double question essay ielts band 9

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How to Plan & Write IELTS Double Question Essays

IELTS double question essays are also known as ‘direct question’ or ‘two questions’ essays. They are distinguished by two characteristics:

• They have one statement with two different questions after it.
• The questions may or may not be linked.

Here are 3 examples:

1) Fossil fuels are essential for producing electricity, powering industry and fueling transportation. However, one day we will reach a point when all the world’s fossil fuels have been depleted.

How can we conserve these resources?

What are some alternatives to fossil fuels?

2) Some parents buy their children whatever they ask for, and allow their children to do whatever they want.

Is this a good way to raise children?

What consequences could this style of parenting have for children as they get older?

3) The arts, including art, music and theatre are considered to be important in society.

Do you think the arts still have a place amongst our modern lifestyles?

Should the arts be included in the school curriculum?

In this lesson, I’m going to demonstrate step-by-step how to plan and write IELTS double question essays.

Here’s what we’ll be covering:

• 3 Common mistakes
• Essay structure
• How to plan
• How to write an introduction
• How to write main body paragraphs
• How to write a conclusion

Want to watch and listen to this lesson?

Click on this video.

Click the links to see lessons on each of these Task 2 essay writing topics. 

Once you understand the process, practice on past questions. Take your time at first and gradually speed up until you can plan and write an essay of at least 250 words in the 40 minutes allowed in the exam.

3 Common Mistakes

These three errors are common in IELTS double question essays.

• Not answering both questions fully.
• Not outlining both answers in the introduction.
• Mistaking it for one of the other essay types.

Many students make the mistake of only answering one of the questions, or focusing more on one question than the other which leads to an unbalanced essay. Both these errors will seriously affect your score for task achievement.

You must outline everything you are going to write about in the introduction. This is your blueprint for the whole essay. I’ll show you how to do this and get your essay off to a great start.

It’s easy to mistake IELTS double question essays for one of the other four types of Task 2 essays, especially opinion or discussion essays. Each should be answered in a slightly different way.

Analysing the question properly is essential to avoiding this error. I’ll also show you how to do this and give you a simple 4 part structure for planning your essay.

Essay Structure

Let’s look at this essay structure straight away. You can use it to write any IELTS double question essay. It’s easy to learn and will enable you to quickly plan and write a high-level essay.

1)  Introduction  

•   Paraphrase the question 
•   Outline sentence – state your answer to both questions

2)  Main body paragraph 1 – Answer question 1

• Topic sentence – state your answer
• Explanation – develop the idea
• Example – give an example

3)  Main body paragraph 2 – Answer question 2

4)  Conclusion Summarise both questions and answers

This structure will give us a well-balanced essay with 4 paragraphs.

We now need some ideas to add to the structure and we’ll have everything we need for our essay.

How To Plan IELTS Double Question Essays

Here’s the question we’re going to be answering in our model essay followed by the 3 steps of the planning process.

Fossil fuels are essential for producing electricity, powering industry and fueling transportation. However, one day we will reach a point when all the world’s fossil fuels have been depleted.

• Analyse the question
• Generate ideas
• Identify vocabulary

# 1  Analyse the question

This is an essential step in the planning process and will ensure that you answer the question fully. It’s quick and easy to do. You just need to identify 3 different types of words:

• Topic words
• Other keywords
• Instruction words

Topics words  are the ones that identify the general subject of the question and will be found in the statement part of the question.

Fossil fuels  are essential for producing electricity, powering industry and fueling transportation. However, one day we will reach a point when all the world’s  fossil fuels  have been depleted.

So, this question is about ‘ fossil fuels ’.

Many people will do this first step of the process and then write about the topic in general. This is a serious mistake and leads to low marks for task achievement.

Now that we know what the general topic is, we need to understand exactly what aspect of fossil fuels we're being asked to write about.

The  other keywords  in the question tell you the specific things you must write about. For IELTS double question essays, these will often be in the instructions, that is, the actual questions.

How can we  conserve  these resources?

What are some  alternatives  to fossil fuels?

By highlighting these words, it’s easy to identify the topics. Your essay must only include ideas relevant to these ideas.

The  instruction words  are the questions themselves. These tell you exactly what type of information is required and each will become the topic for one of the two main body paragraphs.

The first body paragraph will answer the first question (How?) and the second body paragraph will answer the second question (What?).

# 2  Generate ideas

The next task is to generate some ideas to write about.

There are several different ways to think up ideas. I cover them fully on the  IELTS Essay Planning  page.

We’re going to use the ‘friends technique’. This is the method I prefer as it allows you to take a step back from the stress of the exam situation and think more calmly.

Here’s how it works. Imagine that you are in a casual conversation with a friend over a cup of coffee and they ask you this question. What are the first thoughts to come into your head? Plan your essay around these ideas.

Doing this will help you to come up with simple answers in everyday language rather than straining your brain to think of amazing ideas using high-level language, which isn’t necessary.

You might want to try this yourself before reading on for my ideas.

Here are my ideas as I thought of them:

How can we conserve these resources? 

• Become more energy conscious & more energy efficient
• Use more renewable energy sources – solar panels
• All new homes should be built with solar panels on
• Use car less – walk, cycle, public transport, only travel when really necessary
• Energy-efficient light bulbs
• Solar power
• Wave energy
• Tidal energy
• Biomass energy
• Geothermal energy

Don’t spend long on this as you only need one or two ideas.

There is so much to write about this topic that we have to be very careful we don’t try to include too many different ideas and just end up with a list for each question rather than a well-developed essay.

Choose one main idea for each part of the question. My advice on making your selection is to choose ideas that you can quickly think of examples for.

Here are my choices:

• Use car less – walk, cycle, public transport
• Natural forces – solar & wind power, wave & tidal energy

We’re almost ready to start writing our IELTS double question essay but first, we have one other small task to do.

# 3  Vocabulary

During the planning stage, quickly jot down some vocabulary that comes to mind as you decide which ideas you are going to write about, especially synonyms of key words. This will save you having to stop and think of the right language while you’re writing.

For the ideas I’ve chosen, useful words will include:

• sustainable  
• renewable energy
• energy-efficient

With that done, we can focus on the first paragraph of the essay – the introduction.

How To Write an Introduction

The best introductions to IELTS double question essays have a simple 2 part structure:

1)   Paraphrase the question

2)   Outline sentence – state your answer to both questions

• Have 2-3 sentences
• Be 40-60 words long
• Take 5 minutes to write

1)  Paraphrase the question

Start your introduction by paraphrasing the statement part of the question.

Question statement:

Paraphrased question:  

The world is currently reliant on oil, coal and natural gas for the majority of its energy requirements but there will come a time when these run out.

We are simply saying the same thing in a different way and using different vocabulary.

2)  Outline statement

Now we need to add an  outline statement  where we outline the two main points that we’ll cover in the rest of the essay, that is, the answers to the two questions.

We need to be very specific about what we are going to write about.

Here's a reminder of the ideas I’ve chosen to answer the two questions:

• Natural forces –solar & wind power, wave & tidal energy

Outl ine statement:  

This essay will discuss how we can help to prevent our non-renewable resources from becoming depleted by using our cars less frequently and it will name some natural forces that can be harnessed to generate power.

Note my use of synonyms to replace key words in the question. You don’t have to replace every key word but do so where possible whilst ensuring that your language sounds natural.

So, let’s bring the two elements of our introduction together.

     Introduction

This introduction achieves three important functions:

• It shows the examiner that you understand the question.
• It acts as a guide to the examiner as to what your essay is about.
• It also helps to keep you focused and on track as you write.

The two ideas in your introduction will become your two main body paragraphs.

Main body paragraph 1  –  Use car less – walk, cycle, public transport

Main body paragraph 2  –  Renewable energy / natural forces – solar & wind power, wave & tidal energy

How To Write Main Body Paragraphs

Main body paragraphs in IELTS double question essays should contain 3 things:

• Explanation –  develop the idea

Main Body Paragraph 1  – Answer question 1

The  topic sentence  summarises the main idea of the paragraph. That’s all it needs to do so it doesn’t have to be complicated.

It plays an important role in ensuring that your ideas flow logically from one to another. It does this by acting as a signpost for what is to come next, that is, what the paragraph will be about.

If you maintain a clear development of ideas throughout your essay, you will get high marks for task achievement and cohesion and coherence.

We’ll now take the idea for our first main body paragraph and create our topic sentence.

Main body paragraph 1  –  Use car less – walk, cycle, public transport, only travel when really necessary

Topic sentence:  

Conserving energy is a responsibility of every individual and an important way in which we can all do our bit is to use more energy-efficient means of transport. 

Next, we must write an  explanation sentence  that develops the idea.

Explanation sentence: 

The easiest way to do this is to leave the car at home and walk or cycle to our destination if it isn’t too far away, or take public transport for longer journeys. Another way to reduce our fuel consumption is to car share.

Finally, we add an  example  to support our main point. If you can’t think of a real example, it’s fine to make one up, as long as it’s believable. The examiner isn’t going to check your facts. Alternative, you could add another piece of information to support your idea but an example is better.

Example sentence:

Whenever my friends and I get together for coffee, we agree to meet up at a café that we can each get to without having to drive our cars there. We usually go on foot or ride our bikes. If everyone made small decisions like this, it would make a real difference.

That’s the 3 parts of our first main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished paragraph.

We now follow the same process for our second main body paragraph.

Main Body Paragraph 2  – Answer question 2

Again, we’ll now take the idea I’ve chosen for this paragraph and create our topic sentence.

Main body paragraph 2  –  Renewable energy / natural forces –   solar & wind power, wave & tidal energy

Topic sentence:

The most sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels are the generation of power from natural forces such as the sun, wind and oceans.

Now for the  explanation  where we expand on this idea.

Explanation sentence:

S olar and wind power are already widely used across the world but it is wave power and tidal energy that have the greatest untapped potential to provide for our energy needs in the future.

Finally, an  example  to support our main point.

A report recently commissioned in the United Kingdom estimates that tidal energy could meet as much as  20% of the UK’s current electricity demands once the technology being developed is operational. Wave energy converters are expected to prove equally successful in the long-term.

That’s the 3 parts of our second main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished paragraph.

Now we need a conclusion and our IELTS double question essay is done.

How To Write a Conclusion

The conclusion is a summary of the main points in your essay and can often be done in a single sentence. It should never introduce new ideas.

If you're below the minimum 250 words after you’ve written your conclusion, you can add a prediction or recommendation statement.

Our essay is already over the minimum word limit so we don’t need this extra sentence but you can learn more about how to write a prediction or recommendation statement for IELTS double question essays on the  Task 2 Conclusions  page.

The conclusion is the easiest sentence in the essay to write but one of the most important.

A good conclusion to an IELTS double question essay will:

• Neatly end the essay
• Link all your ideas together
• Sum up your argument or opinion
• Answer the question

If you achieve this, you’ll improve your score for both task achievement and cohesion and coherence which together make up 50% of the overall marks. Without a conclusion, you’ll score below band 6 for task achievement.

You can start almost any final paragraph of an IELTS double question essay with the words:

• In conclusion

        or

• To conclude

Now all you need to do is briefly summarise the main ideas into one or two sentences.

Here’s a top tip . Go back and read the introduction to the essay because this is also a summary of the essay. It outlines what you are going to write about.

To create a great conclusion, you simply have to paraphrase the introduction.

Introduction:

Here is the same information formed into a conclusion:

That’s it. We’ve completed our essay. Here it is with the 4 paragraphs put together.

Finished IELTS double question essay.

     (351 words)

Go through this lesson as many times as you need to in order to fully understand it and put in lots of practice writing IELTS double question essays from past exam questions. Practice is the only way to improve your skills.

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More help with ielts double question essays & other task 2 essays.

IELTS Writing Task 2  – T he format, the 5 question types, the 5 step essay writing strategy & sample questions. All the key information you need to know.

The 5 Types of Task 2 Essay   – How to recognise the 5 different types of Task 2 essays. 15 sample questions to study and a simple planning structure for each essay type.

Understanding Task 2 Questions  – How to quickly and easily analyse and understand IELTS Writing Task 2 questions.

How To Plan a Task 2 Essay  – Discover why essay planning is essential & learn a simple 4 step strategy, the 4 part essay structure & 4 methods of generating ideas.

How To Write a Task 2 Introduction  – Find out why a good introduction is essential. Learn how to write one using a simple 3 part strategy & discover 4 common mistakes to avoid.

How To Write Task 2 Main Body Paragraphs  – Learn the simple 3 part structure for writing great main body paragraphs and also, 3 common mistakes to avoid. 

How To Write Task 2 Conclusions  – Learn the easy way to write the perfect conclusion for a Task 2 essay. Also discover 4 common mistakes to avoid.

Task 2 Marking Criteria  – Find out how to meet the marking criteria in Task 2. See examples of good and poor answers & learn some common mistakes to avoid.

The 5 Task 2 Essay Types:

Step-by-step instructions on how to plan & write high-level essays. Model answers & common mistakes to avoid.

   Opinion Essays

   Discussion Essays

  Problem Solution Essays

  Advantages & Disadvantages Essays

  Double Question Essays

Other Related Pages

IELTS Writing Test  – Understand the format & marking criteria, know what skills are assessed & learn the difference between the Academic & General writing tests.

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Reach your dream band score for IELTS Speaking and Writing

IELTS Two Part Question-Band 9 Essay

In some countries around the world men and women are having children later in life. What are the reasons for this development? What are the effects on society and family life?

Basic Idea Plan

Band 9 Model Answer

In many developed countries, couples are choosing to start a family at an older age than they used to. This essay will outline a couple of the main causes of this change and will examine the consequences for society and families.

It is undeniable that millennials are choosing to prioritise their university education and climbing the career ladder. As a result, this has possibly reduced the importance of having children in their twenties. To illustrate this point, many graduates have spent their twenties completing further education courses and trying to progress to a managerial position. Another factor behind the delay in having children is related to the high cost of living. This is more notable in developed countries where it can take several years to save for a house deposit . This explains why many couples prefer to delay having children until they feel ready to provide for them.

Children being born later has resulted in some substantial changes in society especially the falling birth rate. This may create a situation in which the number of senior citizens could outnumber workers. If this issue is not resolved, governments could be faced with a challenging situation to pay for pensioners retirement costs without the benefit of taxpayers contributions. Despite the aforementioned societal issue, there is a clear benefit for family life that parents have more life experience when raising children. Having babies at an older age may allow more stability for their offspring because their parents should be more adept at handling a variety of situations.

To sum up, there is no doubt that many millennials are placing more importance on becoming successful as an individual first and this is contributing to them having children in their thirties or later. This situation is posing problems for governments in many countries including dealing with a falling birth rate, on the other hand, there are some potential benefits for the future of family relations.

Highlight all words related to people. You will notice that the word people is not used in the essay. This makes the essay more formal and you should aim to learn how to refer to people in different ways.

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• Essay Task 2

IELTS Writing Task 2: Double Question Essays Types

• Essay Types
• Double Question
• Advantage Disadvantage
• Problem Solution
• Essay Length

A double-question also known as a two-part IELTS essay has low occurrence as compared to other IELTS Task 2 Essay types. However, you must learn to identify this question type and how to deal with it accurately in the real IELTS exam.

We have created this guide to help you produce a high-level response to an IELTS writing task 2 double essay question. Read on for tips, useful language, and a sample double-question essay.

Table of Contents

1.1 understanding the question.

• 1.2 Example double question essay questions
• Essay Structure for Double Question Essays
• 3.1 Identify key words and phrases

3.2 Organise your ideas

3.3 identify vocabulary, 4.1 introduction, 4.2 main body paragraphs, 4.3 conclusion.

• 5.1 Complete the sample double question essay

5.2 Double Question Sample Essay

1. double question essay overview.

Double question essays, often referred to as two-part essay questions , are exactly what they say: instead of dealing with one IELTS question, you have to answer two .

Remember, there are five main types of writing task 2 questions:

• Advantage/disadvantage
• Double question
• Problem/solution

When answering a double question , you still have the same minimum word count ( 250 words ) and the usual time limit for IELTS writing task 2 ( 40 minutes ). You will just have to organise your essay in a slightly different way to other essay types.

It is essential that you address both questions in your introduction and conclusion and you should separate your main body paragraphs logically: focus on the first question in the first body paragraph and the second question in the second body paragraph.

One of the most common mistakes test takers make is that they only answer one question because they have not understood the question type. Make sure you take your time to identify the question type before writing your answer.

1.2 Example Double Question Essay Questions

Take a look at these example IELTS double question essay writing task 2 questions for a range of topics:

The internet is a good source of information and has opened up opportunities for people all over the world.

Is all the information reliable online?

What could be done to control information online?

