add all of these things, only one or two are required to make it more specific.
Cohesive Devices
Introduction
Cohesive devices, sometimes called linking words, linkers, connectors, discourse markers or
transitional words, are one of the most misunderstood and misused parts of IELTS Writing.
Cohesive devices are words like For example, In conclusion, however and moreover.
Together with coherence, cohesion provides 25% of your marks in both parts of the Writing test.
However, most students have not been taught how to use them effectively.
This post will look at how and, more importantly, when we should use them.
What are cohesive devices?
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Cohesive devices tell the reader what we are doing in a sentence and help to guide them through
our writing. They signal to the reader what the relationships are between the different clauses,
sentences and paragraphs.
Lets look at two examples below.
The public transport in this city is unreliable and its cheap.
The public transport in this city is unreliable but its cheap.
There are two cohesive devices in the sentences above: and and but. Both give the reader
different signals and change the meaning of the sentence.
The first sentence tells the reader that its cheap is simply being added to the previous
information, however, the second sentence tells the reader that they are giving a contrasting
opinion to the first part of the sentence by using the word but.
In other words, the second sentence is saying its unreliable (which is bad) but the good thing
about it is its cheap, so I dont mind using it. Simply using the word but conveys that whole
message without needing to literally say it.
This makes our message more succinct and our writing easier to read. But, does that mean we
should use as many cohesive devices as possible?
Overusing Cohesive Devices
The biggest mistakes many students make is to use cohesive devices in nearly every sentence.
If you look at the IELTS Writing Marking Criteria it states that a Band 7 uses a range of
cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under-/over-use. This is typical
of a student who knows the meaning and how to use cohesive devices, but thinks that using them
as much as possible will get them a high mark.
However, using them too much often leads to students using them incorrectly. It is stated for
Band 5 that makes inadequate, inaccurate or over use of cohesive devices. In my
experience, most students get a Band 5 in this category for this reason. They think that using
them as much as possible will get them a high mark, but dont consider the meaning and how
each of them should be used in a sentence.
Band 8 and 9 students tend to only use cohesive devices when necessary and they use them
appropriately and effectively i.e. correct meaning and grammar. In fact, many students have
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criticised Band 9 answers because they dont have enough discourse markers. Take a look at
the extract below from an academic journal (The Power of Human Rights by Stephen C. Ropp).
This extract is about 200 words long. How many cohesive devices can you see?
Most IELTS students will not be able to produce writing to this very high standard, but you
should remember that you dont get extra marks for lots of cohesive devices, the most important
thing is using them accurately (grammar) and appropriately (meaning).
Meaning and Grammar
The next problem students have is learning long lists of cohesive devices and not learning the
meaning of each word or how it should be used in a sentence. If you use the wrong word it
confuses the reader and this lowers your mark for both coherence and grammar. It is better to
use no word than use a word incorrectly.
My advice is to not learn long lists of words. The list below is more than you will ever need and
learning more than this will probably just confuse you or take up time that could be used to learn
something else. In a 250 word essay you might give 2-3 examples at the most, so why would you
learn 10 different ways to give an example? You only have one conclusion, so it seems like a
waste of time to learn 5 different ways to do this.
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Learn just the words you need and learn them 100%. By 100% I mean that you know exactly
what that word means, when it should be used in a sentence and how it should be used in a
sentence. Until you know all of this 100%, dont use it.
Finally, dont try to use very complicated words and expressions, if you are not already
comfortable with the simple terms. Being able to use and or but effectively is much better
than trying to use more complicated words incorrectly. Again, look at some academic texts or
good IELTS sample answers; simple words are used more often than not.
How to Improve
You cant simply learn a long list of words and then hope you can use these correctly in an essay.
That would be like Ronaldo telling you how he scores so many goals and thinking you can do the
same thing by just listening to him.
Also, you cant look at just one example sentence and hope to learn everything you need to know
about that word.
If you want to improve do the following:
1. Reading is the number one way to learn new words. Good writers read a lot,
its that simple. Pick a topic you are interested in and read a little every day.
20 minutes is enough. Note down any cohesive devices and how they are
used in each sentence.
2. Check the meaning and grammar of each word on sites like the British
Council or BBC. You will find lots of explanations there and example
sentences.
3. Practice using these and then have your writing checked by an experienced
IELTS teacher.
If you do the following, you will slowly learn how to use cohesive devices effectively. I wish
there was a faster way, but like most things in life, hard work and practice is the best and only
solution.
Below is a list of more cohesive devices than you will every need to do well on the IELTS
Writing test.
If you want to see how I use them in sample IELTS answers check out our model answers for
Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2.
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Top 10 Most Common IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics
IELTS Writing Topics
A question my students keep asking, again and again, is What are the most common IELTS
writing part 2 topics? They are worried that they wont be familiar with the topic and will not
have any relevant ideas. This is especially true for students from developing countries, because
most of the questions are first world problems and issues. Lets turn that disadvantage into an
advantage.
To answer the question I have asked my students over the last few years to send me the topics on
their exams.
A big thank you, to those students, who were kind enough to send me their questions. I have
built up a huge amount of questions and I think it is about time to analyse them.
Are the same Writing Task 2 topics repeated?
The answer is yes and no. There are a huge amount of topics that come up in writing task 2. At
last count there were around 50 different topics (based on collecting data over the last few years)
and if you would like all 50, please let me know, but Im more concerned about the topics that
come up again and again. If you have time to familiarise yourself with over 50 topics then please
do, but I think must people have to be smart with their time and it therefore makes more sense to
prioritise the most common topics.
I try to encourage my students to be efficient when it comes to learning. However, I dont agree
with the saying Work smart, not hard as this implies you can do very little work and still
achieve your goals. My motto is work hard and smart.
IELTS Essay Topics 2015
There are 10 general topics that come up more often than all of the rest put together. They are:
Health
Environment
Education
Development
Globalisation
Public Transport
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Criminal Justice
Youth Crime
Technology
Government Spending
So what can I do with this information?
Now you know the common topics there are 3 things you can do:
1. Develop a vocabulary list for each topic
Having relevant vocabulary for each topic will give you a big advantage. Many students fail to
provide relevant vocabulary and their band score suffers.
When looking at new vocabulary try to guess the meaning from context first and then look up the
meaning to make sure your idea matches the actual meaning. Also, be sure to look at the word
within a sentence to be aware of the way it relates to other words.
When recording vocabulary do it in a way that will help YOU remember it. Everyone learns in a
different way and everyone learns vocabulary in a different way. Some people like to draw
pictures beside the word, some people like to write synonyms or antonyms, others prefer to write
a few sentences and some people like to use the phonemic chart to write the word that way.
Whatever works for you, do it.
It is also very important to review words regularly. This is the most effective way to remember
the words. So many people learn lots of words and a week later they cant remember them. I
would recommend reviewing them one day after learning them for the first time, then one week
later and then finally one month later. After that they should be firmly stuck in your head for
good.
I am developing a vocabulary list for each of the topics above which you can access here.
2. Practice reading and listening within these topics
To do well on your IELTS test you should practice at home. Even just 60 minutes per day can
make a big difference. This will not only improve all four skills but familiarise you with the
common topics at the same time. Why waste time listening or reading something, if it is about
something that probably wont come up on the test? Unless of course you are listening or reading
for pleasure, in that case, be my guest.
If you are reading an English newspaper, look for articles on the common topics and highlight
any good vocabulary.
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If you like listening to the radio or podcasts, find ones on the common topics.
Please check out my 25 online language learning tools for lots of ways you can study at home for
free.
3. Study within the common topics
This method is so effective that some of the best IELTS schools are starting to adopt this
approach. If you are going to study or practice anything then do it within the context of one of
the common topics. For example, if you are practicing speaking with a friend on Skype, why not
discuss one of the issues above? If you are practicing writing essays, find a question about one of
the most popular or repeated IELTS topics.
This method allows you to practice both the skills and learn about these crucial topics.
They also come up quite a lot in the speaking test.
Can I just focus on these topics and get a high band score?
Obviously, there is much more to achieving a high score than just focusing on the repeated topics
but this will allow you to study and prepare in a smarter and more efficient way, giving you a
huge advantage.
However, I would like to add that it is also important to study things you have a passion for. If
you are genuinely interested in a topic then it is much easier to study and you are less likely to
quit. Please also make time to read, listen, talk and write about your passion. If you love football,
read about your team everyday on www.goal.com. Love fashion?- find some fashionista blogs.
Have a passion for photography?- why not blog about it? Have a passion for astrophysics? Listen
to star talk radio.
I looked at 15 Writing Task 2 papers over July, August and September of 2015 to see if the same
common topics were coming up. Here are the topics:
1. Traditional Culture
2. Government Spending
3. Technology
4. Technology
5. Education
6. Health
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7. Technology
8. Traditional Culture
9. Education
10.Health
11.International Aid
12.The Environment
13.Economics
14.Education
15.Health
As you can see, Technology, Health and Education are still prominent Task 2 topics. It was
interesting to see Traditional Culture popping up twice in such a short period of time, but that
doesnt mean that it will definitely feature again soon.
I still think that Technology, Health, Education and the Environment are important topics and
will feature regularly in the future. Reading within these topics will help you and you will also
pick up other vocabulary just by reading about them.
The important thing is to read actively. When you see a word you dont know, note it down and
find out the meaning, collocation and synonyms. Soon you will have a notebook full of new
words and you review them regualelry until they become part of your vocabulary.
ELTS Writing Task 2 Agree or Disagree Lesson
Introduction
This lesson will help you write better agree or disagree or opinion task 2 essays.
Agree or Disagree Essay
Many students fail to do well in this type of question because they do not have a clear opinion
and they do not use an appropriate structure.
In this post we will look at:
1. Structure
2. Deciding Opinion
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3. Idea Generation
4. Writing an Effective Introduction
5. Writing Supporting Paragraphs
6. Writing a Conclusion
We will use a question from an IELTS past paper to help us understand the task.
Structure
The best structure you can use for this type of essay is:
Sentence 1- Paraphrase Question
Paragraph 2- Supporting Paragraph 1
Sentence 2- Explain Topic Sentence
Sentence 3- Example
Sentence 4- Concession Sentence
Sentence 3- Example
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Sentence 1- Summary
Sentence 2- Prediction or Recommendation
Thats it! Four paragraphs and twelve sentences. You dont have to use this structure and other
structures can get you a high score, but this structure has been approved by IELTS examiners to
be one that will allow students to write a clear and cohesive essay. This structure will allow you
to focus on generating your ideas and then writing an effective essay.
Deciding Opinion
In this essay IELTS examiners want you to give a clear opinion, so its really important for you
to make a decision when you read the question. You will also need to do this in order to write an
effective thesis statement. Lets look at an example:
In some countries an increasing number of people are suffering from health problems as a
result of eating too much fast food. It is therefore necessary for governments to impose a
higher tax on this kind of food.
With this type of essay we have two choices:
1. We agree with the statement or;
2. We disagree with the statement
Some teachers advise that you can partly agree and disagree but this often leads to an essay with
no clear focus and a confusing structure.
So for this essay you can say either:
1. It is agreed that governments should tax fast food or;
2. It is disagreed that governments should tax fast food
I think I will have more ideas for A, so Im choosing this one. Always choose the one that you
feel comfortable writing about even if you dont personally feel that way. There are no points for
writing about how you feel, you just want to impress the examiner.
Idea Generation
Now we have to think of ideas for why governments should tax fast food.
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Here are some:
Cigarettes and alcohol are taxed in the same way
The money raised could be used to treat people with health problems
Fast food companies should be punished for selling unhealthy food to people
Making the food more expensive would stop people eating it
The money raised could be used to educate people about healthy eating
We dont need to use all of these, just two for our supporting paragraphs. Im going to pick the
first and the fourth ones because I know a little about these two and feel confident I can expand
on them with explanations and examples. Remember the examiner wants you to fully support
your arguments, not just list a lot of ideas.
Now we have two supporting ideas we can move on to our introduction.
Introduction
As previously stated, we will use the following structure:

