IELTS Writing Task 2: Essay Guide and Strategy

IELTS Writing Task 2 is the essay half of the Writing test. The prompt gives you a statement, a problem or a question, and you write a response of at least 250 words in no more than 40 minutes. Both Writing tasks share one 60-minute block with no separate timer for each task.

Task 2 also decides more of your Writing band. IELTS publishes the ratio: Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score. A well argued essay lifts your Writing score further than a well written Task 1 report does, so build your hour around the essay. This guide covers the prompt patterns, a four-paragraph template, a timing split, the four scoring criteria and the mistakes holding most candidates at Band 5 or 6.

Format, timing and word count

You police the split between the two tasks yourself. The recommended times add up to the full hour exactly, so every minute you overrun on Task 1 comes straight out of your essay.

Write past the minimum rather than under it. Responses of 20 words or fewer are rated Band 1 on all four criteria, and content wholly unrelated to the prompt is rated Band 1 for Task Response. Band 0 sits below both: it is reserved for not attending, not attempting the task in any way, writing in a language other than English throughout, or proof of a totally memorised answer. For the other half of the paper, see our guide to IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic.

The five Task 2 prompt patterns

Every prompt has two parts: background sentences and an instruction line. The instruction line sets your structure. Underline it before you plan anything, because the same topic appears with different instructions and each one demands a different essay.

Opinion (agree or disagree)

Signalled by wording like To what extent do you agree or disagree? or Do you agree with this view? You take one position and hold it for the whole essay.

Sample prompt in this shape: some people believe city centres should ban private cars completely. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

• State your position in the introduction, in one sentence
• Give two separate reasons for it, one per body paragraph
• Restate the same position in the conclusion
• Partial agreement is allowed, provided your line stays consistent throughout

Discussion of both views

Signalled by Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Two jobs sit inside the instruction, and dropping either one leaves part of the prompt unaddressed.

• Body paragraph one: the first view, explained fairly, with support
• Body paragraph two: the second view, explained fairly, with support
• Your own opinion, stated in the introduction and again in the conclusion
• Never leave your opinion implied: Band 6 asks for a position directly relevant to the prompt, and a clear and developed position first appears at Band 7

Advantages and disadvantages

Two versions exist and they need different essays. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? demands a verdict. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages demands balanced coverage with no verdict required.

Sample prompt in this shape: more companies now allow staff to work permanently from home. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

For the outweigh version, name your verdict in the introduction, then weigh one side against the other instead of listing both in isolation. A verdict with no comparison reads as two unconnected lists.

Problem and solution

Signalled by What problems does this cause and what solutions would you suggest? or a causes and solutions pairing. Structure follows the instruction directly.

• Body paragraph one: two causes or problems, each explained
• Body paragraph two: solutions, each matched to a problem you named
• Say who acts on each solution: government, employers, schools, individuals
• An unmatched solution loses marks for relevance

Two-part question

Two direct questions in a row with no agree or disagree framing. Sample prompt in this shape: why do fewer young people cook meals at home, and what effect does this trend have on public health?

Answer both questions, one per body paragraph, and give each the same depth. Answering only the easier question is one of the most common reasons a fluent essay still scores Band 5 for Task Response.

The four-paragraph template

Four paragraphs handle all five patterns. The frame stays fixed and the content changes with the instruction line, which frees your planning time for ideas instead of layout.

The totals land between 250 and 310 words, which clears the minimum without eating your checking time. Copying the prompt word for word inflates the count with sentences the marker discounts, so rephrase instead.

Each body paragraph follows the same four moves:

1. Topic sentence naming the one idea of the paragraph
2. Explanation of how the idea works, in two or three sentences
3. Specific support: a concrete case, a named cost, a real consequence
4. A closing line tying the idea back to the wording of the prompt

Support carries most of the weight at Band 7 and above. Replace a vague claim like studies show people are happier with something checkable: a specific policy, a named city, a personal example with detail. Over-generalised support is named in the official Band 7 descriptor as a limit on the score.

How to spend the 40 minutes

Planning feels like lost writing time and pays for itself. A five-minute plan removes the mid-essay stall where you run out of ideas at 180 words.