Also, read the following IELTS Essay Writing Guides

• IELTS Discussion Type Questions
• Opinion-based Task 2 IELTS Guide
• IELTS Advantage Disadvantage Essay Type
• Problem Solution IELTS Writing Task Statement

Many people prefer to watch foreign films rather than locally produced films.

Why could this be?

Should governments give more financial support to local film industries?

Nowadays, many people have easy access to computers and a large number of children play computer games.

What are the negative impacts of playing computer games?

What can be done to minimise these effects?

In spite of the advances in medicine, many people around the world still die from preventable diseases.

Why is this the case?

What can be done about this problem?

2. Essay Structure for Double Question Essays

Here is a clear and simple structure you can follow for any double-question IELTS writing task 2:

3. Planning your Double Question Essay

Read on for some useful essay planning tips and techniques.

3.1 Identify keywords and phrases

By this point, you should have identified that you have been given a double question by looking at the instruction words in the question (the clue here is there are two sets of questions ).

The next step is to identify the topic words in the statement that will tell you the general topic of the essay and any other keywords that give you additional information.

Here is an example for our sample question where we have underlined the topic words and put other keywords in bold:

So the general topic here is the internet being a good source of information . Other keywords let us know we need to focus on the reliability of that information and whether controls need to be put in place.

Part of a good essay plan is writing down your ideas. You could do this as we have have done below using the essay structure:

Introduction – Opinion = Some information on the internet can be unreliable/ need some process of control (e.g. fact checking)

Main body paragraph 1 – Majority of information is reliable/ can be verified/ media outlets carry out fact checking

Main body paragraph 2 – Not all information is trustworthy/ misinformation can influence people/ elections can be swayed

Conclusion – Balanced view/ information can be trusted but organisations should be accountable/ government should intervene too much

Notice how we have not used full sentences to save time. You might also write down ideas that you do not use in your actual essay. Make sure to cross through any notes you make before the end of a paper based exam (so they will not be marked by the examiner).

While you are creating your plan, take a note of any useful vocabulary that comes to mind. Here is some that we thought of for the model double question answer:

• Misinformation
• Media outlets
• Accountability
• Fact checking

4. Writing your Double Question Essay

You should start your introduction to a double-question essay in the same way as all other IELTS task 2 essay types : Paraphrase the given IELTS statement .

Let’s look at the example from our sample essay:

Notice that we have mentioned both sides of the argument .

For a double-essay question, you should always include your opinion in the introduction. Here’s our opinion:

In my view, the majority of the information that can be found on the internet is reliable. However, some of this information may be unreliable and therefore, it is important to have some processes in place to carry out fact checking.

And lastly, you can give a brief outline statement that explains what your essay will do, for example:

This essay will explain my opinion in more detail.

Let’s remind ourselves of the suggested structure for your main body paragraphs:

One way of addressing each question, as well as increasing the grammatical range shown in your essay, is to use noun phrases . Using a noun phrase instead of a more standard verb phrase also makes your writing more academic and interesting. Compare the following sentence:

Verb phrase – One advancement in the internet is that t he amount of information available has increased .

Noun phrase – One advancement in recent years is the amount of information available .

You could also noun phrases to describe developments over time . Here is an example:

• In the last few years there has been (a rise/a fall/ an increase/ a decrease) in _____

Your supporting sentences should provide reasons for the opinions given in your topic sentences. You can also use noun phrases to do this.

Here are some sentence starters:

• As a consequence of…
• As a result of…
• Because of…

And here’s an example:

As a result of the wide availability of the internet, there has been an increase in the number of fake news stories.

You must always include a conclusion for any IELTS writing task 2 essay. For a double-question essay conclusion, you should do the following:

• Start with a linking phrase such as In conclusion,…,In summary,…or To sum up,…
• Mention both question from the IELTS statement/question
• Rephrase the opinion given in your introduction

Take a look at our example and try to identify each point:

In conclusion, my view is that although a lot of internet sources can be trusted, there should also be measures put in place to ensure organisations take accountability for spreading misinformation. However, I do not believe that governments should have complete autonomy and control over what adults read on the internet.

5. Example Double Question Essay and Exercise

Time to practise ! Here is the discussion essay that we have been using in this guide. We have removed some keywords so you can test your knowledge on discussion essays by selecting the correct missing word.

5.1 Complete the Sample Double Question Essay

As a result of the development of the internet, people can now access any information they need at the click of a button from anywhere in the world. In my view, the majority of the information that can be found on the internet is reliable. However, some of this information may be unreliable and therefore, it is important to have some processes in place to carry out fact checking. This essay will explain my opinion in more detail.

One reason why the majority of information on the internet can be deemed reliable is that it can be verified by various sources and people also have the opportunity to freely contest information they believe is fake news or untrue. To take one example, large media outlets not only fact check sources they find on the internet, but they also show this to the public and will issue a retraction if anything is found to be untrue.

On the other hand, not all information found online is trustworthy and, as a result, measures need to be put in place to control this misinformation. The biggest downside of  this misinformation is that it can be easier for groups to unfairly influence people in situations such as political elections. Therefore, I believe that there should be certain measures put in place to control internet sites. One way to do this is to implement fines to companies consistently spreading untrue information.

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IELTS Model Essay Example - Double Question Essay

In some countries, the number of people choosing to live alone is increasing rapidly. Why do you think this trend is happening? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

This is a double question or two-part question type of IELTS Writing Task 2 question. This means that it includes two separate questions in one prompt that you need to address in your essay.

The first question is "Why do you think this trend is happening?", which asks you to explain the reasons for the increase in the number of people choosing to live alone.

The second question is "Do you think it is a positive or negative development?", which asks you to express your opinion on whether this trend is beneficial or harmful.

To answer both parts of the question, you should address each question in a separate paragraph or clearly indicate your answer for each question within the same paragraph. It's important to avoid combining your answers to both questions into one paragraph or answer, as this can lead to a lack of clarity and organization in your essay.

How do I plan my answer?

Here's how you can plan your response:

Introduction: Start by paraphrasing the question and briefly mention the reasons why people choose to live alone.

Body Paragraph 1: Discuss the reasons why people choose to live alone, such as the desire for independence, privacy, or to pursue individual goals and interests.

Body Paragraph 2: Discuss the potential negative consequences of this trend, such as social isolation, loneliness, and the breakdown of traditional family structures.

Body Paragraph 3: Present your opinion and justify it with arguments and examples. Do you think this trend is positive or negative? Why? What are the possible solutions to mitigate the negative consequences?

Conclusion: Summarize your main points and restate your opinion.

Remember to use appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, and to connect your ideas logically and coherently. You can use examples and statistics to support your arguments and illustrate your points. Additionally, make sure to manage your time well and allocate enough time for each paragraph. Good luck!

Show answer

Why is this a good answer?

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IELTS Model Example - Problem & Solutions Essay

IELTS Band 9 sample essay

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

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

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

Evaluation Criteria

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Examples of Band 9 Essays

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

Why is this IELTS Essay a Band 9?

5 Tips for a Band 9 IELTS Essay

Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 Question and Answer(2)

Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 Question and Answer (3)

Useful Definitions of Advanced Vocabulary Used

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Sample 19 IELTS Essays and 240 Task 2 Essay Questions Ebook

Video: Useful IELTS Essay Writing Tip

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Additional IELTS Resources

IELTS essay task 2: evaluation criteria

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

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

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

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

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

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

IELTS essay sample question (1)

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

IELTS sample essay answer (1)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why is this essay a band 9?

Task achievement.

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

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

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

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

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

Coherence and cohesion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lexical resource

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Grammatical range and accuracy

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

The Band 9 description for grammatical range and accuracy :

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

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

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

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

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

5 Tips for an IELTS writing task 2 band 9 essay

1. answer what is being asked.

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

2. Plan your work, work your plan.

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

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

3. Write, review, re-write

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

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

4. Where are you falling?

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

• Exam skills
• Language skills

What are exam skills?

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

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

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

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

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

5. Better language skills?

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

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

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

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

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

Sample IELTS writing task 2 question (2)

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

IELTS writing task 2: essay sample answer (2)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sample IELTS writing task 2 question (3)

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

IELTS writing task 2: essay sample answer (3)

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

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

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

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

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

Useful definitions of advanced vocabulary used

Paradoxically

Equivalent sentences

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

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

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

Could also be said as:

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

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

IELTS writing task 2: vocabulary booster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IELTS writing task 2: further reading

There are many more writing samples for you to explore.

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

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

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

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Additional IELTS writing task 2 resources

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

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

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

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

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How to write an IELTS Essay at band 9 level

This comprehensive article guides you through the processes and techniques of writing an essay that would get you a band score of 9. This is an extensive article, so read it carefully and grasp the concept. Use the examples to understand the concepts explained in it.

In IELTS writing task 2, a candidate needs to write an essay of at least 250 words that examine, support, or oppose a statement through the use of discussions, reasons, logic, arguments, explanations and examples . The essay should aim to state an opinion on a given statement, investigate an issue, discuss a given topic or persuade the readers (the examiner in this case) about something.

Now, an effective way to score well in IELTS writing task 2 is to know where one can gain or lose marks. The essay will be evaluated based on the four marking criteria, and each criterion offers 25% of the total score. Hence, let’s have a look at the assessment criteria first.

IELTS Essay has 4 assessment criteria. They are: 1) Task Achievement 2) Coherence and Cohesion 3) Grammatical Range and Accuracy 4) Lexical Resource

1) Task Achievement:

This criterion assesses the extent to which a candidate can meet the requirements of the task. So, the candidate should sufficiently address all the parts of the question. In other words, he or she ought to form a well-organized response to the task with relevant, supported and extended notions. This can be achieved by having a clear understanding of the task. Otherwise, it will lead to an inaccurate answer. The best approach to do this is to interpret the question correctly.

Task Achievement Dos:

• Answer the specific question being asked, not the general topic. [The essay question often includes a general topic or statement at the beginning of the essay which is not a part of the real essay question. You should find out what the essay topic is asking you to write about.]
• Make sure the ideas are directly relevant to the question. [The ideas and arguments you present in your essay should always be relevant and never off-topic.]
• Properly address each part of the question. [If the essay asks you two questions, for example, address them both with proper examples and explanations.]
• State the opinion in the introduction and employ supporting paragraphs to support this opinion. [If the question asks you to give your opinion, simply state your position at the end of the “Introduction” paragraph.]
• Develop key ideas with explanations and examples. [Yes, your essay must have examples and explanations to achieve a higher band score.]
• Reiterate the opinion in conclusion, or write a solution or generally accepted point or statement.

Task Achievement Don’ts:

• Devote lots of time to just one part of the question.
• Provide very general examples.
• State opinion until the last sentence of the “Conclusion” paragraph.
• Repeat the same points again and again.
• Write under 250 words.

Now, let’s look at a bad example first:

Bad example:

Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school.

Do you agree or disagree?

“Learning a foreign language is crucial for people. Firstly, it boosts brainpower. Secondly, it improves performance in other academic areas. Finally, a second language improves memory.”

Now let’s illustrate why it is a bad example:

The writer introduces three main ideas in this paragraph. But, none of them is well-developed. None of them has explanations and examples as well. For instance, the candidate does not explain how a foreign language may boost young learners’ brains. What is more, you also probably have noticed that it talks about “people”. Although the question is about young students, the author writes about general people. He or she does not write an answer to the specific question. So, the writer has not fully developed his/her ideas. Also, the ideas are irrelevant. So, he/she may get only a 5-5.5 band score for this paragraph.

Let’s look at a good example now:

“Learning a foreign language helps young students with their intellectual development. It has been shown that it supports a child’s brain development, and in fact, helps with subjects like physics and mathematics to a great extent. For instance, a recent study, conducted by the University of Cambridge, has revealed that children who learn a foreign language are more likely to be good at physics.

Let’s explain why it is a good example:

This is a good example mainly because the idea is relevant and specific. The idea is also well-developed. So, it has one main idea that is “learning a foreign language helps young learners with intellectual development.” Intellectual development means that young learners become smarter. In addition, it explains that studying a foreign language helps the brain to understand physics and mathematics in a better way making them good at science. It hasn’t stopped here. It develops the main idea even more by giving a specific example that children who study a foreign language are very likely to do well in physics.

Another good example of the same topic is given below:

Furthermore, it is evident that pupils who start learning a foreign language during their childhood, gain mastery of the language in their adulthood. It helps them communicate effectively and showcase their learning and speaking skills on the one hand and enhances their career prospects in the future on the other hand. To illustrate, a recent study by the University of California reveals that learners who start a foreign language like English, French, German or Spanish at a young age do better academically in their colleges and also show better mastery of these languages in their adulthood. And this mastery of these languages helps them get many competitive advantages in their future career.

This is a good example because it includes a relevant and specific idea at the beginning of the paragraph. The idea is then well-developed by the writer with an explanation. It also gives an example.

Interpreting the IELTS writing task 2 (Essay) question:

Interpreting the meaning of an essay question is crucial to writing a good essay in response. When analysing the question, the candidate should first shed light on these three properties: “Topic words” , “Qualifying words” , “Instruction words” .

To demonstrate these three attributes, take the following essay question:

Some people think that it is better to educate boys and girls in separate schools. Others, however, believe that boys and girls benefit more from attending mixed schools.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

The candidate can use the topic words to identify the “subject” of the question. In this essay question, ‘boys’ , ‘girls’ , and ‘the school’ are the three controlling topic words. Topics outside the boundary of boys, girls and school thus have no place in this essay.

Qualifying words tell the candidate how the various notions relate to each other. These words often describe the capacity of the opinion and shape some important thoughts as well. In the above sample question, the phrases “better to educate” and “benefit more” are used. Notice how these phrases clarify what is being said about boys and girls. Likewise, these words separate and mix the qualifying-topic word “school” . Notice how these words mould the question and give it enhanced precision. It’s crucially important for the candidates to understand the degree of this precision to ensure the response is properly aligned with the question.

Instruction words are the words that elicit a response from the candidate. Put simply, these words tell the candidate exactly what to write about and eventually channel the candidate’s essay towards a discussion or argument essay structure. In the above example essay question, the instruction words are – “Discuss both these views and give your own opinion” – a phrase that instructs the candidate to expound both the viewpoints and then venture his/her opinion.

2) Coherence and Cohesion:

“Coherence” in a written piece of work means that the reader can readily understand it. Put simply, coherence is a quality that ensures all the parts of an essay are logically arranged, well-connected and all head to the central focus of the essay. Without coherence, an argument may not make sense or may be difficult for the readers to get the message of the text. It’s a critically important quality of IELTS writing task 2/ IELTS Essay.

Similarly, “cohesion” is how a written piece of work relates its ideas to develop a clear relationship and logical progressions among them. In simple words, it relates to the linking of notions within a sentence, the linking of sentences (links between sentences) within a paragraph, and ultimately the linking between paragraphs.

The coherence and cohesion part of the candidate’s marks is a measure of how logically an essay’s ideas are arranged and connected by the candidate, and how smoothly these ideas flow together. The candidate can achieve coherence by using grammatically correct and short sentences that are concise, and to the point. Cohesion can be maintained by employing phrases or linking words, often called “cohesive devices”, to establish relationships between sentences and paragraphs in the essay.

Below is a list of various cohesive devices and an example of their use. Also, notice the corresponding punctuation:

To maintain sequence:

• Firstly , separate schools are more relaxing for both girls and boys as they do not have social pressures to worry about, such as impressing the opposite gender.
• Secondly , separate schools provide the teachers with an opportunity to tailor the curriculum in a way that students can easily connect with.
• Moreover , separate schools have lesser cliques.
• Finally , separate schools have a more conducive environment for concentrating on studies.

To provide evidence:

• For instance , many studies reveal that students in separate schools feel more relaxed than their counterparts.
• For example , teachers can maintain harmony in the classroom easily.
• A case in point is the top-ranked schools in our country that are mostly single-gender educational institutes.
• Take the example of separate schools in India, which have fewer cliques.
• Many high school students in separate schools, such as those from Asian countries, are good at concentrating on their studies.

To show similarity:

• Similarly , many high school students in Italy experience grade improvements when educated in separate schools.
• Likewise , many girls in Indonesia can concentrate more on their studies when educated in separate schools.
• In tandem with this are the experiences of many boys in Pakistan, whose grades improved when educated in separate schools.
• Many girls in Malaysia also experienced grade improvements when educated in separate schools.
• Coupled with this is the experience of many boys in Latin America, whose grades improved when educated in separate schools.

To demonstrate contrast:

• However , studying in a mixed school impacts positively on the personality of both boys and girls.
• On the other hand , a mixed-gender classroom provides an environment where girls and boys change their behaviour positively.
• Many girls and boys in India change their behaviour positively when studying in mixed-gender schools; however , this is not the case in Australia.
• Many girls and boys in Nepal improved their grades when studying in a mixed-gender classroom, but this is not the case in Germany.
• Conversely , many girls and boys in India promote sexual equality when studying in mixed-school.
• It is argued by many people that boys and girls are taught effectively when studying in single-gender schools, yet others believe that boys and girls gain considerable advantage from studying in a co-education system.
• In contrast , many boys and girls respect each other when studying in the co-education system.