For a more detailed explanation please see our post on writing an effective introduction.
In order to paraphrase the question we simply restate it with a different meaning using
synonyms. I will also reorder the question. Here is the question again:
In some countries an increasing number of people are suffering from health problems as a
result of eating too much fast food. It is therefore necessary for governments to impose a
higher tax on this kind of food.
Paraphrased: It is argued that governments should levy a tariff on junk food because the
number of health risks associated with consuming this kind of food is on the rise.
This is our first sentence.
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We now need to write our thesis statement. This is our opinion in one sentence. This essay will
agree with the above statement and will therefore look like this:
It is agreed that a higher rate of tax should be paid by fast food companies.
This is our second sentence.
We now need to write our third and final sentence, which is the outline sentence. This sentence
outlines what you will write about in the main body paragraphs.
Firstly, this essay will discuss the fact that alcohol and tobacco companies already pay
higher taxes and secondly, discuss how higher taxes could raise prices and lower
consumption, followed by a reasoned conclusion.
So our full introduction will look like this:
It is argued that governments should levy a tariff on junk food because the number of
health risks associated with consuming this kind of food is on the rise. It is agreed that a
higher rate of tax should be paid by fast food companies. Firstly, this essay will discuss the
fact that alcohol and tobacco companies already pay higher taxes and secondly, discuss how
higher taxes would raise prices and lower consumption, followed by a reasoned conclusion.
3 sentences, 77 words.
We now need to write our supporting paragraphs
Supporting Paragraph 1
This paragraph should include:

1. Topic Sentence
2. Explanation
3. Example
4. Concession
A topic sentence tells the examiner what the rest of the paragraph is about. In other words, it is a
summary of your first idea. It should look something like this:
Higher excise on liqueur and cigarettes has proven to be successful at curbing the harm
caused by these substances.
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We now need to expand on this point a little. A good way of doing this is to assume that the
examiner has no knowledge of this subject and you have to explain clearly what you mean. Here
is what this could look like:
This revenue has been used to treat health problems associated with these products, has
proven useful in advertising campaigns warning people about the dangers of alcohol and
tobacco abuse and tax from fast food could be used in the same way.
We should now think of an example to support our point. Think about any recent news stories,
studies or adverts. If you cant think of one, make one up. The examiner wont check if it is real
or not.
The United Kingdom is a prime example, where money from smokers is used to treat lung
cancer and heart disease, while at the same time, pumped into health campaigns in schools
to warn children about the dangers of smoking.
We have now fully supported our first point and the last thing we need to do is write a concession
statement. This statement shows that there may be a counter argument or limits to your point. A
concession statement demonstrates that you have thought about the other side of the argument,
thus making your argument stronger. It could look something like this:
However, some may argue that alcohol and tobacco are addictive substances and fast food
should not be treated in the same way.
Thats it. Four sentences. 102 words. The full paragraph should look like this:
Higher excise on liqueur and cigarettes has proven to be successful at curbing the harm
caused by these substances. This revenue has been used to treat health problems associated
with these products, has proven useful in advertising campaigns warning people about the
dangers of alcohol and tobacco abuse and tax from fast food could be used in the same way.
The United Kingdom is a prime example, where money from smokers is used to treat lung
cancer and heart disease. However, some may argue that alcohol and tobacco are addictive
substances and fast food should not be treated in the same way.
Supporting Paragraph 2
We now repeat the same formula with our second supporting point- higher taxes will increase
prices and reduce consumption.
Our topic sentence:
Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption.
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Explaining this further:

