With the Reading and Listening tests in IELTS, the question paper gives you a pretty clear idea of what you need to do, even if you have trouble understanding the text or the audio. And if you’re not sure of an answer, you can always make an educated guess. Writing Task 2 is different – if you fail to understand the question, and go off on the wrong track, you could score very badly on Task Response, and that could mean missing the band score you need.

Let’s start by looking at a sample Writing Task 2 question.

Writing Task 2

A person’s worth nowadays seems to be judged according to social status and material possessions. Old-fashioned values, such as honour, kindness and trust, no longer seem important.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

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

Write at least 250 words.

How should I approach this question?

The easiest mistake to make is to jump on one or two words, and decide that these are the focus of the essay. For example, in the pressure of the test room, you could decide to write about how “social status and material possessions” are important to people these days. You would not get a good grade for that essay because you are not answering the question.

The first thing you must do is to spend a minute looking at the question and deciding what kind of essay it is asking for, as failing to plan is planning to fail. Writing Task 2 prompts come in several common forms, and each requires a different approach:

• Agree or disagree (“To what extent do you agree or disagree?”). You must take a clear position and argue for it throughout. You can acknowledge the opposing view, but your own stance should be obvious from start to finish.
• Discuss both views (“Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.”). You present both sides substantively, then give your own view.
• Advantages and disadvantages. You weigh the pros and cons of a situation, sometimes with a question about which outweighs the other.
• Problem and solution (or cause and solution). You identify the causes or problems, then propose solutions.

The sample above is an agree or disagree question. That means you need to decide what you think — do you agree that people today are judged mainly on status and possessions, with old-fashioned values fading? Do you disagree? Or do you partly agree? Whichever position you take, you must state it clearly in your introduction and support it consistently throughout the essay, with reasons and examples. You can and should address the opposing view, but only in the service of strengthening your own argument — not by sitting on the fence.

A common trap with this prompt type is to write a balanced “on the one hand… on the other hand… in conclusion it depends” essay. That structure fits a discuss both views question, not an agree or disagree one, and examiners mark Task Response partly on whether your position is clear and consistent. Identifying the task type correctly, before you start writing, is therefore one of the most important minutes you’ll spend in the test.

I’m confused! How can I learn to write an essay like this?

It’s not difficult to write this kind of essay, provided you follow a process: read the prompt carefully, identify the task type, decide your position (or the structure your answer will take), plan your paragraphs before you write, and leave a couple of minutes at the end to check your work. There are plenty of free materials online that walk through each of the main Task 2 prompt types with model answers — searching for “IELTS Task 2 agree disagree essay” or “IELTS Task 2 discuss both views” will bring up a wide range of guides and sample essays. The more model answers you read, and the more practice essays you write under timed conditions, the more natural the process will become.

---

Check out our other guides on IELTS:

• IELTS Reading: The three sections in GT Reading
• IELTS Listening: The importance of synonyms
• IELTS Speaking: Good speakers make mistakes