To amplify or extend:

• Moreover , students in mixed schools improve their grades significantly.
• Furthermore , several independent studies show that students who are taught in mixed schools prevent gender discrimination.
• To add to this , a recent body of high-quality research has revealed that students studying in mixed schools perform far better in academics than students studying in single-gender schools.
• In addition to this , students studying in mixed schools can be more candid than their counterparts.

To present a result:

• Consequently , the link between the education system and students’ performance is obvious.
• In mixed schools, girls need to spend most of the day with boys and vice versa. As a result , they learn how to live harmoniously.
• Thus , students studying in mixed schools change their behaviour positively.
• Therefore , boys and girls respect each other.
• Because of this , it can lead to distraction to study.
• It is clear that there is a close link between the education system and students’ performance.

To draw the conclusion:

• To reiterate , the co-education system acts as a clear precursor of gender equality.
• To conclude , the co-education system helps promote gender equality.
• In conclusion , the co-education system advances gender equality.
• All things considered , the co-education system is committed to achieving gender equality.

Let’s look at an example and go through some of the features that make an essay coherent. Although it is an entirely subjective judgement, most readers would agree that this is a reasonably coherent paragraph:

The co-education system confers both advantages and disadvantages. It goes without saying that in the presence of the opposite gender, one’s behaviour changes. A case in point is Indian boys, they change their behaviour in presence of girls. Thus , the co-education system reaps such benefits where boys or girls change their behaviour positively. However , this advantage comes at a high price: distraction. Students in mixed-gender schools may think of having a partner. Such thoughts can cause distraction as girls or boys may get attracted to the opposite gender, and if anything goes wrong, it can result in hampering learning, thereby distracting academic studies.

• Topic sentence: the paragraph begins with a clear, declarative topic sentence that expresses the controlling idea and the rest of the paragraph follows the idea. That is to say that everything in the paragraph deals with the advantages and disadvantages of the co-education system.
• Key terms (marked in blue colour) : the term “co-education system” is repeatedly introduced in this short paragraph. This shows the reader that the paragraph is about the “co-education system”.
• Clear transitions (marked in orange colour) : each sentence flows into the next very easily, and the reader can easily see how logically the ideas are organized and connected.

Coherence and Cohesion Dos:

• Have at least four-paragraph structures. [It means your essay should have at least 4 paragraphs including the “introduction” and “conclusion”.]
• State main ideas and your opinion in the introduction.
• Introduce a clear topic sentence in the supporting paragraphs.
• Use cohesive devices accurately and appropriately.

Coherence and Cohesion Don’ts:

• Introduce background statement in the introduction.
• Produce lots of ideas in one paragraph.
• Use cohesive devices at the beginning of every sentence.

Let’s look at the bad example:

Learning a foreign language is crucial for people. Moreover , it boosts brainpower. Furthermore , it improves performance in other academic areas. Additionally , a second language improves memory. Last but not least , a recent study has revealed that children who learn a foreign language are more likely to be good at physics.

Let’s explain why it is a bad example:

If the candidate uses these words in red called cohesive devices again and again and uses them at the start of every sentence, it demonstrates to the examiner that the candidate doesn’t have good skills in English and he/she is not able to link sentences together without cohesive devices. Besides, “last but not least” is not accurate. Because it is used to give an example. The phrase ‘last but not least’ indicates the last point.

So, let’s look at a good example:

Foreign language helps young learners with their intellectual development. It has been shown that this can help a child’s brain development, and in fact, help with subjects like physics and mathematics. For instance , a recent study has revealed that children who learn a foreign language are more likely to be good at physics.

Let’s clarify why it is a good example:

In this paragraph, the writer employs just two simple cohesive devices. The writer actually gets more marks for using them accurately. This is because a good writer uses simple cohesive devices rather than merely using “moreover”, “furthermore” and so on without context. This paragraph also uses the appropriate cohesive device when giving examples.

3) Grammatical Range and Accuracy:

In the IELTS writing task 2 test, one of the most important areas for a candidate to master is “grammatical range and accuracy”. According to IELTS band descriptors, the test taker has to use a wide range of sentence structures as well as advanced verb forms including modal verbs, conditionals, and passive voice to get a higher band score. Besides, in IELTS writing task 2, punctuation has a profound significance. Put simply, in order to get a high score for grammar, the writing has to be complex, but it also has to be correct. So, devote full attention to those commas, semicolons and other grammar rules.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy Dos:

• Write error-free sentences.
• Use a variety of sentence structures.
• Use complex sentences but use them correctly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy Don’ts:

• Try to force too many different structures.
• Try to dazzle the examiner with complex grammar but make mistakes.
• Write sentences that hinder the meaning being conveyed i.e. stop the examiner from comprehending and guessing the meaning.

Let’s look at an example:

“In the developed world, carbon emission is one of the most debated issues causing global warming and environmental challenges arising from its catastrophic consequences.”

This is a typical sentence from an essay that is trying to be highly complex. The writer has tried to put four simple notions into one sentence and the result is an incoherent and difficult sentence. The writer fails to maintain control of grammar, thus affecting its meaning. If the meaning is affected, the text becomes difficult to understand and that has a negative impact on the band score.

Let’s look at the example again. There are four simple notions that we can write in simple sentences:

• Carbon emission is a much-debated issue in the developed world.
• Carbon emission causes global warming.
• There are environmental challenges associated with global warming.
• Global warming has catastrophic consequences.

But, if we write all the sentences like this we fail to score higher marks in the IELTS exam. Actually, we need to put them together to form complex sentences. For example:

“One of the most debated issues is carbon emission which causes global warming. There are environmental challenges associated with this problem and its effects have catastrophic consequences.”

Here, four ideas have been put together in two complex sentences. It has been done to make them easy to understand. This way maintaining grammatical range and accuracy become easier.

4) Lexical Resource:

The “lexical resource” is another important area that an IELTS candidate has to pay attention to. That is to say that he or she should use a good variety of vocabulary in order to achieve a high band score in the writing test.

Let’s break this down into small points:

• Range of vocabulary – The candidate should use a wide range of vocabulary to convey precise meanings. Synonyms can help here. But keep in mind that every word should be used in proper contexts.
• Correct spelling – Spelling serves a crucial role. So, be sure to use them correctly.
• Appropriate use of collocations – These are the natural combination of words in a sentence. In order to ace the IELTS writing test, the candidates should learn not only the individual words but also focus on what other words they are used in combination in a sentence.

Lexical Resource Dos:

• Be careful with grammar and spelling.
• Use words that are directly relevant to the topic.
• Be aware of collocations. Use appropriate collocations.

Lexical Resource Don’ts:

• Repeat the same words over and over.
• Force complex words into the essay without knowing them accurately.
• Use wrong synonyms.
• Learn lists of academic words out of context.
• Use rare phrases and jargon.

“Research has evidenced that children who have excess screen time are more likely to be myopic .”

This is a common sentence from an essay that has used the medical jargon: myopic. The writer has tried to impress the examiner by inserting the word “ myopic “. This is tricky because jargon includes the words or phrases used in a particular profession, which are difficult for other people to understand. Consequently, the candidate doesn’t get a higher score in the IELTS Writing exam.

It would be far better if the writer uses a simple phrase/word than a very rare phrase or jargon like ‘myopic’. For example:

“Many research has outlined that children who have excess screen time are more likely to have bad eyesight.”

A common phrase ‘bad eyesight’ has been used instead of a less common medical term ‘myopic’. This conveys meaning accurately while making the sentence easy to understand. So, keep it simple and avoid the use of jargon.

Now that you know what criteria are important to reaching a band 9 level IELTS essay, let’s explore some steps to enhance your band score from 5/6 to 8 or 9.

We would now explore a step-by-step guide to understand the process of writing an excellent essay to get a higher band score.

A step-by-step guide to writing a top-notch essay:

Step 1 – analyse the question:.

A candidate has to analyse the question first so as to understand it. In many cases, candidates do not answer the question fully due to their lack of understanding of the question. Consequently, it stops them from achieving a score higher than band 6.

To analyse the question, you have to identify the question type first, then identify topic words, qualifying words and instruction words, one by one. This will help you understand exactly what the question asks you to do. However, the discussion on how to analyse the question has already been explained above.

Step 2 – Plan The Structure:

Candidates who get a higher mark in IELTS writing task 2 always plan their arguments and ideas. A good plan helps them organise their ideas, and then structure their essay before they write it, saving their time and helping them to write a well-structured, coherent essay. The following tasks should be in the planning phase:

A) Creating the structure plan: → Introduction → 1st body paragraph → 2nd body paragraph → Conclusion

B) Generating ideas: Sometimes it proves to be difficult to write a good IELTS essay due to the lack of good ideas. However, there are several ways to overcome this problem. They are: ✓ The common topic familiarization ✓ Mind mapping ✓ Brainstorming ✓ 6 question method ✓ Thinking informal

Anyway, “practice” is the silver bullet for this problem. The more one practices with different topics the more she or he will be able to produce simple and better main ideas in just seconds. In fact, the candidate can be an idea-generating device through practice. So, practice, practice and practice.

Let’s take a look at the example question and create the skeleton plan:

Structure plan: → Introduction: paraphrase the topic and express opinion [i.e. boys and girls reap more benefits from attending mixed schools.] → 1st body paragraph: it is better to educate boys and girls in separate schools. → 2n body paragraph: boys and girls benefit more from attending mixed schools. → Conclusion: re-paraphrase the introduction and opinion. Alternatively, you can suggest something that would be a good solution to the debate or something that would be accepted by most people. [Example: It is expected that schools teach boys and girls together so that they become responsible and sympathetic individuals in the future who do not allow any gender discriminations.]

Step 3 – Write the introduction paragraph:

The introduction paragraph performs as a roadmap for an essay. It brings up the topic, the writer’s position, and the main points that will be used to strengthen and prove this position. Thus, when a reader reads the introduction of an essay, he/she should know exactly what the rest of the essay will look like.

However, many candidates often produce an introduction with a few common mistakes in them. The common mistakes are:

i) Introducing hooks or long general background statements about the topic. In most cases, essays begin with ‘In modern life……’ or ‘Nowadays….’ followed by general information about the topic. It’s a poor start you can probably make. So, it’s worth bearing in mind that you are asked to answer the question not talking generally about the topic.

ii) Not outlining opinion or main ideas. This is a grave mistake. You should combine opinion with main ideas. In fact, it’s the most important part of the essay that will tell the examiner what you’re going to write in the rest of your essay. If you don’t state your opinion clearly, you will lose marks substantially.

iii) Copying the question. If you just copy the question fully, the examiner will delete or discard it, and you will not get marks for this part of the exam. You can copy some words of the question, but don’t copy the whole question.

Bad and good examples:

Some people say that dangerous sports should be banned since they are deadly and life-threatening.

Do you agree or disagree with this viewpoint?

An example of a bad “Introduction”:

Nowadays dangerous sports are undeniably is a very controversial issue and some people say that they should be banned. This essay will discuss it and then come up with an opinion.

As you notice a bad example starts with a very common style of introduction, copies phrases and words from the question and doesn’t state an opinion or outline statement. So, the three essential elements are not included in the introduction.

An example of a good “Introduction”:

It is argued by many that extreme sports should be prohibited because they prove fatal and life-threatening. I agree up to a point, but I also think it is the democratic right of an individual to choose whatever sporting activity he or she wants to take part in.

In this “example introduction”, the writer paraphrases the question statement by using synonyms and outlines the opinion and main points. The is a great “introduction” because it meets the three obligatory criteria.

Skeleton of a Good Introduction:

It is very crucial that your introduction is well-structured. In order to do that, you have to include three essential things: A. Paraphrase B. Opinion (answer to the question) C. Outline of the main ideas

You ought to combine these three elements into just two sentences and your introduction should be around 40-60 words. Your introduction shouldn’t be longer than that. Don’t spend too much time writing the “introduction” of your essay.

A) Paraphrase Question: Paraphrasing means repeating the question statement in order to convey the same meaning, but with different words and styles. We can do this by using synonyms, different forms of the same words, and rearranging the clauses.

A higher salary is much more important than job satisfaction.

Paraphrase:

It is argued by many that it is beneficial to land a high-paying job, even if it does not content you at all.

As you see in the paraphrased sentence, some words and phrases have been changed while retaining the same meaning. Instead of ‘higher salary’ , for example, ‘high-paying job’ has been used. Thus, it demonstrates to the examiner that the writer can use a wide range of vocabulary and rephrase the question statement correctly.

B) Opinion (answer to the question) : This sentence is considered to be the most important part of your essay. It demonstrates to the examiner that you’ve understood the question perfectly and will drive to a clear and coherent essay.

Let’s look at the opinion sentence from the previous example:

Here, we’ve two choices- Choice 1: This essay totally agrees with this statement. Choice 2: This essay completely disagrees with this statement.

Opinion (answer to the question): This essay profoundly disagrees with the notion that higher remuneration is more crucial than career satisfaction.

The above sentence clearly states the position of the writer.

C) Outline of the main ideas: Outlining main ideas is another crucial thing in your IELTS essays. Through this, you tell the examiner what you are going to discuss in the main body paragraphs.

Plan: Why I disagree: Job satisfaction brings a sense of fulfilment. Doing what people like keeps them motivated, thus leading to a successful career. Combining opinion and main points: This essay profoundly disagrees with this statement because job satisfaction brings a sense of fulfilment and leads to a successful career as well.

In the above sentence, we simply use the word ‘because’ to combine them.

Putting it all together: Question:

“It is argued by many that it is far more beneficial to land a high-paying job, even if it does not content us at all. This essay profoundly disagrees with this statement because job satisfaction brings a sense of fulfilment and leads to a successful career as well.”

As you can notice, the above “introduction” follows the skeleton that has been outlined above. The rephrased question statement is given in green . The opinion has been given in purple , and the outline of the main ideas is in blue . Thus, this is a great “introduction” with two very simple sentences.

Now, we will through the introduction writing techniques for each easy type:

1. Opinion (Agree or Disagree) Essay Type 2. Advantages and Disadvantages Essay Type 3. Discussion (Discuss both views) Essay Type 4. Problem/Causes and Solution Essay Type 5. Double Question/ Mixed Essay Type

For each type of essay, the “introduction” would be slightly different. Let’s look at the examples for each of the five types of essay questions:

1. Writing Introduction for Opinion (Agree or Disagree) Essays: Question: Some people believe that children should be taught how to manage money at school.

Paraphrase: It is argued by many that schools ought to teach students financial literacy.

Answer to the Question: a) Plan- agree . b) Why I agree: ✓ Lack of financial literacy leads to disastrous consequences. ✓ Helps reach smart financial decisions. c) Opinion and Outline of main points: This essay entirely agrees with that statement because children can make financial decisions carefully, understand basic money management, and lack of financial literacy leads to disastrous consequences.

The whole introduction:

It is argued by many that schools ought to teach students financial literacy. This essay entirely agrees with that statement because children can make financial decisions carefully, understand basic money management, and the lack of financial literacy leads to disastrous consequences. (41 words)

2. Writing Introduction for Advantage and Disadvantage Essays: Question: It is suggested by many that young children should learn how to grow vegetables and keep animals.

Do you think that the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Paraphrase: Many people argue that young children ought to acquire basic knowledge of farming such as cultivating vegetables and keeping cattle.

Answer to the Question: a) Plan – Agree that advantages outweigh disadvantages. b) Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages – children can develop good work ethics and soft skills through gaining such farming knowledge. Disadvantages – children get exposed to hazardous pesticides and herbicides and can be distracted from academic studies.

c) Opinion and outline of main points: This essay will argue that despite children getting exposed to hazardous pesticides and herbicides, and being distracted from academic studies, the work ethics and soft skills they develop mean that the benefits outweigh the adverse effects involved in the process.

Many people argue that young children ought to acquire basic knowledge of farming such as cultivating vegetables and keeping cattle. This essay will argue that despite children getting exposed to hazardous pesticides and herbicides, and being distracted from academic studies, the work ethics and soft skills they develop mean that the benefits outweigh the adverse effects involved in the process. (60 words)

The writer here has used ‘despite’ to tell the examiner that many people think so, but he/she believes otherwise.

3. Writing Introduction for Discussion (Discuss both views) Essays: Question: Some people think that zoos are cruel and should be closed down. Others, however, believe that zoos can be useful in protecting wild animals.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Discussion essays introduce two sides of an argument. So, the introduction should be written differently than an opinion essay.

Paraphrase: It is considered by some that zoological gardens help preserve endangered species, yet there are others who regard them as inhumane and opine that zoos ought to be abolished.

You can see two phrases: “it is considered by some” and “yet there are others who regard”. So, there are always two opinions.