Fast food companies would pass on these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices
and this would lead to people not being able to afford junk food.
We now support our point with an example:
For instance, the cost of organic food has proven prohibitively expensive for most people.
Finally, we make a concession:
Despite this, people in many developed countries, where the problem is most acute, can
afford price hikes and will continue to eat high fat meals.
The full paragraph would look like this:
Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption. Fast food companies would
pass on these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices and this would lead to people
not being able to afford junk food. For instance, the cost of organic food has proven
prohibitively expensive for most people. Despite this, people in many developed countries,
where the problem is most acute, can afford price hikes and will continue to eat high fat
meals.
four sentences. 77 words.
Conclusion
As stated before a good conclusion should include:

Sentence 1- Summary
Sentence 2- Prediction or Recommendation
Dont write any new ideas in this paragraph.
A summary should just restate your thesis statement and your main supporting points.
In conclusion, junk food should be taxed at a higher rate because of the good precedent set
by alcohol and tobacco and the fact that the increased cost should reduce the amount of
fast food people buy.
Finally, we should make a prediction or recommendation based on what we have already
discussed. This shows the examiner that you have really understood the question and the points
you have been making.
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Finally, it is predicted that with the ever increasing health problems associated with obesity,
governments are sure to introduce some kind of fat tax in the near future.
Conclusion done. Two sentences.
Agree or Disagree Sample Essay
It is argued that governments should levy a tariff on junk food because the number of
health risks associated with consuming this kind of food is on the rise. It is agreed that a
higher rate of tax should be paid by fast food companies. Firstly, this essay will discuss the
fact that alcohol and tobacco companies already pay higher taxes and secondly, discuss how
higher taxes would raise prices and lower consumption, followed by a reasoned conclusion.
Higher excise on liqueur and cigarettes has proven to be successful at curbing the
harm caused by these substances. This revenue has been used to treat health problems
associated with these products, has proven useful in advertising campaigns warning people
about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco abuse and tax from fast food could be used in the
same way. The United Kingdom is a prime example, where money from smokers is used to
treat lung cancer and heart disease. However, some may argue that alcohol and tobacco are
addictive substances and fast food should not be treated in the same way.
Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption. Fast food companies would
pass on these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices and this would lead to people
not being able to afford junk food. For instance, the cost of organic food has proven
prohibitively expensive for most people. Despite this, people in many developed countries,
where the problem is most acute, can afford price hikes and will continue to eat high fat
meals.
In conclusion, junk food should be taxed at a higher rate because of the good precedent set
by alcohol and tobacco and the fact that the increased cost should reduce the amount of
fast food people buy. Finally, it is predicted that with the ever increasing health problems
associated with obesity, governments are sure to introduce some kind of fat tax in the near
future.
Writing Task 2 Discuss Both Views Essay Lesson
Introduction
This lesson will help you answer IELTS writing task 2 discussion (or discuss both views)
questions.
These particular questions require a different approach to opinion essays because you have to
discuss both sides rather than just argue in favour of one side.
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Identifying the question
Example Questions
Structure
Sample Answer
Task Achievement
Lexical Resource
Many students fail to do well in these kinds of questions because they do not do what the
question asks them to do and they do not use an appropriate structure. This post will help you
overcome these problems and give you a sample answer.
We will also look at lexical resource and coherence and cohesion; two of the marking criteria
IELTS examiners use when marking your essays. Understand the marking scheme will help you
to get inside the head of an IELTS examiner and give then exactly what they want.
Identifying the Question
Look at the three questions below and choose one you think is a discussion question.
1. Computers are being used more and more in education and so there will soon
be no role for the teacher in education.

2. Computers are being used more and more in education.
3. Computers are 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.
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The first question is an opinion question and we can tell this from the instructions To what
extent do you agree or disagree?.
The second question is obviously an advantages and disadvantages question.
The third question is the discussion question. We can tell this from the typical instructions in the
question Discuss both sides of the argument and then give your opinion.
You may also be asked to Discuss both views and give you opinion or Discuss both sides of
the argument and give your opinion.
Each of these questions is asking us to do different things and we therefore need a different
structure for each question.
Example Questions
Here are a few other typical discussion questions:

1. A growing number of people feel that animals should not be exploited by
people and that they should have the same rights as humans, while others
argue that humans must employ animals to satisfy their various needs,
including uses for food and research.

2. 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. All blood sports should be banned.
Discuss the main arguments for this statement and give your own opinion.
3. Some people think that the best way to reduce crime is to give longer prison
sentences. Others, however, believe there are better alternative ways of
reducing crime.

As you can see, they typically state two opinions and then ask you to discuss both and give your
opinion. Make sure you do these things in the essay. If you only discuss both views and fail to
give your opinion you will lose marks.
Structure
For discussion questions, I suggest you use the following four paragraph structure.
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Introduction
Sentence 2- State Both Points of View
Sentence 3- Outline Sentence
Main Body Paragraph 1
Sentence 1- State first viewpoint
Sentence 2- Discuss first viewpoint
Sentence 3- Reason why you agree or disagree with viewpoint
Sentence 4- Example to support your view
Main Body Paragraph 2
Sentence 1- State second viewpoint
Sentence 2- Discuss second viewpoint
Sentence 3- Reason why you agree or disagree with viewpoint
Sentence 4- Example to support your view
Conclusion
Sentence 1- Summary
Sentence 2- State which one is better or more important
Practice
Here is a sample answer but I have mixed up the sentences. Can you match the sentences below
to the structure above?
This exercise will help you understand the structure.
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1. In conclusion, while the benefits of technology, particularly