Answer to the Question: a) Plan: ✓ Zoos are beneficial because of the breeding programmes for vulnerable species. ✓ Zoos should be abolished because of unnatural environments and cramped cases. b) Opinion and Outline of main points: This will argue that although the breeding programmes contribute significantly to protecting vulnerable species, the writer is of the opinion that zoos should be banned due to inhumane animal conditions.

It is considered by some that zoological gardens help preserve endangered species, yet there are others who regard them as inhumane and opine that zoos ought to be abolished. This will argue that although the breeding program contributes significantly to protecting vulnerable species, I am of the opinion that zoos should be banned due to inhumane animal conditions. (58 words) .

As you can notice that by stating ‘although’, the writer recognizes that some people think that zoos are inhumane and should be abolished, but he/she doesn’t think the same way. However, we’ve introduced both views, answered the question and outlined our key points. So, it meets three essential criteria for a good introduction.

You must bear in mind is that you shouldn’t just write “This essay will discuss both views and then come to a reasoned conclusion” . The reason is that you haven’t expressed your opinion and also haven’t outlined your main ideas. Consequently, you will lose marks.

4. Writing Introduction for Problem/Causes and Solution type essay: Question: In some parts of the world, the rate of divorce has increased dramatically over the past few decades.

Explain some possible reasons for this problem and suggest some solutions.

Paraphrase: Divorce, in many countries, has reached epic proportions over the few decades.

Answer to the Question: a) Plan: b) Problem & Solution: Problem – Domestic violence and gender inequality. Solution – mutual understanding and conjugal appreciation.

c) Opinion and Outline of main points: This essay will expound on how domestic violence and gender inequality are the main reason for increasing separation rates in many parts of the world, followed by a discussion on how mutual understanding and conjugal appreciation are the most effective remedy for this issue.

Divorce, in many countries, has reached epic proportions over the few decades. This essay will expound on how domestic violence and gender inequality are the main reason for increasing separation rates in many parts of the world, followed by a discussion on how mutual understanding and conjugal appreciation are the most effective remedy for this issue. (56 words)

5. Writing Introduction for Double Question/Mixed Essay type: Question: Fossil fuels are essential for producing electricity, powering industry and fueling transportation. However, one day we will reach a point when all the world’s fossil fuels have been depleted.

How can we conserve these resources? What are some alternatives to fossil fuels?

Paraphrase: Energy production is heavily dependent on oil, coal and natural gas but there will come a time in human history when these resources will be exhausted.

Answer to the Question: a) Plan: b) Conservation and Alternatives: Conservation – choosing zero-carbon transportation, and reusing and recycling products. Alternative source – renewable energies: solar, wind and tide power.

c) Opinion and Outline of main points: This essay will argue that we can preserve non-renewable energy sources by choosing zero-carbon transportation, and solar, wind and tide energy are viable alternatives to natural resources.

Energy production is heavily dependent on oil, coal and natural gas but there will come a time in human history when these resources will be exhausted. This essay will argue that we can preserve non-renewable energy sources by choosing zero-carbon transportation, and solar, wind and tide energy are viable alternatives to natural resources. (53 words)

Step 4 – Write The Main Body Paragraphs:

Main body paragraphs/ supporting paragraphs contain the main discussion of your essay. In other words, these paragraphs exist to help prove your position by employing real and factual – or seemingly real and factual- information. Therefore, this is where you can gain or lose most of your marks.

Many candidates, however, make some common mistakes in the exam. Knowing these you can avoid making them further. The common mistakes are:

• Having lots of ideas.
• Having undeveloped ideas.
• Having no/poor explanations or examples.

You need to write around 250-300 words. If you conceive too many ideas, you won’t have enough time to develop the ideas fully. Consequently, you will lose marks. So, don’t make the same mistakes as others do.

Structure of a Good Main Body Paragraph

The structure of a good main body paragraph contains three key elements. They are:

• Topic sentence
• Explanation sentences

Please note that although this is a standard model, the structure can change according to the question types.

Topic sentence: It plays a pivotal role in main body paragraphs. In simple words, the topic sentence introduces the key idea, acting as a signpost pointing to what the examiner is going to read.

Explanation sentence: The idea topic sentence states should be explained clearly. Put simply, you have to clearly explain what your topic sentence means. In fact, you answer the question through explanation sentences. The explanation should be 2-4 sentences.

Useful language for explanation: In other words…… That is to say…….. This is because…… The reason is…….. As a result…………. Therefore……………

Example: examples are also crucial for an essay. You need to support your explanation with good and relevant examples. Examples prove highly useful when they are tangible facts because it causes persuasion and makes the argument tough to refute. Good examples contain references to personal experience, well-known people, cultural traditions, and historical events. Bad examples are overly general references, personal opinions, and assumptions.

Some people believe that criminals should be allowed to get an education and enhance their skills while they serve their sentences in prison.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Read the following “introduction” paragraph, paying close attention to the outline of the main points:

It is argued by many that convicted criminals should have access to education programmes so that they can develop their skills while serving their sentences in prison. This essay totally agrees with that statement because it reduces crime rates and can positively change incarcerated individuals .

The outline of the main points (in blue ) declares the topics we will use in our supporting paragraphs:

1- prison education can reduce the crime rate 2- it also positively changes incarcerated people

Let’s write the first main body paragraph now. The first sentence states the topic sentence for this paragraph, which needs to be the reflection of what was stated in the introduction paragraph’s outline of the first key point:

“Prison education programs considerably decrease recidivism.”

As you can see that this topic sentence clearly declares the point initially introduced in the introduction paragraph’s outline of the first key point, this builds a clear link between the essay’s introduction and supporting paragraph.

The second, third and fourth sentences are the discussion sentences:

Most prisoners are released from prisons with educational levels and job skills that are extremely low, and that is why they can earn only meagre incomes once freed. Face with the desperate need to make money but the grim reality of odd jobs, many turn back to crime to survive. However, prison education can equip convicted persons with transferable skills that pave the way for the positive transition when they are released. Therefore, it would reduce prison recidivism.

As can be seen, these sentences clarify the topic sentence explaining that prison education helps prison with transferable skills that open up a wide range of career possibilities, this, in turn, refrain them from committing crime again.

The fifth sentence is an example sentence. The example makes the supporting point hard to counter, and this reinforces the argument of the essay and its ability to convince the examiner of the thesis. The example sentence is:

For instance, a study by Monash University found that ex-offenders who receive some vocational training courses cut recidivism to approximately 40 percent.

As you can see that the example directly supports the topic sentence by bringing up factual information. The study is by a renowned university which makes it seems real. It also shows that the prisoners who enrol in prison education programmes are less likely to return to jail.

When grouped, the sentences of the main body paragraph logically unite in a highly persuasive manner:

Prison education programmes considerably decrease recidivism. Most prisoners are released from prisons with educational levels and job skills that are extremely low, and that is why they can earn only meagre incomes once freed. Face with the desperate need to make money but the grim reality of odd jobs, many turn back to crime to survive. However, prison education can equip convicted persons with transferable skills that pave the way for the positive transition when they are released. Therefore, it would reduce prison recidivism. For instance, a study by Monash University found that ex-offenders who receive some vocational training courses cut recidivism to approximately 40 percent. (106 words)

As you can notice that the topic sentence extends upon what was stated in the introduction paragraph’s outline statement, an obvious instance of cohesion at the essay level. Likewise, the argument advances through the discussion and use of a tangible example, and this makes it difficult for the examiner to rebut.

Now look at the second body paragraph and notice how it is written:

Another reason why incarcerated individuals should get an education is that it transforms incarcerated people. In simple words, education in prison changes offenders because it revives humanity, boosts confidence and self-esteem, develops literacy levels, equips them with essential skills and transforms criminals into law-abiding and productive citizens on release. A case in point is Carlos Rosato, who was arrested for armed robbery and sent to prison in New York state for 16 years. He enrolled in an education program of the Bard Prison Initiative, and he earned an Associate degree and a Bachelor degree. Today Carlos Rosato is an engineer and makes $90,000 a year. He is a solid member of his community and is, in fact, a taxpayer. (119 words)

Both the main body paragraphs of the essay are now complete. When joined to the introduction, the composition reads:

It is argued by many that convicted criminals should have access to education programmes so that they can develop their skills while serving their sentences in prison. This essay totally agrees with that statement because it reduces crime rates and can change incarcerated individuals.

Prison education programmes considerably decrease recidivism . Most prisoners are released from prisons with educational levels and job skills that are extremely low, and that is why they can earn only meagre incomes once freed. Face with the desperate need to make money but the grim reality of odd jobs, many turn back to crime to survive. However , prison education can equip convicted persons with transferable skills that pave the way for the positive transition when they are released. Therefore , it would reduce prison recidivism. For instance , a study by Monash University found that ex-offenders who receive some vocational training courses cut recidivism to approximately 40 percent.

Another reason why incarcerated individuals should get an education is that it transforms incarcerated people . In simple words , education in prison changes offenders because it revives humanity, boosts confidence and self-esteem, develops literacy levels, equips them with essential skills and transforms criminals into law-abiding and productive citizens on release. A case in point is Carlos Rosato, who was arrested for armed robbery and sent to prison in New York state for 16 years. He enrolled in an education program of the Bard Prison Initiative, and he earned an Associate degree and a Bachelor degree. Today Carlos Rosato is an engineer and makes $90,000 a year. He is a solid member of his community and is, in fact, a taxpayer.

Please notice the way the sentences and paragraphs use linking devices to connect themselves together and how to build the overarching argument of the essay. Cohesion at the sentence level is underlined . Cohesion at the essay level is highlighted in blue .

Step 5 – Write The Conclusion:

The conclusion paragraph reiterates the writer’s main ideas and closes the essay. It’s far easier than the introduction and main body paragraphs because it contains the information that has already been imparted earlier in the response. Alternatively, you can propose a solution to a problem or issue or offer something that would be widely accepted regarding the topic discussed in your essay.

Let’s start with the common mistakes. Many candidates often make some mistakes. So, you should not:

• Introduce new ideas.
• Try to be entertaining.
• Be too general.
• Repeat exactly the same thing as in the rest of your essay.
• Use the wrong cohesive devices.

Many candidates make the mistake of introducing new ideas in their “conclusion”. Bear in mind that this is a big mistake. New ideas shouldn’t be produced in your “conclusion” at all. All you need do is to state the ideas you have already discussed in the previous paragraphs or offer a solution to a problem that would be widely accepted. If you outline any new idea in your conclusion, you’ll get a lower mark because the conclusion is just paraphrasing or summarizing of what you’ve already said, or offering a universally accepted solution – nothing else.

Many candidates also try to finish their essays by being entertaining or interesting. There are no marks for being entertaining or interesting in your conclusion! There are only marks for writing an accurate conclusion! So, don’t try to write an entertaining conclusion.

Being too vague is another error while writing a conclusion. You need to be as specific as possible like the rest of your essay. The more specific you are, the higher the chance you get a higher band score. So, don’t be too general.

Some candidates repeat the same thing as in the rest of the essay. You need to paraphrase; you need to write the same thing but in a different way.

Finally, many people use wrong cohesive devices which ultimately negatively affect their scores. Therefore, don’t use the wrong cohesive devices.

Let’s look at some inappropriate cohesive devices:

All in all – it is a very inappropriate way to begin your conclusion. This is because it’s very informal. You need to be academic as the IELTS essay is academic in nature. You need to be as formal as possible. So, don’t use “all in all”. In sum – it means just summarizing things. In the conclusion paragraph, you are not just summarizing your main ideas but also giving your opinion. So, the phrase ‘in sum/in summation’ is not quite appropriate for that reason.

To sum up – it is the same as ‘in sum’. So, you shouldn’t use it either.

Finally – it’s saying that you’ve got a final point and it would imply that you’ve got a new point. As we said before, you shouldn’t have a new idea in your conclusion. So, don’t use the word ‘finally’.

In a nutshell – like the phrase “all in all”, this is also informal. So, don’t use it.

Now let’s look at the cohesive devices you should use in your conclusion. They are: ✓ To conclusion ✓ In conclusion

These are two simple phrases you can use at the beginning of your “conclusion” paragraph.

Structure of a Good Conclusion Paragraph: The structure of a good conclusion consists of two essential things. They are: a) Summary of main points b) Opinion

Please reread the introduction and main body paragraphs written above prior to preparing for the conclusion paragraph. Once you read it, let’s continue to the techniques and examples of writing the “conclusion” part.

As a recommended structure, the first sentence of the conclusion paragraph should summarize the topics discussed in the main body paragraphs. The topics are:

→ Prison education programs considerably decrease recidivism. → it transforms incarcerated people.

Grouped into a single sentence, these two ideas would read:

In conclusion, education in prison causes considerable recidivism reduction and also changes convicted persons in a positive way.

The second sentence has to rephrase the opinion of the introduction paragraph in a different manner. Here is the original outline sentence:

This essay totally agrees with that statement…

Thus, it is clear that incarcerated men and women should get an education while in prison.

Now the conclusion paragraph is finished. Notice how its sentences connect with one another and with earlier parts of the essay:

In conclusion, education in prison causes considerable recidivism reduction and also changes convicted persons in a positive way. Thus, it is clear that incarcerated men and women should get an education while in prison.

Please note that, if you wish to add one or two lines of suggestion or proposition that is related to the topic and offers something widely accepted, do that at the end of the conclusion.

Example of such a suggestion or proposition –

“It is expected that prison authority would take measures to educate inmates and train them so that they can become responsible members once they complete their prison sentence and get back to normal life.”

Essay Topic:

Essay Answer: I t is argued by many that criminals should have access to education programmes so that they can develop their skills while serving their sentences in prison. This essay totally agrees with that statement because it reduces crime rates and can change incarcerated individuals.

Prison education programmes considerably decrease recidivism. Most prisoners are released from prisons with educational levels and job skills that are extremely low, and that is why they can earn only meagre incomes once freed. Face with the desperate need to make money but the grim reality of odd jobs, many turn back to crime to survive. However, prison education can equip convicted persons with transferable skills that pave the way for the positive transition when they are released. Therefore, it would reduce prison recidivism. For instance, a study by Monash University found that ex-offenders who receive some vocational training courses cut recidivism to approximately 40 percent.

Another reason why incarcerated individuals should get an education is that it transforms incarcerated people. In simple words, education in prison changes offenders because it revives humanity, boosts confidence and self-esteem, develops literacy levels, equips them with essential skills and transforms criminals into law-abiding and productive citizens on release. A case in point is Carlos Rosato, who was arrested for armed robbery and sent to prison in New York state for 16 years. He enrolled in an education program of the Bard Prison Initiative, and he earned an Associate degree and a Bachelor degree. Today Carlos Rosato is an engineer and makes $90,000 a year. He is a solid member of his community and is, in fact, a taxpayer.

(Approximately 300 words)

Learning to write an essay at a band 9 level takes a lot of practice. Use this article to acquire the technique, then do practice as much as possible on all the five types of questions. Best of luck!

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IELTS Writing Task-2 How to Write Double-Question Essays

Decoding the Double-Question Essay

Step 1: Understanding the Prompts

• Time Management: Allocate your time wisely, ensuring that you devote sufficient attention to planning, drafting, and revising your essay.
• Practice Regularly: Consistent practice is key to mastering the art of writing double-question essays. Set aside time to write practice essays under timed conditions, incorporating the strategies discussed in this guide.
• Seek Feedback: Don't hesitate to seek feedback from teachers, peers, or online resources. Constructive criticism can help identify areas for improvement and refine your writing skills.

Q:1 What are some common themes and prompts found in double-question essays?

Q:3 What are some strategies for managing time effectively during the writing task?

Q:4 How important is it to practice writing double-question essays before the exam?

Q:5 Are there any recommended resources or materials for further study on this topic?

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How to write double question essay in IELTS writing task 2

• IELTS Writing Task 2

Before starting this topic let’s have an overview of what Writing Task 2 means?

Quick Review

IELTS Writing task 2 is the second task of the writing test. In this task, you will be presented with some point of view, an argument, or with any type of problem, justifying an opinion, discussing the topic, summarizing details, identifying possible solutions, and supporting what you write with reasons. The format of writing the essay should be formal and it should at least have a word count of 250 words in length and you have to cover your task in 40 minutes. This part has more weight in scoring than writing task 1. The IELTS writing task 2 is based on using the right technique.

Let’s Begin;

Topics to be covered:

• Double question  Essay Introduction
• Essay Structure
• Marking Criteria
• Planning of the Essay
• Essay writing
• Common Mistakes to Avoid

Before starting first have a look at the example, that will make the topic more clear.

Examples : 1: Nowadays the government is investing more in public transport such as buses and trains rather than building new roads. What is the reason for this? Is this a positive or negative development? 2: Living in large cities today poses many problems for people. What are these problems? Should the government encourage more people to live in small towns? 3: Nowadays the way people interact with each other has changed because of technology? In what ways has technology affected the relationship that people make? Has this become a positive or negative development?

Now have a look at the examples above. 

Taking the first example in the reference you will notice that in the first part,  the question wants to ask for the reason that why is the government doing this, and in the second part, the question is asking about the opinion that what you think is it positive or negative development?

Brainstorm your Ideas

Before you start writing spend a little bit of time of about 3 to 4 minutes thinking and planning your ideas. Keep looking back at the questions to make sure you aren’t drifting off-topic. 

As per example 1, you can have both positive and negative responses but keep in mind that if the examiner thinks that you not presented your topic clearly then you will lose your marks.

So, if you are a super strong writer and can convey your opinion clearly and within the time limit, I suggest taking a strong position and sticking with it in the IELTS Double Question Essay. 

Your real opinion doesn’t matter; this is about getting a good IELTS score.

Marking Criteria of IELTS Writing Test

• Task Achievement
• Cohesion and Coherence
• Lexical Resource
• Grammar Range & Accuracy

Each criterion has an equal weightage of 25%. Task Achievement:  This refers to how clear and structured is your essay.  You can increase your marking for the achievement of your task by connecting your sentences to each other and by linking the desired word & sign points. You need to extend your answers up to the mark with all the relevant details. Apart from this, you need to answer both the questions fully and outline your both answers in the introduction.  Cohesion and Coherence: Concisely crafted pieces, written in not more than four paragraphs with a logically central idea is what your examiner is looking for. Your score in this criterion depends on your ability to present your ideas in a structured manner, with the right linking words supporting the body of the written piece and having a central topic flowing in a particular paragraph.   Lexical Resources: You can score well in this particular section by keeping in mind just three things:  Your ability to use appropriate words  Your ability to use the words in their right collocative manner  And, your ability to spell those words right.  These three tips will go a long way as far as this particular section is concerned.  Grammatical Range of Accuracy: This section refers to how good your grammar skills are. To increase your marking for GRA always try to avoid grammatical mistakes and try to use advanced grammatical structures as much as you can, examples can include- passive voice, direct speech, different tenses and unconditional sentences, etc. 

Do remember that each of the criteria has an equal weightage of 25%. So give your equal efforts on every topic and don't skip any of them. 

Let’s be clear with the sample framework- Introduction  Background statement Paraphrasing the question Thesis statement(In my opinion/ This essay states….) Body Paragraph 1 Start with the 1st topic sentence/the main point. Explain the main point Give an example Give Closing Statement  Body Paragraph 2 Start with the 2nd topic sentence/the main point. Explain the main point  Give an example  Closing statement. Conclusion To conclude or to sum up. (paraphrase the essay) In my opinion/ As the essay discussed. (if your opinion is asked)

Three-step Planning of Double Question Essay

• Analyze the question
• Highlight the keyword
• Brainstorm all the ideas, explanations, and vocabulary.

#1- Analysing the Question This is the first and important step in answering the question and make sure you answer the question fully. It is easy to do. These tell you exactly what type of information is required and each will become the topic for one of the two main body paragraphs.

 #2 Highlight the Keyword  The next task is to highlight the keywords. First, you have to identify the topic words of the essay, then generalize the other keywords that will tell you the specific things asked in the question to write. Then discuss the instruction words.

#3 Brainstorm all the ideas, explanation, and vocabulary In this section, you have to try generating new ideas. There are many different ways through which you can create new ideas and think up ideas. Think up with simple answers that you strain in your daily life rather than thinking of something extraordinary and using high-level language. There is so much to write about this topic that we have to be very careful we don’t try to include too many different ideas and just end up with a list for each question rather than a well-developed essay.

Let’s Clear it with a suitable example

It is predicted that robots are going to become increasingly important in our life. How could robots be used in the future? Will it be a positive or negative development?

Step 1- Analysis of the Question. What type of question is this? How could robots be used in the future? Will it be a positive or negative development? This is a double question type of question.

Step 2- Highlight keywords in the question It is predicted robots are becoming increasingly important in our life. How could robots be used in the future? Will it be a positive or negative development? Address all the parts given in the question. (Task achievement )

Step 3- Brainstorm all the types of ideas, explanations, and vocabulary. 

Introduction Background statement(Role of artificial intelligence)+ Rephrase the question+ Thesis Statement. 

Body Paragraph 1 Part 1-  Accuracy, conformity, consistency, extend role at various places like hospitals. Example.

Body Paragraph 2 Part 2- Positive impacts, outsourcing hazardous task, meet demand in a different area. Example.

Conclusion Restate the question and your opinion. 

Sample answer

The role of artificial intelligence is assumed to be evolving in everybody’s life in the time to come. This essay will highlight some feasible applications of robots in the future and explain why this development will be an advantageous one for humanity. 

Undoubtedly, robots are going to play a major role in many fields that require utmost accuracy, consistency, uniformity and are even risky. For example, today humans are sent to war or to fight fires or explore space, in the future, these tasks could be performed by robots. In addition to such roles, robots could also become more commonplace in hospitals and aged to the facilities where they may also be able to interact with and support patients when nurses or carers are in limited supply. Indeed such developments are already underway.

Clearly, these advancements in robotics and Artificial Intelligence will have a positive impact on society. By, outsourcing hazardous tasks, human workers will be less prone to injury or death. If robots are able to extinguish fires or disarm bombs efficiently, society too will be safer. For example, in the health sector, even though some may worry that robots lack the empathy and understanding of the human worker, the fact is that demand for health care workers exceeds supply in many places, which means there is a dire need for extra help. This demand could well be met by robots with artificial intelligence in the decades to come. 

In the conclusion, the potential of robotics is still unexplored in our lives. In my opinion, with some precautionary steps contribution of the robots can be turned beneficial for the future generation. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid Not supporting your ideas with an explanation If you don’t support your ideas with the proper explanation and are not able to support your explanation with a good example then there might be a chance of getting a low band score.  Answering only one side  If you don’t give an answer to both parts of the questions. You tend to answer only the first or the second part and don’t support your answer. Answering to the single part of the question and leaving the other blank will reduce your band score. Repetition of the Words Work with your idea structure and try avoiding repeating your words. Repeating your words continuously can decrease your word count and avoid this try using synonyms, phrases, etc.  Exceeding word limit and illogical structure Try avoiding using extra words that could let you exceed your word count limit. And try to be as logical as you could be. Writing the perfect statement with the proper structure will help you get a good band score.

Always remember no one comes extra-ordinary but your practice can make you. Happy Learning.   

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IELTS Writing Task 2: Discussion Sample Essay

Today we’re going to look at a discussion essay IELTS sample that’s considered Band 9. This Band 9 scored essay matched the pattern for the “discussion” type of Writing Task 2 question. Discussion essays are sometimes also called “discuss both sides” essays. In this kind of essay, you will be presented with two statements of opinion that oppose each other. You will then be asked to “discuss both sides” of the debate, and to give your own opinion. For more information on this and other question types, including tips, tricks, and general advice for the discussion essay question type, see Magoosh’s full guide to IELTS Writing Task 2 question types .

Discussion Essay IELTS Sample: Band 9

The essay below is a band 9 model IELTS essay, patterned after Magoosh’s IELTS Writing Task 2 Template .

IELTS Writing Discussion Essay Practice Question

Some people seek a lot of advice from family and friends when choosing their career. Others feel it is better to choose a career more independently. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Discussion Essay IELTS Sample Band 9 Response

Choosing a career can be a challenging process. It can be difficult to say whether this decision should be made alone, or made with input from loved ones. In my opinion, it is best to find one’s career independently, with no more than a small amount of advice from family or friends. Below, I will explain why I feel that we must ultimately face career decisions on our own.

Getting career guidance input from loved ones can be confusing rather than useful. Family and friends likely have different careers, and thus give different, conflicting advice. Suppose, for instance, that your father is a teacher, your mother is an accountant, and your best friend is a nurse. They have all made very different career decisions, and only have knowledge on their respective careers. Different people will likely only steer you to their careers, without giving good advice on your own best path.

In contrast, focusing on one’s own preferences and skills provides a clearer path to the right career. After all, individuals have the best knowledge of their own abilities and interests. As an example, if someone has gone to university to study biology, they will know more about biology careers than a family member or friend who does not have that same kind of training. Ultimately, your career must be built on your own training and experience, not the training and experience of others.

For the reasons I’ve outlined above, I really do believe that career decisions are a matter of personal knowledge. Other people, even trusted family and friends, simply cannot understand your career the way you can. To select your field of work wisely, you must face this important decision alone.

Scorer Commentary (Discussion IELTS Essay Sample, Band 9)

The score report below is based on the official IELTS Writing Task 2 rubric . This report also looks very similar to the Magoosh IELTS essay scoring service .

Overall Band Score: 9

What was done well in the essay:

• At 283 words, this essay exceeded the 250 word minimum. (This is very important for getting full points!)
• Each part of the task was fully addressed. Both sides of the issue were discussed in the first and second body paragraphs. Moreover, reasons and relevant examples were included.
• Each paragraph had its own clear topic sentence and supporting details, with explanations of the details, and summarization of the most important ideas.
• Transitional language was used to clearly tie in all paragraphs to clear main ideas from the introduction and conclusion.
• Vocabulary and grammar were used clearly and fluently. There were no serious errors in grammar or word use; word choice and sentence structure varied and avoided significant repetition.

More Model Essays for IELTS Writing Task 2

Would you like the see model essays for the other common IELTS Writing Task 2 question types as well? Magoosh has you covered! Just click the links below.

• Advantage/Disadvantage Essay
• Two-Part Question Essay
• Causes/Solutions Essay
• Agree/Disagree Essay

David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he’s helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in many scholarly articles , his Master’s Thesis is featured on the Reading with Pictures website, and he’s presented at the WITESOL (link to PDF) and NAFSA conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru. Come join David and the Magoosh team on Youtube , Facebook , and Instagram , or connect with him via LinkedIn !

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5 responses to “IELTS Writing Task 2: Discussion Sample Essay”

Contractions must be avoided because they are a sign of informal writing style. Whereas essay’s should be written in formal way.

You are correct that contractions shouldn’t be used in the formal Task 2 essay. However, note that they can be used at times, such as in IELTS Speaking or in Task 1 if you are asked to write an informal letter.

Happy studying!

Greetings, and thank you for this model essay. I wanted to ask a question relating to the discussion essay’s addressing of the task. Since the two views are 1) Some people think it is beneficial to ask for advice from friends/loved ones, and 2) others think that it is better to do so alone, why isn’t the 2nd paragraph addressing the benefits but instead talks about how it can be confusing? Isn’t a discussion essay’s structure supposed to be something like this:

2nd paragraph: Reasons people believe asking for help to decide for a career is good 3rd paragraph: Reasons people believe doing it on your own is good Conclusion: Giving your own opinion

Thank you for your time!

Good question! The short answer is that both approaches work! The directions are simply to “discuss both views,” but you don’t have to provide support for both sides. You can also discuss the problems or issues with one side, as this essay has done. Does that make sense? I’d suggest reviewing more sample essays to get a better sense of this.

Hope this helps, and best of luck to you!

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• General Reading
• Academic Reading

IELTS Writing Task 2

• IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS Double Question Essay

IELTS double question essays are also known as ‘direct question’ or ‘two questions’ essays. They are distinguished by two characteristics:

• They have one statement with two different questions after it.
• The questions may or may not be linked.

IELTS Preparation

Essay#78 | undervalued jobs, essay#40 | studying abroad.

Increasing numbers of students are choosing to study abroad. To what extent does this trend benefit the students themselves and the countries involved?

Essay#29 | Increasingly Dependent on Computers

We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in businesses, hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in the future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we he more auspicious of their benefits?

Essay#28 | Childhood Diseases

Should parents be obliged to immunise their children against childhood diseases? Or do individuals have the right to choose not to immunise their children?

Essay#20 | Success

When talking about success, we often think of people who are rich or famous. In your opinion, what are the qualities that characterize a successful person? Why do you think these should be the criteria?

Essay#6 | Computers

We are becoming increasingly dependent on computer-based technology. How do you think it will change in the future? Is it good for us to rely so much on computers?

IELTS Sample Charts (IELTS Academic Writing Task 1)

IELTS Writing Task 1 – Academic

The Writing Task 1  of the  IELTS Academic test  requires you to write a summary of at least 150 words in response to a particular graph (bar, line or pie graph), table, chart, or process (how something works, how something is done). This task tests your ability to select and report the main features, to describe and compare data, identify significance and trends in factual information, or describe a process.

IELTS Writing Task 2 (IELTS Sample essays)

IELTS Writing Task 2  requires you to write at least 250 words. You will be presented with a topic and will be tested on your ability to respond by giving and justifying an opinion, discussing the topic, summarizing details, outlining problems, identifying possible solutions and supporting what you write with reasons, arguments and relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

The assessment of Task 2 carries more weight in marking than Task 1. Writing scripts are marked by trained and certificated IELTS examiners, who all hold relevant teaching qualifications and are recruited as examiners by the test centres and approved by British Council or IDP: IELTS Australia.

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• Band 9 IELTS Essays

Here at ielts-practice.org we have a huge collection of band 9 IELTS essay samples. Click on the links below to read our band 9 essay samples. IELTS essay topics tend to repeat. It is, therefore, imperative that you practice writing essays on topics asked in recent IELTS exams. We are adding more essays to this page, so stay tuned.

Recent IELTS writing topics (January, February and March 2024)

• Some people feel that the private lives of celebrities should not be openly shared by the media
• Innovation is often driven by the pursuit of profit and economic growth
• The world has many towns and cities constructed in previous centuries
• Most modern families have both parents working and as a result children spend less time with their parents
• Eco tourism often involves visiting remote and fragile ecosystems
• Some argue that music mainly serves as a way for individuals to reduce their stress and anxiety
• Some people believe that professional athletes serve as positive role models for people
• In many societies there is a growing emphasis on individualism
• In the future, it may be necessary for us to live on other planets
• In many countries, the number of plants and animals is declining
• Some people think that certain old buildings are more worth preserving than other ones
• Nowadays, there is more and more competition for getting into university
• In today’s digital era anyone with a smartphone can capture and share photographs
• Everybody should donate a fixed amount of their income to support charity
• An increase in production of consumer goods results in damaging the environment
• We have witnessed that parents spend ample amount of money on children’s parties
• Archeology is partly the discovery of treasures of the past
• The rise of social media platforms has made it easier for people to vent their frustrations publicly
• The demand for coaching services has grown significantly in the digital era
• Some people think that manufacturers and shopping malls should sell fewer packaged goods
• Financial education should be included as a mandatory subject in schools

Popular essays

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• In today’s digital era anyone with a smart phone can capture and share photographs
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• In many countries, formal exams are used to assess students ability and to judge the success of their education
• Some people say the main environmental problem of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals
• Some people think that the best way to become successful in life is to get a university education whereas others say this is no longer true
• Success is often measured by wealth and material belongings
• Completing university education is thought to be the best way to get a good job
• Some people believe that the typical teaching situation of a teacher and students in the class will not exist by 2050
• Some people say that ebooks and modern technology will totally replace traditional newspapers and magazines Environmental damage is the problem of most countries
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Double Question Sample IELTS Essay – Technology

Nowadays the way people interact with each other has changed because of technology. 

In what ways has technology affected the types of relationships people make? 

Has this become a positive or negative development?

Modern advancements have altered the way we communicate with one another. This essay will discuss how we can now form bonds with people all over the world, and then state that on the whole, this is a very welcome development.

For the first time in human history, people can communicate with someone they have never met before, in a country they have never been to, through the internet. These may not be the same kind of friendships we traditionally form face-to-face, but it is hard to dispute that they are not ‘relationships’. Social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, provide a platform that allows us to chat and comment on someone else’s life instantaneously. For example, there are now IELTS groups on Facebook where students can help and support each other by providing helpful resources and feedback on essays.

Overall, this new phenomenon has great benefits, principally encouraging tolerance of other cultures. Before computers we hardly ever came across someone from another culture, let alone people from a myriad of different places in one Facebook group. This has led to people understanding that we are all mostly the same and you should not judge someone because they were born in a different place. 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 possible 25 years ago.

In conclusion, the web has changed our interactions forever, making the world a global village where people can freely chat and form lasting connections and this essay only sees this as a good thing that will continue to bring citizens of the world together.

About Christopher Pell

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

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

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

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IELTS Model Essay Score 9 for Direct Questions

This is an estimated band score 9 model for an IELTS writing task 2 direct questions essay. This model essay shows you how to answer each question directly and how to organise the answers into paragraphs.

Some people think that money is one of the most essential factors in promoting happiness. Do you think people can be happy without much money? What other factors contribute towards happiness?