the internet, allow students to tap in to 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.
2. There is an ever increasing use of technology, such as
tablets and laptops, in the classroom.
3. It is clear that the internet has provided students with access
to more information than ever before.
4. Moreover, learners have the ability 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.
5. However, many disagree and feel that technology deprives
people of real human interaction.
6. Human interaction teaches people valuable skills such as
discourse, debate and empathy.
7. Despite this, human interaction is still possible through the
internet and this essay disagrees technology should be
dismissed for this reason.
8. It is agreed that an increase in technology is beneficial to
students and teachers. This essay will discuss both points of
view before coming to a reasoned conclusion.
9. For instance, Skype and Facebook make it possible for people
to interact in ways that were never before possible.
10.
Wikipedia is a prime example, where students can
simply type in any keyword and gain access to in-depth
knowledge quickly and easily.
11.
However, as long as we are careful to keep in mind the
importance of human interaction in education, the
educational benefits are clearly positive.
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12.
It is often argued that this is a positive development,
whilst others disagree and think it will lead to adverse
ramifications.
Example Answer
Computers are 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.
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. It is agreed that an increase in technology is beneficial to students and
teachers. This essay will discuss both points of view before coming to a reasoned conclusion.
It is clear that the internet has provided students with access to more information than ever
before. Moreover, learners have the ability 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 simply 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. Despite
this, human interaction is still possible through the internet and this essay disagrees technology
should be dismissed for this reason. For instance, Skype and Facebook make it possible for
people to interact in ways that were never before possible.
In conclusion, while the benefits of technology, particularly the internet, allow students to tap in
to 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 are careful
to keep in mind the importance of human interaction in education, the educational benefits are
clearly positive.
(266 words)
Task Achievement
This is one of the four areas you will be assessed on in the IELTS writing test.
Task achievement refers to your ability to address all parts of the question and present a fully
developed answer. By following the structure above, we have fully discussed both sides of the
argument and given our opinion. This is exactly what the question asked us to do, no more, no
less.
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Discourse markers (words like however, despite this and In conclusion) are also referred to
as linking words and linking phrases, or sentence connectors. They are quite formal and are
used more in academic writing than informal speech.
You gain marks for using these under the coherence and cohesion section of the marking
scheme. These words stick the other words together and lend continuity to sentences and
paragraphs.
If you do not include discourse markers in your IELTS writing, your answer will appear illogical
and it is more difficult to understand.
However, this does not mean that you should try to insert as many of these words in to your
writing as possible. This is a common mistake in IELTS writing. Using too many of them, or
using them inappropriately, can make your writing sound too heavy and unnatural. They are
important, but must only be used at the appropriate time.
Practice
Try to identify any discourse markers in the essay above? Dont look at the essay below yet.
How many can you find?
Sample Answer with Discourse Markers
Here is the sample answer again with the discourse markers in bold.
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. It is agreed that an increase in technology is beneficial to students and
teachers. This essay will discuss both points of view before coming to a reasoned conclusion.
It is clear that the internet has provided students with access to more information than ever
before. Moreover, learners have the ability 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 simply 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. Despite
this, human interaction is still possible through the internet and this essay disagrees technology
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should be dismissed for this reason. For instance, Skype and Facebook make it possible for
people to interact in ways that were never before possible.
In conclusion, while the benefits of technology, particularly the internet, allow students to tap in
to 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 are careful
to keep in mind the importance of human interaction in education, the educational benefits are
clearly positive.
Lexical Resource
This is also one of the four criteria you will be marked on and it refers to your ability to use a
wide range of accurate vocabulary.
A common mistake is to repeat the same words over and over again. You will lose marks if you
do this. A solution to this problem is to use synonyms. You can either think of synonyms as you
are writing or leave time at the end to add them in.
Practice
Can you identify any synonyms in the essay above?

Here are some examples:
Computers- technology
Computers- the internet
Education- in the classroom
Education- students and teachers
Positive trend- positive development
Negative Consequences- adverse ramifications
By varying your vocabulary in this way you are demonstrating that you have a wide vocabulary
and this will boost your band score. However, like discourse markers be careful not to use
inappropriate/inaccurate words. Only use words you are confident about. Mistakes will lead to
fewer marks.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Problem and Solution Essay Lesson
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Problem Solution Essay
This lesson will:
discuss common mistakes
show you how to analyse the question
show you how to think of ideas
give you a structure than can be used again and again on all problem solution
IELTS essays
describe how to write an introduction, main body paragraphs and conclusion
give you a full band 9 sample answer
This is one of the most common IELTS writing task 2 questions on the academic paper. Despite
being very common, lots of students fail to do well in these questions. This post will look at
some of the most common mistakes and then take you through how to answer these questions
step-by-step.
Common Mistakes
1. The most common mistake is not expanding on your ideas and instead
simply listing lots of problems and solutions. The examiner does not
want a list of all the problems and solutions you can think of and
please dont do this in the exam. Instead, if you look at how the exam
is marked, the examiner wants you to pick one or two problems and
solutions and then expand on them with explanations and examples.
More on how to do this below.
2. Another common mistake is writing about problems and solutions that
are not directly linked to the question. You should be like a sniper when
answering the question and only give very specific ideas, rather than
ideas that generally talk about the overall issue. This has a lot to do
with how you identify keywords and micro-keywords in the questions
which we will look at below.
3. Lots of people think of good ideas for problems and then fail to link
their solutions to these problems. Each problem should have a solution
that is directly linked to it, or in other words, should solve the actual
problem.
4. Finally, some candidates think of really good problems and solutions
that answer the question properly and then expand their answers with
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explanations and examples, but they talk too generally. Instead, you
should be thinking of specific examples and explanations. We will look
at how to avoid this below.
Analysing the Question
This is one of the most crucial parts of answering any IELTS writing question. If you dont take
the time to properly think about what the examiner is asking you to do, then it is very difficult to
answer the question correctly.
We analyse the question by thinking about three things:
keywords
micro-keywords
action words
Keywords are the words that tell us what the general topic is.
Micro-keywords identify which part of the general topic the examiner wants you to talk about.
They often give an opinion, qualify the statement or talk about a sub-category of the bigger
general topic.
Action words tell us what the examiner wants us to do.
Problem and Solutions Sample Question