Money is considered by many people to be one of the most important contributing factors towards happiness. In my opinion, it is possible for people to be happy even if they have little money and other aspects of life can play a more vital role in creating happiness.

Although having money brings happiness to a lot of people, it does not necessarily follow that people without money are, therefore, unhappy. Take for example the comparison between developing and developed countries, most Westerners would agree that people in developing countries are happier, enjoy stronger family connections and take more pleasure in the simplicities of life to a greater extent than those in developed countries.

One way that people can gain happiness is through their work. For instance, a doctor doing volunteer work in underdeveloped countries may have very little money but the reward of helping people and doing the job they are good at, brings happiness in itself. In other words, happiness can be found by using skills that people are trained for and through job satisfaction.

Finally, another factor influencing happiness is having supportive and loving people in one’s life.  While money may bring the opportunities to enjoy pleasures, few people would enjoy them on their own. Being surrounded by a loving and caring family is considered by most people to be more valuable than any amount of money.

In conclusion, money is not essential for happiness, which can be found through job satisfaction as well as family. If more people strived in life towards true happiness rather than money, the world would be a better place.

Comments: Your task is to give an answer to both questions and no more. Each question may have one or two main points to answer it. Your essay should never have more than 3 body paragraphs. You can see that in this IELTS model essay, the first body paragraph is answering the first question and the second question is answered with two main points in two different body paragraphs. Words = 275 (an appropriate length for writing task 2)

Recommended Lessons

Model Opinion Essay: click here IELTS Writing Task 2 Practice Essay Questions: click here

Money is thought to be one of the most important reasons to contribute to happiness. While I agree to this in some extent, in my opinion, there are other equally valuable things in life. It is said that ‘money rules the world’, and it’s quite true. Most problems in life can indeed be solved with money. This is especially true in the case of developing countries, where even basic necessities like health, education, etc. are not for free. For example, when the only earning member of a low-income household falls sick or gets diagnosed with a terminal illness, they go through a huge financial burden. This also directly contributes to their unhappiness. In such situations, having money could help in opening different avenues and gaining opportunities that could help in their overall betterment and improved life status. While money is essential to life and could also help in improving different aspects of one’s life, it has to be appreciated that happiness is, but a state of mind. And having money alone cannot guarantee happiness. There are other things to life like love, having close bonds with family/friends, a healthy life and mental well-being, among other things. Hence, I feel, money is indeed essential and helps in improving one’s life and eventually leading to happiness. Yet, there’s more to life than just money, like love and good physical, as well as, mental health.

Hello, Liz. There is something about the causes-solution that is confusing for me. I am mentioning this here because I could not find a model solutions essay on the website. Taking the topic “As the result of tourism and the increasing number of people travelling, there is an growing demand for more flights. What problem does this have on the environment? What measures could be taken to solve the problems?” as an example, will the format of the introduction go like this: paraphrase + brief answer to qs 1 (xyz and cause problems such as ‘abc’ and ‘def’) + brief answer to qs 2 (There are many solutions that can be considered)

The background statement is the same as usual. However, putting too much detail into the thesis statement makes it too long. And using a generic statement without any specific information at all is too vague. You need something between. You can state the two actual causes in the thesis and also briefly state “there are possible solutions” without giving details. So, yes, your thinking is correct. At the end of the day, IELTS is about being logical.

That has cleared my mind. Thank you so much! And thank you for always replying 😀 Wishing you the best, and praying for your health.

Trust you are doing fine, how is your health, I really wish you could do another video. If its possible to have a virtual session with you on just checking up on you, it would be fine.

I find myself writing around 400 words. Is it a concern, or I should work towards a range of 250-300.

See example of my write up on the topic on happiness

Happiness is a state of mind that encompasses a good wellbeing, and a convenient mental state filled with joy, and much euphoria of gladness. Money is not necessarily a pointer for happiness, but is also a necessity to lead to happy life.

First and foremost, happiness often come when we achieve certain goal or objectives. For example, one could make a decision to graduate from an MBA course which of course would impact his career. Graduating from the MBA could bring much more happiness that having money as this is what the individual is passionate about. When purpose is met, and a certain goal is achieved, happiness is triggered, and of course makes one joyful.

Secondly, people chose happiness when they travel for tourism or meet people from another culture. For example, when I visited the northern part of my country, I had little money on me, but I was so excited that I was seeing people of different culture, tribe, race, and different background. My participation in their most interesting Banku Dance was a joy for me, and I was so glad about it, as I had always dreamt of learning the Banku Dance, and following the Banku culture. Hence this gives me joy.

Moreover, there are a lot of people who have money but they obtained it illegally. This could be money gotten through selling of hard drugs, guns and ammunitions, child trafficking, sex slaves, and bribery for illegal and over estimated government contracts. Of course, these individuals may feel they have a large amount of money to a certain degree, but they may not necessarily be happy, as they would always try to cover up their illegal scheme, and of course when the arms of the law catches up with them, the money made would be taken back, and they would be imprisoned ultimately leading to more sorrow.

However, despite being happy by achieving a particular goal or objectives, career advancement, or socio cultural engagements with other culture and languages, money is still an important factor as these things would need to be paid for before they are achieved.

In conclusion, happiness is not necessarily hinged on having money, as people from low income country who engage in local trades, and carry out certain ambitious projects are always happy when fulfilled, and they glow in admiration of joy, while certain individuals with large money gotten from illegal source may not find happiness as they must keep on covering their tracks. But in all money is still needed to achieve certain objectives or fulfilment that would also lead to happiness.

It is certainly an issue to be writing 400 words for task 2 writing. IELTS essays are designed to be highly focuses, relevant with each sentence being 100% critical to the essay. They are designed to be written in under 200 words. This mean you will produce about 13-15 sentences in total (this is not a rule, it is what is usual), all of which you need to be completely accurate and highly focused. What I see from your essay is that you haven’t learned how to write an essay for this particular test. IELTS have set requirements and you need to understand them. Those requirements will shape your essay. I suggest you get my advanced lessons to learn how to write an essay for this test: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/ . For example, you will lose points for having one body paragraph less developed than another – this is because it is about band score requirements. That is just one example of how not understanding IELTS will cause you to get a lower score. There are many other points to consider in writing an IELTS essay.

Money is an important contributor in ones happiness. In my opinion, money is just one factor to happiness and other contributors to happiness are relationships and passion.

Financial abundance is a part of the pie in achieving happiness. Some unfortunate people, who doesn’t have a stable source of income, still manage to be happy when they meet and laugh with friends. Moreover, they could keep a positive outlook when they help people at work as it gives then a sense of purpose. Despite being poor, one can still enjoy life.

One factor that contributes to happiness is valuable relationship. Family time such as eating together home cooked meals rather than at a fast food restaurant allows time to share stories and to feel connected. Relating to loved ones makes one feel listened to and cared for.

Another influencer to happiness is passion for work. At work, such as when helping customers or improving productivity at work by learning a new skill, an excitement is formed inside that helps you carry out throughout the day. Although work can be challenging, if a person finds passion in it, a sense of fulfillment can be gained anytime.

In conclusion, I think people can be happy without much money and this can be achieved through valuable relationships and passion in working.

Recently, money has become almost everything for some. Even a group of people see money as a privileged term, thus they consider it as the most permanent and valuable source of happiness. To me, the amount of money is not an indicator of happiness, meaning less money does not prevent an individual from being content, moreover, there are other factors providing people to be happy as well as money like the satisfaction of work and people who support you all around you. To begin with the way how does the amount of money affect people, it simply is not as a big deal as it is generally thought. It is owing to the fact that the term money is nothing but a tool we use universally for putting a price on the products. There is only one thing money can not buy, though, happiness and even this explains that the terms money and happiness are separate things and one can be happy without it. Furthermore, I believe the more money a person has, the less happy he/she is when thinking the fact that rich people consider money to be the key to everything, thus fail to handle a problem and start complaining when facing a problem while least rich people directly focus on the possible solutions. To continue with different factors for happiness, job satisfaction comes first as the atmosphere and also the circumstances you work under matter the emotions and consequently the productivity the most. The second factor is as important as satisfaction, which is the presence of people you love and their encouragement around you. Think about Icardi who refused to be transferred from his current football team even after being offered four times more price from another team for instance. To conclude, money is not an indicator of how happy a person is, and there are still more valuable factors than that such as job satisfaction and supporting people. As a result, we should be aware of the reality that happiness is priceless.

Hello Liz, thank you very much for your help. It is very appreciated. I am taking a test soon and I need a minimum of Band 8? Would this essay be good enough? What are your suggestions? Your help will be greatly appreciated, Sincerely Katarina

Many people, mainly elderly, would never miss the evening news. Not only them but also many other adults want to know what is going on in the world. Way too many people are obsessed with news that are bringing raw facts that are important rather than something good, and there would be even more people watching if it did bring joy into their lives.

Understandably, adults need to know what is going on in their town or state before it is too late. News brings a lot of important information from the first hand that is usually important for most citizens. For example, news will alert people about water or electricity shortages, growing interest rates, a criminal that escaped from prison or about a lost child. All of this information is essential for different people. For example, an electricity shortage is targeted to everyone, and some people are able to spend time out of town to wait out the shortage. Growing interest rates are mainly important for people who were thinking about taking a mortgage. Thanks to knowing this ahead of time, they can plan accordingly. Different types of news effects multiple groups of people in many ways. Therefore, news is crucial for most of the population that is 18 and older.

News can be very useful in long term run, however, it can ruin one’s night. Unfortunately, most of the news is targeting the negativity. This is because people consider the bad news more important because they want to be aware and ready. It is easy to understand that people want to know about a snowstorm that will block the roads so that they can get extra groceries or buy special supplements for their pets or livestock and make a plan for what else can go wrong.

Despite the fact that most of the news is negative reporting car accidents, robberies, tragedies and so on, people still choose to watch it. I think that if there were more positive things on the news, people would enjoy watching news and would not watch it because they feel like they need. News could even be a family time and a topic in family discussion if they were more focused on things that make the viewer feel good about the world around them. For example, news should help local farmers and advertise their products while giving a little background about their farm. This would tempt families to buy farm fresh products that are better for them while making a family educational trip to the farm.

In conclusion, news brings useful information to people that is not always pleasant, but could also bring in more positive news. News helps billions of people every day and most of them cannot imagine their life without it. I believe that bad news cannot be left out, but I also think that it should be balanced with good news which would let the viewer enjoy it.

I generally don’t give feedback as it isn’t possible to reply to so many people who post their essays. But I will make a few comments. IELTS is a timed test. You have only 1 hour to complete a report and an essay. It is recommended to spend 40 mins on the essay and just 20 mins on task 1. Did you spend only 40 mins on this? You’ve written almost 500 words. Your aim is to write between 270-290 words for task 2. More is not better. IELTS essays have specific requirements for each band score. As you haven’t included the essay question, I can’t comment on Task Response. But I can see you are not trained in IELTS essay writing. I suggest you get my advanced lessons and learn the right way how to tackle an IELTS essay. Here’s a link to my online store with advanced video lessons: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

hello ma’am I wanted to ask about “Direct Questions” task 2 category. my teacher told that I cannot write “in my opinion ” in the introduction paragraph. but I still convinced myself to write it after giving background information/ paraphrasing of Question. is it wrong to do in this way?

the essay topic was ” learning English at school is often seen as more important than learning local languages. If these are not taught, many are at risk of dying out In your opinion is it important for everyone to learn English? Should we try to ensure this survival of local languages and if so how?

As you see the question actually asks for your opinion. If you fail to give your opinion when asked, you will get a lower score. Some questions just write “Do you think this is a good thing? What are the problems with it” and even with these questions, the instructions are asking for your opinion. When it asks you to evaluate or speculate, it is asking for an opinion. When you give your opinion, you must make it very very clear – In my opinion OR I believe OR I think that

Can money buy happiness? It is thought by some people that money is one the most important aspects in order to gain happiness. In my opinion people still be happy with having a little money. Love and working in your dream job are some of the factors the give happiness to one’s life. Although some people felt happy in their life’s by making more money, it does not mean others are not happy with a little money. In other words, money is not the only factor to be happy, for instance, people who live in the countryside making less money than who live in the city, but they feel more happier than the one in the city. due to strong relationship with their families and spending more time in natural. Love is one of the ways to be happy in life, what I mean by love is to have a support family and good relationship with friends. for example, a worm text from close friend, a call from family member to check up on you, and a hug from a partner in the morning are more sufficient to bring all the happiness in the world. another factor to bring happiness to people’s life is through their dream job, take a firefighter as an example, who safe lives every single day and getting nothing in return but the amazing satisfaction feeling what he has accomplished. Helping people and doing the job that you are good at are priceless and give the best feeling ever. In conclusion, happiness can be gain by small things like love, caring and being in your dream job, furthermore money might give some people happiness, but it is not essential to be happy in life.

It’s considered by many people that money is one of the most important contributing factors in creating happiness. In my opinion, it’s even possible for people to be happy with a little amount of money and other factors of life can play a vital role in promoting happiness.

Although, having many may bring happiness to some people, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people without money are , therefore, unhappy. Take for example the comparison between developed and underdeveloped countries, most westerners would argue that people in underdeveloped countries are happier, enjoy a stronger family relationship and take more pleasure in the simplicities of life than those who settle in the developed countries.

To begin with, one of the ways that happiness can be gained by people is through their work, for instance, a doctor doing a volunteer work in an underdeveloped countries may have little money but the reward which is gotten in helping people is itself brings happiness. In other words, happiness can be achieved through the skills that people were trained for and through job satisfaction.

Additionally, another reason which promotes happiness is to have supportive and strong family relationships. Being surrounded by a loving and caring family is considered by the majority of people to be more valuable than having any amount of money.

In conclusion, money isn’t essential for gaining happiness, which can instead be found through job satisfaction as well as a strong family relationship. If more people strived towards true happiness rather than collecting money, this world would be a better place to live.

Many people identify money as one of the crucial factors towards happiness. From my personal view, even though money has its importance, it is still possible to live a happy life without much money. Additionally, other aspects of life can play a vital role in creating happiness. Firstly, money undoubtedly makes many people happy, mostly owing to providing material objects of desire and simply new abilities in life. However, many factors, such as family bonds, career achievements and positive mindfulness, are capable of giving people joy and happiness without the help of money. For instance, nowadays individuals can live a happy life without a lot of money, simply by enjoying their family time and spending time with positive people. Moreover, the fact that money brings happiness to many people, does not necessarily reflect that people without much money are, thus, unhappy. Take for example comparison of situations in developing and developed countries. Most Westerners would agree that people in developing countries are living a happy life, being satisfied by family connections and enjoying the simplicity of life to a greater extent, than those in developed countries. Finally, the other factor to consider is the person`s surroundings. If a person is surrounded by people who only value material achievements in life, the person will soon find himself thriving through difficulties just to fulfill his goal to make more money. In contrast, positive people with great respect for one another make others around them only become better people and take a look at life from a different perspective. To conclude, money has an important role in our life, however, it is still possible to live a happy life without a big amount of money. Therefore, money is not essential for happiness and can be replaced by strengthening family bonds or professional improvement.

Could you please evaluate mine. Thank you in advance.

In this day and age, many people believe that money is the key of happiness. In my opinion, I agree that we need money to be happy. It is hard for people to reach happiness in their life if they don’t have enough money to support their lifestyle and basic needs. In addition, I think other factor that is important to achieve happiness is family members.

Firstly, the world has become into a place where money is everything. Basically no one can’t live without money in this modern world. Even tough it is true that money does not equal happiness, however everyone need money to cover their basic needs in sufficient way to reach well-being. It is almost impossible to be happy but in the same time lack of everything that we need to live our life. For instance, everyone needs money to pay their rents, daily grocery items and even for a small necessity like toilet services require us to pay with money. So, money is a foundation of our life, we need it to experience happiness.

Secondly, other key to support happiness is family members. They are the one who will give support whenever we need helps. The fact that human is a social creature, which mean we cannot live alone without other presences and family members are likely to help us if we are in trouble financially or if we just need companion. For example, most children will help their parents when they get older and need a companion and supports.

In conclusion, money is one of the keys to reach happiness. Without money, we cannot live properly in this world because we need it to cover our daily basic needs. However, it is true that money is not the only one factor to experience happiness, family members is also an important factor to help us to get out of trouble in life and be happy.

I like that this eassy is of a different opinion and well constructed as well..

It is believed that the only source of happiness can be brought by financial achievements, however, I resent partially and concur with the notion that there are multiple agendas that can bring happiness in one’s life. This essay shall substantiate where and not money is imperative with other factors that can bring joy with relevant examples.

Examining the former opinion, the primary argument the supporters would put forward is that without money, nothing is possible. This is true in many cases such as in fulfilling the daily needs and wants and frequent expensive activities that can buy happiness for a specific period of time. In the era of materialism, where the status of a person is judged by the things they own, money plays quite a significant role especially for those who are rich and young. Perhaps, for a few, money is the solution to all the issues in their life.