Global warming is one of the biggest threats humans face in the 21st Century and sea levels
are continuing to rise at alarming rates.
If we look at this question we can see that the keywords are global warming. This is our
general topic. We are going to write about this, but we cannot write about any problems
associated with global warming. If we do this, we have not answered the question properly. We
therefore need to look at the micro-keywords.
The micro-keywords are humans and sea level rise. So instead of writing just about the huge
topic of global warming and any problems associated with that (such as increased storms,
extinction of certain animals, erosion of soil) , we have to talk about how particularly sea level
rises will affect humans. If for example, we talked about the problems affecting the planet or
animals or the atmosphere, we would not be answering the question.
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The action words are problems and solutions. Our task is therefore to write about that and only
that. It does not ask our opinion or about the disadvantages and advantages or about the causes,
just the problems and solutions. If we talked about the causes of sea level rise, then we would not
be answering the question.
For more information on how to effectively analyse an IELTS question, please go to our post
here.
How to Think of Ideas
Now that we know exactly what the question is asking us to do, we need to think of specific and
relevant ideas. There are many strategies for thinking of ideas for IELTS task 2 questions but for
these kind of questions I like to use something called the coffee shop method.
Instead of brainstorming or mind-mapping- which take too much time and lead to irrelevant
ideas in my opinion- you should just pretend you are in a coffee shop with a friend and they have
just asked you a simple question. In this case it would be What are the problems and solutions
associated with sea level rise on humans?
If you were talking to friend about this, Im sure you would have no problem thinking of at least
2 or 3 problems and solutions. This method takes you out of an exam situation and puts your
mind into a more relaxed environment. Try it and see. If you dont like it, try one of my other
methods.
There are several problems and solutions including:
Problem: flooding of peoples homes and businesses
Solution: build flood barriers or move to higher areas
Problem: loss of agricultural land and starvation
Solution: switch to more suitable crops
Problem: displacement of millions of people
Solution: move people in a planned and orderly way before the floods
Problem: ground water undrinkable
Solution: build desalination plants
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As you can see, I didnt think of lots of problems and then lots of solutions. For each problem,
you should think of a solution that directly solves this problem.
You now have lots of ideas, but now you must decide which ones to use. I always tell my
students to pick the ones you know most about i.e. that you can explain and give relevant
examples.
Structure
I advise my students to use a basic four paragraph structure with all problem solution IELTS
essays. You four paragraphs should look something like this:
Paragraph 2- Problems
Paragraph 3- Solutions
At a sentence level, your structure should look like this:
Introduction
Sentence 1- Paraphrase question
Sentence 2- Outline sentence (say what you will discuss in the rest of the essay)
Problem
Sentence 3- State problem
Sentence 4- Explain what problem is
Sentence 5- What is the result of this problem
Sentence 6- Example
Solution
Sentence 7- State solution
Sentence 8- Explain how solution will solve problem
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Sentence 9- Example
Conclusion
Sentence 10- Summary of main points in paragraphs 2 and 3
Sentence 11- Prediction or recommendation
Thats it! 11 sentences that can be used again and again for any problem solution IELTS essay.
Some students have commented that this structure only has one problem and one solution and
they are worried this will not be enough to get to 250 words. In my experiences, one problem and
one solution is more than enough to answer the question properly, but if you prefer, feel free to
add one more problem or solution. I wouldnt have two problems and two solutions because this
will either lead to you not expanding and explaining your ideas enough or take too much time to
write.
Practice and see what you feel most comfortable doing.
For more structures check out our IELTS task 2 structures guide.
Now lets look at each paragraph in more detail.
Introduction
The introduction will have two sentences: a paraphrase of the question and an outline statement.
Paraphrasing is simply saying the sentence again with different words but with the same
meaning. We can do this by using synonyms and/or changing the order of the words.
Question- Global warming is one of the biggest threats humans face in the 21st Century
and sea levels are continuing to rise at alarming rates.
Paraphrased- Climate change is among the principal dangers facing people this century and
ocean levels are increasing dramatically.
As you can see above, I have used synonyms to change the words of the questions but it still has
the same meaning. The examiner will be looking for your ability to do this in the exam, so it is a
good idea to practice this skill.
Our outline sentence is next and this tells the examiner what they are going to read in the rest of
the essay. This makes it very clear to the examiner and makes the rest of the essay much easier to
understand. You will therefore gain marks for coherence and cohesion.
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Our outline sentence should look something like this:

This essay will first suggest that the biggest problem caused by this phenomenon is the
flooding of homes and then submit building flood protection as the most viable solution,
followed by a reasoned conclusion.
Our introduction will therefore look like this:
Climate change is among the principal dangers facing people this century and ocean levels
are increasing dramatically. This essay will first suggest that the biggest problem caused by
this phenomenon is the flooding of homes and then submit building flood protection as the
most viable solution, followed by a reasoned conclusion.
It should be noted that this introduction does not contain a thesis statement. This is because this
particular question does not ask us for our opinion. However, IELTS problem solution questions
sometimes do ask you for your opinion and you should then include a thesis statement.
Problems Paragraph
Our problems paragraph will have this structure:

Sentence 1- State problem
Sentence 2- Explain what problem is
Sentence 4- What is the result of this problem
Sentence 5- Example
State problem: The foremost problem caused by climbing sea levels is the flooding of peoples
residences.
Now that we have stated the problem, we must explain what this is. You should always consider
your audience to be someone with no specialist knowledge in this area and you therefore need to
explain what everything means. Dont assume that the IELTS examiner is an educated person
and knows what you are talking about. These assumptions will stop you writing what you need.
Explain: Millions of people all over the world live in coastal areas and if the sea rises by even a
few feet, they will be inundated with water and lose their property.
Now that we have explained what our main point is we need to explain why this is a problem.
First explain the what and then the why.
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Result: Shelter is one of the most basic of human needs and widespread flooding would cause
millions of people to become homeless, not to mention losing all of their possessions.
Now we must give an example of what we are talking about. When we give an example, it
should be as specific as possible.
An example of a very general example would be:
Lots of people in the world have experienced floods recently.
This is far too general to be considered a good example.
Example: The devastation brought about by widespread flooding was clear for all to see during
the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, in which millions of people were displaced.
This example is much more specific. Stating a place and/or date can help you make your
examples more specific.
Our second paragraph will look like this:
The foremost problem caused by sea levels creeping up is the flooding of peoples
residences. Millions of people all over the world live in coastal areas and if the sea rises by
even a few feet, they will be inundated with water and lose their property. Shelter is one of
the most basic of human needs and widespread flooding would cause millions of people to
become homeless, not to mention losing all of their possessions. The devastation brought
about by this was clear for all to see during the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, in which millions of
people were displaced.
Now we must move on to our solutions.
Solutions Paragraph
Our solutions paragraph will have this structure:

Sentence 1- State solution
Sentence 2- Explain how solution will solve problem
Sentence 3- Example
State solution: A possible solution to this problem would be to build flood barriers.
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We now need to explain how our solution will help solve the problem. Again, do not assume that
the examiner has any specialist knowledge of this topic, so you need to explain what you mean.
Explain solution: Flood defences, such as dikes, dams and floodgates, could be built along
coasts and waterways, thereby stopping the water reaching populated areas.
Example: The Netherlands is one of the most populated areas in the world and also one of the
most vulnerable to flooding and they have successfully employed various flood defence systems.
Our whole solutions paragraph will look like this:
A possible solution to this problem would be to build flood barriers. Flood defences, such as
dikes, dams and floodgates, could be built along coasts and waterways, thereby stopping
the water reaching populated areas. The Netherlands is one of the most populated areas in
the world and also one of the most vulnerable to flooding and they have successfully
employed various flood defence systems.
We have now answered the question and we now just need to sum up what we have said in the
conclusion.
Conclusion
The conclusion should have no new ideas, but instead should simply list the main points from the
previous two paragraphs. You can also use synonyms in this paragraph to avoid repetition.
Conclusion: To conclude, stemming the rising tides caused by increasing global temperatures is
one of the foremost challenges we face and it will ultimately lead to many of the worlds cities
being left underwater, but a possible solution could be to utilise the flood prevention techniques
already used by countries like Holland.
It is also possible to make a recommendation or prediction. This should only be used if you have
time and you are over the word limit already.
Prediction: It is predicted that more and more countries will be forced to take such measures to
avoid a watery catastrophe.
Our whole conclusion will look like this:
To conclude, stemming the rising tides caused by increasing global temperatures is one of
the foremost challenges we face and it will ultimately lead to many of the worlds cities
being left underwater, but a possible solution could be to utilise the flood prevention
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techniques already used by countries like Holland. It is predicted that more and more
countries will be forced to take such measures to avoid a watery catastrophe.
Problem and Solution Sample Essay
Here is the whole essay:

Global warming is one of the biggest threats humans face in the 21st Century and sea levels
are continuing to rise at alarming rates.
Climate change is among the principal dangers facing people this century and ocean levels are
increasing dramatically. This essay will first suggest that the biggest problem caused by this
phenomenon is the flooding of homes and then submit building flood protection as the most
viable solution, followed by a reasoned conclusion.
The foremost problem caused by sea levels creeping up is the flooding of peoples
residences. Millions of people all over the world live in coastal areas and if the sea rises by even
a few feet, they will be inundated with water and lose their property. Shelter is one of the most
basic of human needs and widespread flooding would cause millions of people to become
homeless, not to mention losing all of their possessions. The devastation brought about by
this was clear for all to see during the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, in which millions of people were
displaced.
A possible solution to this problem would be to build flood barriers. Flood defences, such as
dikes, dams and floodgates, could be built along coasts and waterways, thereby stopping the
water reaching populated areas. The Netherlands is one of the most populated areas in the world
and also one of the most vulnerable to flooding and they have successfully employed various
flood defence systems.
To conclude, stemming the rising tides caused by increasing global temperatures is one of the
foremost challenges we face and it will ultimately lead to many of the worlds cities being left
underwater, but a possible solution could be to utilise the flood prevention techniques already
used by countries like Holland. It is predicted that more and more countries will be forced to take
such measures to avoid a watery catastrophe.
298 words)
IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Lesson