On the flip side, when a reporter asked Lewis Hamilton, the F1 racing world champion, about his source of happiness; he instantly vouched that money does not buy happiness to him but the people who support him. In today’s time, inner peace has become crucial than monetary possessions. For many people, today, having a soulful life without negativity is rather more important than the other aspects of life. Hence, not everyone desires to be rich, some people enjoy fame, support, and peace as well.

To add to this, there are dozens of different sources of happiness. A person can find joy at any point if he or she wants to be happy. Happiness is all about how one perceives life. Mother Teresa, for instance, served her entire life in helping underprivileged children and women and never was found sad. Therefore, happiness can be found in various kinds of activities and places.

To conclude, it is true that money is important for survival and enjoyment. However, happiness has no exact price and can not be traded. The world would be a better place if people stopped relating happiness with money.

Hii Liz, I am confused with the question…if my opinion on this answer is “yes money is an important factor for happiness” then how would I justify the second part of the question i.e “what are the other factors for happiness” as I m already saying in the first part that money is the important factor for happiness…plz let me know

You are saying it is an important factor, not it is the only factor. The word “important” does not exclude any other factor. The word “only” excludes all other factors.

In the first model essay, I could see repetition for some words like money(6 times), happiness(5 times), people(9 times). Could you please confirm whether it is acceptable. Because I heard that repetition of words can reduce points.

Thanks, Hanna

Some words will be repeated. You can’t avoid some repetition. For IELTS, you need to show the skill of paraphrasing which can be with words that you choose. Not all words can or should be changed. Be selective.

Although, it is widely believed that monetary possessions directly relates to the degree of happiness among the masses, I firmly believe, that the other factors in life like trust, compassion, and team spirit equally contribute to an overall happiness quotient of an individual.

Admittedly, money brings much confidence and luxury in life. Rich people can pay family bills easily, stay unperturbed about any future medical expenses by the family members. Moreover, they don’t have to worry about savings for retirement anymore and hence might claim to enjoy a comparatively peaceful life. In addition, many people flock to such rich people for friendships or parties as they become famous for their ability to chase the fast fashion.

Despite the power of wealth, firstly, the basic humane qualities that we build through years of consistent trust, compassion and personal bonding remains critical for personal relationships as well as, are instrumental at workplace. Additionally, a friend that people earn through their personal qualities can bring much more happiness when faced with difficulties in life as they are always there to confide with. Similarly, team spirit at work can make an workers life very easy when faced with real time challenges. Lastly, company of characterless people are useless at times of needs, when they often cheat their spouses, dupe friends and show their back during crisis.

In conclusion, monetary possessions can definitely bring a smile on your face, but it is quite fleeting. On the other hand, personal qualities can unconditionally bring an overall peace and joy for life.

Please help to evaluate this essay ,i took tips from your post Many people consider that money is one of the most crucial elements and a key contributor to attaining happiness. In my opinion, it is possible for people to be happy with little money, and other aspects playing a pivotal role in creating happiness. Although having money brings happiness to a lot of people, it does not necessarily follow that people without money are, therefore, unhappy. Take for example the comparison between developing and developed nations, most Westerners would agree that the people in developing countries are happier, enjoy stronger family bonds and discover pleasure in the simplicities of life to a greater extent than those in developed nations. There are several other crucial elements that can bring immense joy to people’s life. One such factor of paramount importance is love and support of family and friends, who stand by our side in all ups and downs of life. They are the real treasure of one’s life to gauge happiness, as we create lifetime moments with them while progressing through different phases of life, celebrating our successes as well as failures. Admittedly, money may bring opportunities to enjoy pleasures, few people would enjoy them on their own. Thus, being surrounded by a loving family is considered by most people to be more valuable than any amount of money.

Finally, another factor influencing happiness is joy gained through work. Many people are thoroughly content with respect and self -satisfaction they get from their jobs. For instance, a doctor doing volunteer work in rural areas may not be the most wealthy person in the medical practitioner community, but respect, and blessings he gains by treating poor and needy is far more rewarding than money. In other words, happiness can found by using skills that people are trained for and through job satisfaction.

To conclude, money is not the only source of happiness in people’s lives, the love and warmth from friends and family members and delight one acquires from a job can make people immensely happy. If more people strived in life towards true happiness rather than money, the world would be a better place.

Dear Liz, thank you for your great videos Do you have any videos on the topic of cause/solution and direct question essays?? Thankyou

Not at the moment. I hope to make them next year 🙂

i am appearing for GT test on 17 aug . please check my essay and rate to know where i stand. also recommend basic things that could be improved after observing my essay.

It is good to have money and things money can buy. Some people think that financial wealth holds a significant role in happiness. As far as i am concerned, I feel, people can live a happy life even without much money they derive their happiness from other aspects of life rather than just money. Many others factors for instance family,following your passion and a good healthy lifestyle can add to a persons happiness.

Needless to say, money is important to buy basic necessities of life and to rear oneself and their family. It would not be right to say, having too much money is a definite path to joy. Even rich people suffers from depression and anxiety and have many other problems in life. People can be happy in limited amount of money by setting up a limit to their expenses and expectation. As amount of money earned is never enough so, no one can define the amount of money required for happiness. Peoples interest in their work and lifestyle keeps them happy. For instance, a person earning millions per month may not be satisfied with the work he does and a person ,on the other hand, earning less but enjoying the work he does maybe more happier.

Many other factors play significance role in happiness of a person for instance a loving and understanding partner in life plays a very crucial role in happiness of a person. Friends indeed are also important in life to share and build memories of life. Love and care from parents are always necessary as that is the only unconditional love a person experience through out his life.

Would like to sum up, by saying, money definitely is important to survive, to buy essential things and live a good life style but having a huge bank balance is not a perfect road to happiness . Happiness is a state of mind with derived from elements such as love, family ,good health and money.

Mam, I attempted IELTS exam yesterday.

I am little bit confused with this question. Would like to know what type of question is this . Two way question or opinion question?

Ordinary people copy famous people that are in magazine’s and TV. Why is it happening? Do you think this a good idea?

Thanks for sharing 🙂 There are many questions that are not “Opinion Essays” which means they do not say “Do you agree or disagree”, but they still require your opinion. For example “Discuss both sides and give your opinion” is categorised by many teachers as a Discussion Essay, but it still requires you to give an opinion. You were given a “Two Question Essay” or a “Direct Questions Essay”. Please remember that IELTS do not categorised essays – teachers do. So, teachers might have different names for different essays. You were required to give the causes for one question and then to present your opinion about whether it is good or bad for the other question. Just follow the instructions and you can’t go wrong.

This is really very helpful. Thanks mam

Hey Liz, Thank you very much for your articles, would you mind to check about this one? Does finance can replace the word money?

This is considered by some people that one of the most main elements of achieving happiness is finance, however, in my opinion, I believe that individuals can get totally happy regardless of being rich.

People can be happy without being rich, in other words, the happy feeling comes from different reasons which are not related with having money, for instance, I am a junior graphic designer, who earn a basic salary, and there is almost no money in my bank account, sometimes I got struggle financially because I can not afford my travel fees, but I still enjoy my life, I love my work and the other goals I have achieved, even when I making food or hold a cup of hot chocolate can totally make me happy and satisfy. People can be happy not only because of financial satisfy, but there are also always other elements for people to gain happiness

Individuals also achieve happiness through achievements, job satisfaction, doing sports, or even breath fresh air. A Havard report says that the people who enjoy doing exercise by sports or join into gym are feeling happier than the people who never do any physical exercise, however, doing exercise by playing sports or join in a gym has no relationship with having money, a middle school student can totally achieve this happiness without spending a dollar. A newspaper also mentions that job satisfaction is one of the main factors which contributes towards happiness, indeed, people who gain achievements through overcome job tasks can also achieve happiness.

In conclusion, for some people, money is truly one of the keys that makes people happy, however, happy people like me who is poor but still enjoy life through other things. Excepted having money, there are vast elements that can let people feel happy which are job satisfaction, fine family environment, doing a different kind of sports, cooking, and many other factors.

Hello Liz, Is it compulsory that in Direct Question also known as 2 question essay to have minimum 2 questions asked? OR is it possible to only have one? I searched on net and get this question as a Direct Question Parents put a lot of pressure on children to succeed. Do you think this is a good or bad thing? I personally feel that its an opinion essay but got confused now? Please reply as soon as possible I really really need your help as my IELTS is on 27 April

Direct questions essay could be one, two or even three questions. That question you have stated above will require an opinion as a response.

some people think certain prisoners should be made to do unpaid community work instead of being put behind bars. to what extent do you agree?

the instruction is, to what extent do you agree ,however i want to disagree.Can i allow to do this ? please guide mam

If you disagree, it means you do not agree that prisoners should do unpaid community work instead of a prison sentence. Your essay will then explain that view in full.

Government promises continuous economic growth, but its actually an illusion. Some people think that governments should abandon this. please talk about the validity and the implications.

Could you please help me with some ideas with this topic of essay.

Is this an authentic IELTS essay? Did you get it from one of the IELTS Cambridge test books which contain real IELTS essay questions?

Hello Liz, Thanks for the wonderful website,all the information is very helpful.I just have a question on the first line of the model essay. The first line of model essay has word many people where as the question has some people. Can some people be paraphrased as many people ? Can it be paraphrased as few people ? Thanks Kamal

The word “few” people means a very small number of people. It is completely inappropriate to use.

Hi liz, thank you so much for this. It has really put things in perspective Would it be okay to start with something like- “It is a commonly held opinion that money is crucial for happiness. In my opinion, a poorer person can be happier than a wealthy one. There are also various other factors that can bring happiness to people” also is it okay to include sayings like “money is the root of all evil” to stress on how money would not bring happiness to some??

Do not learn phrases. Each sentence should be created uniquely by yourself.

why do you always deter others from learning the sentences other than yours? Learning to use sentences from your model answers is acceptable while from other sources are not and so-called “memorizing”. For a foreigner who wanna make their english more native, coping and imitating is the first step because they don’t have any own languages that are shining enough to get a decent score.

IT is fine to use ideas and learn vocabulary, but everything you write must be your own way. This is a language test and you are being scored on your ability to create sentences of your own. You should not memorise my sentences or anyone else’s sentences.

Got it, many thanks Liz.

Hi Liz, Is it okay to provide examples for both BP1 and BP2?I am a little bit confused because I had attended an IELTS Writing class. The trainer said we can only give one example for the whole writing 2 essay. Is she correct or is it possible to have an example for both BP! and BP2?Please enlighten me on this. Thank you, Rose

There is no such rule in IELTS. Absolutely no such rule at all. I would limit examples to one per body paragraph – not because it is a rule, but because that is sensible. You can have a maximum of three body paragraphs – again, not as a rule, but as a sensible way to meet the requirements of the higher band scores.

thank you for helping us. i have query is 3 body paragraph necessary to obtain high band score and do we need to incorporate in all the essay type to score high band.

It is possible to have two or three body paragraphs. Your paragraph structure is just one part of the marking criterion of Coherence and Cohesion. Read the HOME page to learn how to access all my free lessons and tips.

Thank You Liz for your wonderful teachings here. They are very resourceful. I have been trying to develop ideas on why government should continue to fund arts. I don’t have strong points here. Please can you be of help?

Art is part of cultural identity. It is how a country expresses itself and can also reflect the history of the country as well. Art from World War I is often analysed because it shows the painters experience of the war. Art is also a skill that should be respected and supported. Art galleries attract tourists and add to the tourist trade which in turn boosts economy. Just take a look online – google the pros and cons of supporting the arts. Please note the different between art and the arts.

money is not important factor of life. it donot give happiness to masses. i thing that individuals can live a better life by job satisfaction and helping people in society.

Firstly, there are two type of countries developing and developed countries. People in developing nations have more happier life than masses in developed terrotries . they live a happier life as they has time to spend with families and their children.

Secondly, take a example of a doctor in a developing country, even he earn less money but he is happy because he is fully satisfy with his job and helping other people in amount of money. Means money has nothing in making one fully happy and satisfy . Having a satisfaction with jab one should happy with a small amount of money.

Finally, in thinking of some people money is everything but having a lovely surrounding one is fully happy in life. Like if one is surrounded with love of family and friends, he will get all the happiness of world.

In conclusion, money is not a important part of life. Satisfaction with job and a small earning makes one happy and a good standard life without any luxury products.

dear liz, m juz confused to take a difference from both ‘opinion essay & direct question essay’,,, as u hv given both of them here under the heading of Direct question type, could u plz elaborate?, thnx!

You need to understand that it is teachers who divide the essays into different types. It is a way of teaching. Some direct questions require opinions, some do not. All you need to do is answer the direct question(s) given. For example: Why is happiness different for different people? What factors contribute toward happiness? This is a direct question essay with two questions to answer. An opinion essay is an essay that only asks “Do you agree or disagree” / “To what extent do you agree or disagree”. But always remember, your aim is just to follow instructions. Each teacher teaches the essays differently and divides the essay types differently.

Hi Liz, I noticed you’ve used “having” a few times in this essay. There are certain words that I use involuntarily in my sentences. Like, “kind of, involves, constant”. Would multiple use of such words affect my score? I have my IELTS LRW tomorrow 🙂 Thank you Liz.

Paraphrasing does not mean changing words all the time. Paraphrasing means deciding when to keep words the same and when to change them. Not all words need to be changed.

Can you let me know what type of essay question is this.

There is a problem today that copyright materials such as music, films and books are available on the internet with the result the owners of the works lose money.Do you feel that this is a good or bad thing?

It is a direct question essay that requires you to present your opinion. Your whole essay will explain if you think it is good or bad.

Hi liz, I’m so glad that I’ve found your website.How many kinds of essays are in the academic IELTS? Please reply<3<3<3

You can see sample questions for each type on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/100-ielts-essay-questions/

Hello Liz! I have given IELTS thrice . I have been able to score 8 in speaking , reading and listening. But, my score in writing has been 6.5 consistently. I have tried my best to give examples and improve vocabulary. I have analysed myself, could it be because of writing task 1 ? Because I did not make comparisons. Please advice as it has become frustrating for me.

Giving examples will not increase your score in writing task 2 – examples are optional. I suggest you get my advanced lessons to learn more about the right techniques to use for task 2: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/ . Task 1 is only worth 33%. So, certainly you should review it and avoid problems, but the biggest issue will be your task 2.

Hi Liz Thanks for your kind efforts. First of all, I have to say this essay is awesome due to the rich ideas you presented. I have a question. In Thesis statement we always mention three points which are connecting to question, using for example I my opinion and more importantly our opinion. why did not say your opinion in the thesis statement? you just implied that there are other aspects.

Don’t make your thesis too long. Your thesis contains the answer and the body paragraphs contain the details. However, there is no right and wrong. If you do add a bit of detail to your thesis it is ok.

Hello Liz, Sometimes the IELTS task 2 questions consist of about 3 questions. In this case, I donnot know which one to start first, structure, places of them in bodies and so on. Could please make it easy for me? Thanks in advance.

You follow a logical order and answer each question in one body paragraph. Keep organisation simple and language complex.

My name is Jose and I took the IELTS test examination 3 times. My results in writing were as follow 6,6.5, and 6. I was quite shock when I got my last result, as for my third attempt I studied harder and I knew more vocabulary. As result, I checked the IELTS criteria and I found out for the first time that I was not using complex and compound sentences in my essays! I believe other students are making the same mistakes as well. Many people on the internet advice to check old essays in order to imitate them. However, if you do not know the theory behind each sentence construction, it is very hard to imbibe the knowledge. It would be very beneficial for the community if you emphasize this point in one of your videos.

Hi Liz, On the above essay, if the question happend to be like “to what extent do you agree or disagree”. Will it be fine to partly agree or to have a partly disagree answer? Or should we only focus our answer to either agree or disagree. Thanks, EJ

You can choose agree, disagree or a partial opinion. You are not being marked on your choice.

I need your help.

I have done IELTS for the 3rd time, after attending to an instructor for 3 months period. Unfortunately this time I got the worst result which is 6 in Writing.

Last 2 times I got 6.5 in writing. This time even I felt confidence on my writing I couldn’t believe how it went further down.

It was about buying second hand products, what are the reasons and whether it has negative or positive impact.

I wrote 2 paragraphs explaining 2 reasons and 3rd explaining the impact. What I argued is it has negative impact. What I could think which affected my score is about a phrase I used in conclusion “To put in a nutshell, I pen down saying that”. I saw this clause in a model essay published in a website.

I could not think what went wrong, was it my ideas or was it my inappropriate word choice.

Appreciate your comments. Please advice.

hi Mam I’m Ajim. I’m confused Are both direct answer essay and argumentative essay same?? question like…… Why study history? Is free speech necessary in a free society?? Please,help with that.