These kinds of questions normally give you a statement and ask you to comment on the
advantages and disadvantages of that statement.
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The problem is that there are 3 different types of advantage and disadvantage question and they
each require a different approach. If you answer them in a different way then you risk losing lots
of easy marks.
This lesson will look at each of the three question types and suggest a standard sentence-bysentence structure for each of them. There will also be samples answers for each of the three
questions to help you compare and understand the three approaches.
Question 1
In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing
high school and starting university studies.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decided to do this.
Question 2
Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary
schools rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Question 3
Computers are becoming an essential part of school lessons.
Question 1 simply asks us to discuss the advantages and disadvantages. It does not ask for our
opinion or say which side is better or worse, so we should not include this information in our
answer.
This requires a simple structure in which the student will look at the advantages in one paragraph
and the disadvantages in the other.
Question 2 is different because we have to say if the advantages are stronger than the
disadvantages. Notice I didnt say if there are more advantages than disadvantages. The
question is not asking you to talk about numbers, but comment on the overall weight of the
advantages or disadvantages. For example, there are a huge number of advantages to travelling
by private jet, but there is one huge disadvantage (the cost) that stops most people from flying
that way and therefore the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
In this example we will have to decide which side (advantages or disadvantages) is stronger and
this will affect our structure. If you choose advantages then you will have to say why these are
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much stronger than the advantages and why the disadvantages dont hold much weight. You
would also have to make this clear in your thesis statement.
Question 3 is different again because it is more like an opinion essay and a discussion essay at
the same time. Your structure will reflect this by having a paragraph for advantages and
disadvantages, but also having a clear position on the statement.
Structure for Essay 1
Introduction
Sentence 2- Outline sentence
Supporting Paragraph 1 (Advantages)
Sentence 3- Topic sentence (Advantage 1)
Sentence 4- Explain how this is an advantage
Sentence 5- Example
Supporting Paragraph 2 (Disadvantages)
Sentence 6- Topic sentence (Disadvantage 1)
Sentence 7- Explain how this is an disadvantage
Sentence 8- Example
Conclusion
Introduction
Sentence 2- Thesis statement (state which one outweighs the other)
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Main Body Paragraph 1 (Stronger Side)
Sentence 5- Explain why it is strong
Sentence 6- Example
Sentence 8- Explain why it is strong
Sentence 9- Example
Main Body Paragraph 2 (Weaker Side)
Sentence 11- Explain why it is not strong
Sentence 12- Example
Conclusion
Sentence 13- Summary of main points and restate position.
Introduction
Sentence 2- Thesis statement (your opinion)
Main Body Paragraph 1 (Advantages)
Sentence 5- Explain
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Sentence 6- Example
Main Body Paragraph 2 (Disadvantages)
Sentence 8- Explain
Sentence 9- Example
Main Body Paragraph 3 (Opinion)
Sentence 10- Explain opinion
Sentence 11- Explain or give example
Conclusion
Sentence 12 Summary of main points
Question 1
In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between
finishing high school and starting university studies.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decided to do this.
Before embarking on college many young people are advised that a year working or travelling
may be a good option. This essay will suggest that saving money is the biggest advantage of this
and a reduced motivation to study is the primary disadvantage.
Third level education is very expensive and lots of students decide to work for 12 months and
save up money before they begin their studies. This allows them to pay for their living costs,
tuition fees and accommodation and focus on their studies, rather than struggle financially or
have to get a part time job on top of their academic work. The Times recently reported that the
average student at a UK university requires over $12,000 per annum just to survive and many
drop out because they cannot afford to stay.
Despite these advantages, many students often get used to working or travelling and dont want
to return to a life of study after a year off. This short term view can cause some to bypass
university altogether and go straight into a job that is beneath their capabilities or may not offer
the same prospects their future career might have done. For instance, a recent survey by the
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British Government found that 26% of students who take a gap-year never enter tertiary
education.
In conclusion, taking a break from studies can be advantageous if it allows people to gather up
savings, however, they should also be careful that it does not lead to disillusionment with
education altogether.
(252 words)
Question 2 Sample Answer
Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at
primary schools rather than secondary school.
Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Some authorities think that it is more favorable for pupils to begin studying languages at primary
school instead of secondary school. This essay will argue that the advantages of this outweigh
the drawbacks. The essay will first demonstrate that the earlier someone learns an additional
language the more likely they are to master it and that it brings added cognitive benefits,
followed by an analysis of how the primary disadvantage, namely confusion with their native
tongue, is not valid.
The main reason to start kids off with foreign languages early is that this increases the likelihood
they will achieve fluency in adulthood. That is to say that they will have far more years to perfect
their skills and it will seem perfectly normal to speak bilingually. For example, in countries such
as Holland and Norway where English is taught from a very young age, more than 95% of adults
speak it at an advanced level. Learning a second language also helps to improve overall cognitive
abilities. In other words it benefits the overall development of a childs brain. A recent survey by
Cambridge University found that children who studied a new language before the age of 5 were
significantly more likely to score higher in Mathematics and Science.
Those opposed to this say that it causes the child to become confused between their mother
tongue and the other language. However, there is actually no evidence to support this view and
children from bilingual families do just as well in both languages. My own son was brought up
speaking both Vietnamese and English and outperforms most of his classmates in both.
On balance the fact that early foreign language learning leads to higher fluency and improved
brain function clearly outweighs the flawed argument that it impairs uptake of native languages.
Question 3 Sample Answer
Computers are becoming an essential part of education.
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Information technology is becoming a ubiquitous part of learning. This essay will show that this
is a welcome development and can enhance educational practice. It will first suggest that the
instant availability of huge amounts of information is the primary advantage, followed by a
discussion of how it can sometimes lead to plagiarism.
The main benefit computers bring to learners is easy access to vast amounts resources. Learners
were once limited to the books they had and the knowledge of their teacher, now they can learn
about anything they choose at the touch of a button. Google is a prime example, because it
allows people to easily search for whatever they are looking for quickly and accurately.
One possible drawback is that using the internet to complete academic work can sometimes lead
to pupils copying articles from the internet. As a result, students do not have to think about their
tasks and learn very little. The Sunday Times recently reported that 72% of college graduates in
the UK admitted to copying and pasting Wikipedia articles at least once.
Overall, it is a very positive development because most students will take advantage of the power
of the information superhighway to enhance their studies, rather than using it to cheat. For
example, in 2005 Cambridge University found that students who regularly used a computer were
26% more likely to get a first-class degree than those who did not.
In conclusion, the web has provided a gateway to knowledge unlike anything seen before and
although it can sometimes lead to a few taking the easy route and plagiarising, it is a very
positive step in the evolution of education.
Using Personal Pronouns in IELTS Essays

Last week I produced a video of me writing an IELTS essay live and I got lots of great feedback,
but also some negative emails too. I love to receive emails whether positive or negative, because
it lets me know exactly what you guys think and also what I can do to help you even more.
The strange thing was nearly all of the negativity was about one thing- personal pronouns.To
summarise, lots of you thought that I used them too much and that this was not acceptable in a
Task 2 essay. I was always of the opinion that it was fine to use personal pronouns, but this made
me doubt myself, so I did some research.
What are personal pronouns?
Personal pronouns are words like I, we, you and they. Some people think that they should
never be used in IELTS essays because they will make the essay sound too informal and not
academic enough.
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Examples:
I believe that. (informal)
This essay believes that. (formal/academic)
If you eat too much junk food you will get fat. (informal)
If a person eats too much junk food that person will get fat. (formal/academic)
What does the marking criteria say?
If you are ever in doubt about anything to do with IELTS Writing always check what the official
marking criteria says first.
What does it say about personal pronouns? Nothing. What does it say about being informal or
formal for Task 2? Nothing.
What do the questions say?
If you look at some of the official questions from Cambridge Examination Papers they would
also seem to encourage you to use personal pronouns.
They use language like:
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or
experience.
To what extent do you agree or disagree.
It would be very difficult to answer the question above without using personal pronouns and I
dont think that Cambridge are trying to play tricks on us.
What do examiners say?
The ex-examiners I have spoken to all say the same thing. It is fine to use them, but dont
overuse them.
When can we actually use them?
It is absolutely fine to use personal pronouns when giving opinions and when giving examples.
Just dont use them throughout the whole essay i.e. in every sentence.
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Also, if you dont want to use them and prefer to use very academic language, then that is fine
too.
In the past I have advised students to use academic ways to give examples and opinions, but this
is only because I was afraid that they would overuse personal pronouns throughout the whole
essay.
It should also be noted that you have many things to be worrying about when writing your essay,
so adding in the worry of counting how many personal pronouns you are using should not be
encouraged. Relax.
Summary
It is acceptable to use them when giving your opinion or examples if you like, but dont overuse
them in the rest of the essay. However, it is not in the marking scheme, so do not make it a major
concern. The things that are specifically listed in the marking criteria are the things your need to
focus on.
2+2=
Some of the emails I got were quite irate and some were from IELTS teachers who said that I
was misleading students by including personal pronouns in my essay.
What I would say to that is IELTS Writing is not mathematics. If I had said that 2 + 2 = 5, then I
could understand their anger, but writing is a fluid discipline and there are many different
answers and methods that can result in a high score.
I also do not publish anything unless it has been approved by at least one of many ex-examiners I
know.
How can I use sample answers?

Sample answers are great because they provide a good model for you to compare your writing
with. However, simply reading lots of them is not going to make you a better writer.
Think about it this way, how many millions of people watch world class footballers like Messi
and Ronaldo every week? Does it improve their football skills? Maybe if they go and practice
what they learned, but not a bit if they do nothing.
In order to really improve you have to actively use the answers below, not passively read them
and then expect to magically improve. Follow the plan of action below.
Plan of Action
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1. Read the questions, but DO NOT read the answers. Even taking a brief look at the
question will influence your answer.
2. Attempt the answer under exam conditions.
3. Compare what you have with the sample answer.
4. Think about the ideas, the structure, the organisation, vocabulary and grammar. It is
important that you really think deeply about how the author used each of the elements
above.
5. Dont worry if your answer is very different. There are many different ways to answer a
Task 2 question.
6. Go back and improve your original answer with some of the elements of the sample
answer.
Answers with Examiners Reports

Band 6 Student Answer with Examiners Report
Lots of students only require a Band 6 or 6.5 in their IELTS test and I get lots of questions every
week about what a Band 6 essay looks like and what is required to get a 6. I recently marked a
Band 6 essay for one of our essay correction service students and you can read it below.
I have included the picture of the original essay below so you can see the original corrections and
I have included the examiners report and sample answer. This student was able to get the Band 7
they required after following the advice below.
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Task Response- Band 6

You address all parts of the task and cover both arguments. However, the question asked you to
discuss both views and you spend much more time saying why children were happy and not
adults.
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You presented a clear position throughout the response. It was very good to see that you gave a
clear thesis statement in your introduction and then used the rest of the essay to support this
view.
You present, extend and support main ideas, but there was a tendency to over-generalise at times.
Suggestions
For discussion (discuss both views) it is important that you give equal time to both views. Even
if you disagree with one view, you should write one paragraph saying why you disagree. If you
did this, you would have got a higher band.
One thing that you could do better is provide specific examples. The more specific you can be
with your examples, the more authority your points have. You can make your examples more
specific by adding dates, statistics, peoples names or place names. See my article below.
Be careful not to have too many ideas. Your ideas are relevant, but it is better to have fewer ideas
and support these with explanations and examples, than simply list lots of ideas that are not fully
developed. Examiners are looking for fully developed ideas, not lists of ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion- Band 7
You logically organise information and ideas; there is clear progression throughout. The structure
that you have used really helps in this area and makes everything easy to follow and flows very
nicely. However, it can be improved even more.
You use a range of cohesive devices (linking words) appropriately although there is some overuse. All linking words are used accurately and effectively, but there tends to be a reliance on
them through overuse. This is not a huge problem, but the higher band scores use cohesive
devices much less than you currently do.
Each paragraph presents a clear central topic and this is really helped by a topic sentence at the
beginning of each paragraph.
Suggestions
Try using this paragraph structure for discussion questions:
Introduction
Paraphrase Question
Thesis Statement
Outline Statement (outline what you will discuss in the rest of the essay)
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Discussion of first side

Main point
Explanation of main point (linked to your opinion)
Example
Discussion of second side
Main point
Explanation of main point (linked to your opinion)
Example
Conclusion
Summary of main ideas and opinion
Your use of cohesive devices is very good, but you do have a tendency to overuse them. You
dont get more marks for every cohesive device you use and in fact, you will be penalised for
overusing them. Only use them when necessary. If you look at my example essays I might only
use them once or twice per paragraph.
Vocabulary- Band 6
You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task such as financial responsibilities,
academic environment and scientific competitions.
You attempt to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy and you make some errors
in word formation, but they do not impede communication. Please see corrections above for
examples of this.
Suggestions
You do try to use advanced vocabulary but this often leads to small mistakes. Follow the 100%
rule- dont try to use any words you are not 100% sure about. It is better to use simple words and
make no mistakes than use advanced words, but in error. By 100% I mean that you should be
sure about spelling, grammar, collocations, synonyms, antonyms etc.
In the long term you should think about starting a vocabulary book. This is a place where you
record new vocabulary with spelling, grammar, collocations, synonyms, antonyms and example
sentences to make sure you know it 100%. You can then review these new words regularly so
that they become a natural part of your vocabulary.
You should also give yourself a few minutes at the end to evaluate your vocabulary and make
sure you have not made any mistakes.
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Finally, synonyms are important and you should try to use them, but only use them if you know
that they mean exactly the same as the word you are replacing. They should also be
grammatically correct. If you are not sure, just repeat the word.
Grammar- Band 5
You attempt complex sentences but these tend to be less accurate than simple sentences.
You make frequent grammatical errors and some errors can cause some difficulty for the reader.
Please see above for grammatical errors.
SuggestionsEstablish your common grammar errors and then review this grammar. There are lots of online
activities you can do to practice and perfect each area you are weak in.
Also, follow the 100% rule for grammar. You should only write sentences that you know are
100% correct. If there is any doubt then you need to think about how you can express your point
in a simpler way, that has no mistakes.
It is better to write in a simple way and make no mistakes, than use complex grammar and
structures with frequent errors.
Overall- Band 6
Overall this was a good essay but there are some things you can do to improve in the future.
The main things you can do is to answer the question by doing what it asks you to do. In this
question you have been asked to Discuss both views and give your own opinion. You have
really only discussed one of the views. You need to make it really clear to the examiner that you
have discussed both views by having a separate paragraph for each.
Your coherence will also improve if you use the structure I suggested above and you should also
check out the structures for the other types of essay. I have included a link for this below.
Your cohesion is very good, but remember that you dont need to start every sentence with a
linking word, one or two per paragraph is enough.
Your vocabulary and grammar are your two biggest challenges. The quick way to fixing these is
to follow the 100% rule I suggest above and if you want to fix these long term I would suggest
the following:
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1. Read books/blogs/magazines about the common IELTS Task 2 topics, such as Education,
Health and Technology. Note down any new words in a vocabulary notebook as I suggested
above and then review this regularly. It will take you a little while, but soon your vocabulary will
really expand.
2. Find out what your common grammar mistakes are. Most people make the same grammar
mistakes over and over again. When you know what these are, you can review the grammar
rules, practice online and fix them.
An IELTS Task 2 Essay Most Students Got Wrong