I would like to ask you a question in connection with Task 2 from a Sample Test. The task is:”Concern for the environment is growing rapidly and more and more people are choosing to be ‘eco-tourists’-travelling in responsible,environmentally-friendly ways.As a result,the eco-tourism industry is expanding.

To what extent do you think this is a positive trend?”

Is it an opinion essay or a combination essay (opinion and direct question essay) ?

Thank you in advance!

It is a direct question essay which requires your opinion. You must state if you think it is positive or not and explain your point of view.

How to diffrenciate between direct question and opinion question while both of them are asking ( why do you think ? )

An opinion essay is categorised by the fact that the only question is “do you agree or disagree?”. The direct question essay contains two or more questions to answer. However, both require an opinion. The catgorises are mainly used by teachers in order to teach – so don’t worry so much. Just follow the instructions.

Thanks for help

Thank you for this great website with many useful tips and tricks.

I have been struggling with my essays for a while, and I was wondering if you can give me a hand by pointing mistakes or odd writing style.

While money comes as number one priority for some people, other think that it is not of that importance. Money can but many materialistic assets , but it falls behind when it comes to intangible relations. Personally, I do not think what wealth can buy happiness.

Firstly, Money has taken over our lives significantly. For example, some are convinced that it is better to cry in a luxurious car such as BMW rather than on your foot, trying to exaggerate the importance of money, but they are oblivious to the truth if being sad and maybe devastated in both cases. For sure money is important but not such an extent. It can buy a breathtaking house with stunning views, but with neither a family nor children.

Secondly, family ties play an important role in drawing a smile on the one’s face. For instance, whenever I feel down, I check old photos with my family, and a torrent of rekindled memories come across my mind. while many families work their fingers to the bone, trying to achieve a satisfactory amount of money monthly, they forget to give their children an adequate amount of care and love. A justification for this social transformation can be related to the capitalist greedy world that we live in.

Thirdly, religion can be a source of stability during the journey of life. when people face a bitter hardship, religion is this thing that bring them back on their feet. This spiritual relation works as the guardian guide, bringing peace which in turn brings happiness.

In conclusion, it always feels great to have a six digit bank account, but this will bring neither satisfaction nor joy to the life. In my opinion, we need to be more focused on being humans rather than our banks.

Hello Liz, First of all, many thanks for this amazing website. I find it the best in aiding me with my IELTS test. Secondly, I don’t think I understand the difference between Direct Essays and Cause-Solution ones. I mean, isn’t every Cause-Solution essay fundamentally a Direct one? ( and not vice versa of course)

Sure. It is still a direct question. However, the label of “Direct Question Essay” refers to essays which don’t fall into the other categories and generally just ask questions such as “What is happiness?” “Why is it difficult to define?”.

Hello Liz, Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

how would you write an introduction for essays that cannot be easily paraphrased. for example

GOVERNMENTS SHOULD NOT INVEST IN ARTS SUCH AS MUSIC AND THEATER. GOVERNMENTS MUST INVEST MORE IN PUBLIC SERVICES.

TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE?

Tomorrow I will put this question up on facebook for all students to try and then on Thursday I’ll write a model background statement and post it on this blog. Thanks for sharing this question.

Lending money more on public services instead of spending any music and theatre would not be ever fruitful, and I believe authorities must invest in them.

Would this introduction be OK?

please reply. m

Hello, I’m your big fan in Tokyo. I’d like to show my sincere gratidude to you for creating such a useful website for those who want to get better scores in IELTS. I have one question in terms of subjectiveness in writing essay. Some people told me that it is better to avoid using such subjective phrases as “In my opinion” or “I believe”. Is that the case for IELTS writing?

Thanks for your comment. In writing task 2, you must follow the instructions very carefully and your score will depend on you doing that. If the instructions ask for your opinion, you MUST give it clearly. Writing “It is believed that…” does not show your personal opinion. It states what is thought by others. Therefore, in an opinion essay, you MUST use language which clearly gives your point of view, such as “I think” or “In my opinion”. See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-should-i-give-my-opinion/ and also this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-expressing-your-opinion/ . See this page for all free writing task 2 tips: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ . For detailed training in writing task 2, think about getting my advanced lessons: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore . Good luck!

Many thanks indeed!

Hi Liz, Is this essay a Direct Question type? I mean, even if it asks about “causes” and asks our “opinion”.

(“The continued rise in the world’s population is the greatest problem faced by the 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?)

It is a direct questions essay which uses one question from the cause type essay and one question from the opinion type essay. So, it’s a combination essay requiring you to answer each question directly.

Bunch of thanks for your so much useful blog. the 2nd paragraph of body paragraphs you wrote: for instance, a doctor (SINGLE) doing volunteer work in underdeveloped countries may have ( HAS) ……..and doing the job they are (HE IS) good at,

“may have” we never change the second verb and “may” never changes. We often refer to individual people as “they” in academic writing rather than he/she.

Hi Liz, your lessons are amazing! Thank you so much for all that information and useful advices. Regarding the latter conversation I’m always in doubt about plural and singular when referring to individual people in academic writing so could you please tell me in this sentence ”For instance, an accountant will never know that singing bring/s them/him? more happiness, if they/he do/does? not decide to make a change” should I replace all singular with plural? Your help will be highly appreciated. Thank you once again.

We use plurals. It’s easier to refer to everyone in the plural: accountants will never know that singing brings them …”

hi liz I still can not understand the difference , would you post the link for this essayS MANY THANK

I found your lessons and comment so useful. By the way, if I am not mistaken there is a typo in this essay. The last sentence of the third paragraph of body body paragraphs should be modified to: “being surrounded by a loving and caring family is considered to ‘be’ more valuable than any amount of money”. Indeed, in the original sentence “be” has been missed.

Thanks. Very well spotted 🙂

hi Liz please mention all the styles of asking opinion in the question. Yet, I have problem to understand the question about asking for opinion.

https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/

if i divided this essay into Intro:includes paraphrasing ,and thesis that includes my opinion BP1: Admittedly,there r some benefits 4 money,,,, BP2:Nevertheless,despite ,,,,,, Conclusion:conclude my opinion is it ok?

If the question starts as “can people be happy without much money” instead of starting “Do you think people can be happy without much money”, still do we need to give my opinion???

Yes, it is still your view. Liz

Noted and Thank you for the prompt reply.

Is it correct to write therefore in the middle of the sentence. For example you have written “it does not necessarily follow that people without money are, therefore, unhappy.

Yes. It is flexible and good for a high score. Using it always at the start of a sentence is mechanical which is a characteristic of band score 6. Liz

Hi Liz ,, I just want to give my gratitude to your selfless intention of helping all ones in need. I was having three things to ask regarding grammar. 1 ) Can we use second conditional sentence of imagination in past tense i.e. referring to yesterday incident of discussion She told “If you weren’t married , I would purpose you” 2 ) Can we use the sentence of compulsion “Have to” in continuous tone i.e. I am having to do this. 3 ) Can we say the repent in opposite way which has not happened ” If you had not gone , you would have not got the chance to speak” while actually one has gone means the work has been attended still can we imagine in “Not” with 3rd conditional sentence

Lots of love sis !!

You can use all grammar tenses if they are appropriate to what you want to explain. Liz

So in this task all that we need to do is simply answering the question ? It would be no need for a paragraph with our opinion ( like in the opinion essays) ?

That’s right. You answer the question given to you. All the best Liz

You have mentioned in the above comment, not to mention about oneself. To clarify, do you mean to say we should not use the real life examples while writing the IELTS essays. I thought this was a better idea to correlate oneself’s real life experience when we are providing an example.

Thanks R. Radhakrishnan

You use examples from your own experience about the world, not your own experience about your personal life. You should present examples in a way suitable for essay writing which doesn’t include stories about yourself or people you know. It should be your experience of the world. All the best Liz

Hi, Liz! I am confused about the usage of “take for example”. I learned “take sth for example” but it seems that you use “take for example sth”(take for example the comparison …). Are both usages the same? Besides, in concluding paragraph, I guess the word “though”( happiness can be found though job satisfaction …) should be “through”. Thanks.

Yes, both are fine to use but make sure you only use what you understand fully and know how to use. Mistakes will lower your score. The second point was indeed a typo. All the best Liz

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Mobile Phones and the Internet could have Many Benefits for Old People – IELTS Writing Task 2

Updated On May 20, 2024

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Table of Contents [ Show ]

• Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People
• Band 7 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question
• Band 8 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question
• Band 9 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question
• IELTS Writing Task 2 Connectors to Use in the Sample Answers

You will find various types of essay questions in IELTS Writing Task 2, which is the same for IELTS Academic and IELTS General. One of them is the  IELTS Two Part Question or Direct Question Essay , as in the topic, Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People.

Unlike other essay types, like  Problem Solution essay , which has two questions, Two Part Question Essay comprises two specific and direct questions related to the topic. So, once you understand the questions, you need to answer them with clarity and support your ideas with appropriate examples. For more information on Double Question Essay or Two Part Question Essay,  check out this video !

Now, let’s have a look at the IELTS Two Part Question or Direct Question Essay – Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Mobile phones and the internet could have many benefits for old people. However, this age group uses technology the least. What are the benefits for old people of using mobile phones and the internet? How can we encourage them to use this new technology?

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

Write at least 250 words..

Check Out –  How to Plan an IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay (Best Strategy)

Band 7 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question – Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People

People all throughout the world now use mobile phones and the internet on a daily basis. Still, older people don’t use these amenities very often. This essay will explore how cell phones and the internet can help older individuals meet their needs without travel, and how user-friendly phones and apps can motivate their usage.

First of all, for elderly individuals, traveling long distances can be stressful. In such scenarios, they can still maintain contact with their loved ones using cell phones and the internet without the hassles of traveling. Furthermore, they can use these technological tools to reserve tickets or order food, avoiding long waits in queues. Also, using these resources, the older generation can meet their everyday needs like getting news updates, reading books, transferring money, buying medicines, etc., which is a great plus point.

To encourage older individuals to use cellphones and the world wide web, companies should focus on creating user-friendly mobile apps or online applications. For example, they can create smartphones with large keypads and online applications that offer information in the native tongue or in audio format. Seniors will appreciate user-friendly products that they can easily operate. Thus, emphasizing the creation of items that are simple to understand will motivate these individuals to make use of them on a daily basis.

In conclusion, the usage of this technology will facilitate communication for the elderly as well as make their tasks easy. Therefore, organizations should try to create goods that the older generation can use easily.

Word Count – 250 words

Band 7 Vocabulary 

Meaning:  desirable or useful features or facilities of a place or property that make it more comfortable, convenient, or enjoyable to use or live in

Example:  The amenities provided by the hotel were not good enough.

Meaning:  inconvenience, trouble, or difficulty caused by something or someone

Example:  Achieving something after overcoming the hassles on the way gives happiness.

Meaning:  a line or sequence of people or things waiting their turn, especially in a system or process where order is maintained

Example:  There was a long queue in front of the bank.

Meaning:  to make an action or process easier or smoother, often by providing assistance, resources, or support

Example:  The trainer will facilitate the learning among the interns.

• World wide web

Meaning:  an information space where documents and other web resources are identified by URLs, interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the Internet

Example:  The developer of the world wide web had made a great achievement.

• Native tongue

Meaning:  the first language or mother tongue that a person learns and uses from childhood, typically spoken in their place of birth or upbringing

Example:  People should be proud of their native tongue.

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Band 8 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question – Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People

There is no doubt that, in this day of widespread technology, cell phones and the Internet may improve people’s lives, particularly those of the elderly. However, within this age group, technology use is thought to be the least. This essay will examine a number of potential benefits that older adults may derive from utilizing mobile phones and the Internet, before offering some recommendations for ways to convince older adults to embrace technology.

There is no denying that using a cell phone and the Internet is beneficial for elderly individuals for many reasons. First and foremost, high-tech devices enable instantaneous communication across geographic borders, which is far more convenient than in the past when handwritten letters were common. Additionally, mobile phones with Internet connections facilitate learning due to the abundance of free online information available. As a result, people do not have to spend a lot of money on buying books and study materials.

The government and family members can take a number of steps to encourage older people to engage with cell phones and the Internet. In relation to the first, more public initiatives advocating the use of technology should be launched. The older population is more likely to appreciate new technology if they are knowledgeable about its benefits. Regarding the latter, younger family members should advise and assist the elder members with any problems or concerns resulting from their use of technology, thereby encouraging the older members to continue using it.

In summary, older people have benefited from mobile phones and the Internet in terms of communication and education. The number of older people using technology can be increased not only by government institutions but also by members of the younger generation.

Word Count – 282

Band 8 Vocabulary 

Meaning:  the possibility or capability for something to happen or develop in the future, often implying latent abilities or qualities that can be realized

Example:  The boy has a lot of potential but he needs the right guidance.

• Instantaneous

Meaning:  occurring or done instantly, without any delay or lapse of time

Example:  The instantaneous reply from the participant was expected.

Meaning:  the ability to take action and make decisions independently, often with the aim of solving problems or achieving goals

Example:  The committee took an initiative to mend the benches in the park.

Meaning:  a plentiful or copious quantity of something, often implying an excess or surplus

Example:  There is an abundance of food after the harvest this year.

Meaning:  the act of publicly supporting or recommending a particular cause, policy, or action

Example:  Meena is always advocating in favor of the poor farmers.

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Band 9 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question – Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People

Unlock Band 9 Answer

In recent years, mobile phones and the world wide web have become a significant part of human life, including elderly people. However, due to the lack of knowledge and understanding, they are unable to reap the benefits of these innovative tools. This essay will explore the advantages of cell phones and the internet for old people as well as list some ways to make them an important part of the lives of the senior people.

First and foremost, mobile phones make it possible to stay in touch with loved ones and medical professionals. This is especially helpful for senior citizens who have limited mobility or who live far away from family members. For example, I have daily contact with my grandparents on video calls as we live in different parts of the country. Moreover, the abundance of knowledge and tools, such as health-related information, current events updates, money transfer methods and online courses for learning new skills, enhances older persons’ lives. For instance, my grandfather uses gardening tutorials and forums to increase his level of gardening knowledge.

In order to encourage older people to embrace technology, the most vital factor is encouragement and support of family members. Young members of the family can help them to learn how to handle these technological resources and motivate them to use them carefully. Additionally, campaigns for public awareness should be started, together with customized courses and tutorials, to encourage older persons to adopt technology. Furthermore, senior technology classes can be offered by community centers, with practical advice and assistance.

To sum up, senior citizens can greatly benefit from mobile phones and the Internet, which provides them with access to a multitude of information and improved communication. Therefore, they should be encouraged to utilize technology to enhance their lives and foster social inclusion through focused programmes and familial support.

Word Count – 305

Band 9 Vocabulary 

Meaning:  to harvest or gather a crop, or to obtain a reward or benefit as a consequence of one’s actions or efforts

Example:  Everyone should reap the benefits of their hard work.

Meaning:  the ability to move or be moved freely and easily

Example:  After the terrible accident, he lost his mobility.

Meaning:  a period of instruction or guidance, typically one-to-one or small group, aimed at teaching a specific subject or skill

Example:  Nowadays there are lots of tutorials on the internet to learn any skill.

Meaning:  a public meeting or assembly for open discussion and debate, or it can also refer to an online platform where users can discuss various topics, share ideas, and ask questions

Example:  The gamers had a thorough discussion on the forum.

Meaning:  a large number or great variety of people or things

Example:  Multitude of people come to visit the deity every year.

• Social inclusion

Meaning:  the process of ensuring that all individuals and groups have equal opportunities to participate in society

Example:  Achieving something does not always give you the right for social inclusion.

Meaning:  to or characteristic of a family, often implying close or intimate relationships among family members

Example:  He broke all familial ties and chose the path of sacrifice.

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IELTS Writing Task 2 Connectors to Use in the Sample Answers for ‘Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People’

Connectors or Linking words helps to bring coherence to your writing and increase your chances of scoring a high band. So, check out the list of  connectors/linking words  used in the sample responses for the IELTS Writing Task 2 – Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People.

• First of all/First and foremost
• Furthermore
• Also/Additionally/Moreover
• For example/ For instance
• In conclusion/In summary/To sum up
• As a result
• In relation to
• Regarding the latter

Now that you have gone through the sample answers on the topic – Mobile Phones and the Internet Could Have Many Benefits for Old People – it is time for you to try writing on your own. For that, leave your answers as a comment below or you can use our  FREE evaluation service !

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Kasturika is a professional Content Writer with over three years of experience as an English language teacher. Her understanding of English language requirements, as set by foreign universities, is enriched by her interactions with students and educators. Her work is a fusion of extensive knowledge of SEO practices and up-to-date guidelines. This enables her to produce content that not only informs but also engages IELTS aspirants. Her passion for exploring new horizons has driven her to achieve new heights in her learning journey.

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