I recently gave this question for homework to a very high level class and unfortunately lots of
them failed to answer the question correctly. This led to lots of frustration in the group, but they
soon figured out what they did wrong.
I thought it was worth looking at this question in more detail so you can prevent the same thing
happening on exam day.
Question- Women and men are commonly seen as having different strengths and
weaknesses. Is it right to exclude males or females from certain professions because of their
gender?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge
or experience.
Question Analysis
This is quite a difficult question to answer because of the way it is phrased. In order to answer
this question correctly we should analyse it carefully.
Keywords Women and men/strengths and weaknesses
Micro-Key words right to exclude/certain professions/because of gender
Instruction words give reasons/relevant examples/own knowledge or experience
The first common mistake many students made was answering the question using the keywords
and ignoring the micro-keywords. These students wrote an answer about the difference between
men and women in the workplace and how certain jobs are better suited to men or women. This
is not what the question asks.
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The second thing most students did wrong was either not supporting their ideas with reasons or
not, including examples from their own knowledge or experience. These students just listed lots
of ideas about the difference between men and women in the workplace without fully explaining
what they mean and how this is linked to the question.
A good answer would specifically address the micro-keywords i.e. is it right to exclude men or
women from certain professions? The most important words here are right, exclude and certain.
Idea Generation
Reasons why it is right to exclude men or women from certain professions:
Most men do not have the skills to work in certain professions, such as a
nanny.
Society does not accept men who work in certain professions, such as a
beautician.
Some women do not have the physical attributes to work in certain

professions, such as a soldier.
Society does not accept women who work in certain professions, such as a
construction worker.
Reasons why it is not right to exclude men or women from certain professions:
It is unfair.
People should not be discriminated against because of their gender.
That view has no place in a modern, free society.
Excluding women from certain professions harms the economy.
We now need to think about which ideas to choose. I personally believe that women should not
be excluded from any profession, but my personal feelings do not matter in an IELTS writing
test. I should choose the ideas I feel confident explaining and supporting with examples.
I will therefore write about why I think it is right to exclude men or women from certain
professions.
Structure
The task is to answer a direct question and it is therefore an opinion (agree/disagree) essay and I
will follow this structure:
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Sentence 3- Example
Sentence 3- Example
Sentence 1- Summary
Essay
Women and men are commonly seen as having different strengths and weaknesses. Is it
right to exclude males or females from certain professions because of their gender?
Males and females are often viewed as having differing skill sets. It is agreed that it is correct to
exclude people from certain jobs on the basis of their gender, but only in very limited
circumstances. This essay will first discuss how physical attributes prevent women from
excelling in particular roles; secondly discuss how society at large rejects men from undertaking
certain careers, followed by a reasoned conclusion.
For many years the general consensus in the armed forces is that women should not be allowed
to participate in combat missions. This is because most women lack the brute strength required
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for this particular occupation and it is therefore right to prevent them from joining the ranks. For
example, the American Army recently allowed some women to fight on the front line and the
Department of Defence deemed the experiment a failure, due to lack of fighting effectiveness.
Despite this, many women have fought in many wars, famously on the Eastern Front for Russia
and the Viet Cong in Vietnam, so maybe it is mens attitudes that prevent them performing
rather than their stature.
Society has yet to accept men in many traditionally female positions, such as nanny or
beautician. Businesses feel that it is fine to not hire men for these posts because most of their
customers would not be willing to have a man perform that service. I personally know of one
example when a friend failed at the interview stage when applying to become kindergarten
teacher because he was the wrong sex.
To summarise, in limited circumstances it is just to prohibit people from certain occupations, but
only if they cannot physically perform or if the general consensus is that it is a single sex post.
(288 words)

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4. Main Body Paragraphs

Sentence 4- Explain Problem

This essays agrees that.

This essay does not agree that..

Learn How to Paraphrase and Use Synonyms

Start Task 2 Before Task 1

How to Plan an IELTS Essay

This is the number one excuse for not planning.

Planning has 4 stages:

Find keywords (general topic)

Find micro-keywords (specific topic)

Find instruction words (how to answer question)

Paragraph 3- Why disadvantage are weak

HOW TO THINK OF IDEAS FOR IELTS WRITING TASK 2

No One Size Fits All

Mind mapping is a way to visually organise your thoughts on to paper.

IELTS Writing- How To Write a Complex Sentence

How to Paraphrase in the IELTS Test

How to Write a Good Supporting Paragraph

look at what the examiners want

look at good and bad examples

show you how to write topic sentences

What do the examiners want?

Women outperform men in many jobs

Women outperform men in many schools and university subjects

Should be based on merit not gender

A few jobs, like construction, are better suited to males

That is to say. (linking)

In other words (linking)

This is because (giving reasons)

The reason is. (giving reasons)

As a result. (describing result)

As a consequence. (describing result)

Therefore. (describing result)

How to Write a Thesis Statement

what a thesis statement is;

how to identify the different question types;

how to write a thesis statement for each question.

What is a thesis statement?

Opinion Question (Do you agree or Disagree)

Discussion Question (Discuss both points of view)

Advantages and Disadvantage

Problem and Solution.

We have three choices with this kind of question:

Problem and Solution Question

How many words should I write in the IELTS exam?

No! This is a bad idea for a few reasons.

How do I know how many words I have in the exam?

Punctuation is not included in the word count.

How to Understand and Analyse an IELTS Writing Task 2

I will explain how you can do this below.

How To Write an Effective Introduction For IELTS Writing

4. Trying to write a hook or be entertaining

Know your audience. You are expected to write in an academic style.

Thats it. Simple! Lets look at each sentence in more detail.

Whats The Difference Between Band 5 and 8 in IELTS

Coherence and Cohesion

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

If we dont do all 3 of these we cannot score above a 5 for task achievement.

Answer all parts of the question

Present relevant ideas

Fully explain these ideas

Support ideas with relevant, specific examples