1. Minutes 0 to 5: read the instruction line twice, fix your position, list two main ideas and one piece of support for each
2. Minutes 5 to 10: write the introduction, rephrasing the prompt and stating your position
3. Minutes 10 to 32: write both body paragraphs, roughly 11 minutes each
4. Minutes 32 to 36: write the conclusion, adding no new ideas
5. Minutes 36 to 40: check for the errors you repeat most

Spend the final four minutes on your own error list: articles, subject and verb agreement, singular and plural nouns, tense consistency, spelling. Fixing five real errors moves Grammatical Range and Accuracy further than adding two rushed sentences.

How Task 2 is scored

Four criteria score Task 2 and each one is weighted equally inside the task. A weak criterion drags the task score down no matter how strong the other three are.

Task 1 uses the same four criteria with Task Achievement in place of Task Response. Our IELTS scoring guide shows how the two task scores combine with your other three section bands into an Overall Band Score.

Task Response, the criterion most candidates lose marks on

The official Band 9 descriptor for Task Response reads: “The prompt is appropriately addressed and explored in depth. A clear and fully developed position is presented which directly answers the question/s. Ideas are relevant, fully extended and well supported. Any lapses in content or support are extremely rare.”

Two demands sit inside the wording. Your position has to answer the question directly, and your ideas have to be extended rather than listed. Everything else in Task Response follows from those two.

What separates Band 5, 6, 7 and 9

The table below summarises the published Task Response descriptors in plain wording. Read the full document before your test, since the exact phrasing shows you what the marker is looking for.

The step from Band 6 to Band 7 is about development, not vocabulary. Same two ideas, taken further, with support a reader is able to picture. Candidates who chase rare words while writing four thin paragraphs stay at Band 6.

Why Task 2 outweighs Task 1

Each task is marked independently against its four criteria. The two task scores then combine into a single Writing band with Task 2 weighted more heavily. IELTS states the ratio outright: Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score. The same sentence appears on the General Training Writing format page, so the 2:1 split applies to both test versions.

Build your hour on the 2:1 split. A band gained on the essay moves your Writing score twice as far as the same gain on the report. Finish Task 1 inside 20 minutes and protect the full 40 minutes for the essay. An unfinished Task 2 costs more band than a slightly thin Task 1.

Band-limiting mistakes

Most essays stuck at Band 5 or 6 repeat a short list of errors. Each one below maps to a criterion you are losing marks on.

• Memorised paragraphs. A totally memorised answer is rated Band 0. Learn a structure, then write fresh sentences on test day
• Partial answers. Skipping the second question in a two-part prompt, or omitting your opinion in a discussion essay, leaves the prompt only half addressed
• Weak or invented support. Sweeping claims about what everyone believes read as over-generalisation, the exact limit named at Band 7
• Repetition instead of development. Restating an idea in new words adds length without adding score
• Under 250 words. Short essays leave ideas unextended, and a response of 20 words or fewer is rated Band 1
• Linking words stacked on thin content. Cohesive devices used mechanically are marked down under Coherence and Cohesion
• Thesaurus vocabulary used wrongly. A misused rare word costs more in Lexical Resource than a correct common word
• Position drift. Agreeing in the introduction and disagreeing by the conclusion breaks the clear and developed position the descriptors require from Band 7 upward

Off-topic responses are the most expensive mistake of all. A polished essay answering a question nobody asked scores near the bottom of Task Response, no matter how clean the grammar is.

Practise Task 2 with a marking loop

Volume alone moves nothing. One essay written, marked and rewritten teaches more than five essays written and filed away.

1. Write one essay in 40 minutes, timed, with no dictionary
2. Count the words and confirm you cleared 250
3. Score your own Task Response against the descriptor table above, band by band
4. Mark every grammar error and group them into repeat types
5. Rewrite the weakest body paragraph only, adding specific support
6. Write your next essay on a different prompt pattern

Build the loop into a weekly schedule with our IELTS study plan, and rotate the five prompt patterns so no instruction line surprises you on test day.

Pair essay work with timed practice in the other three skills. Our IELTS practice tests and section drills are free with no signup, so you are able to sit full-length sets and single-section drills under real timing and see where Writing sits against your Listening, Reading and Speaking work.

Sources

• IELTS: Academic test format, Writing
• IELTS: General Training test format, Writing
• IELTS: Academic test
• IELTS: Scoring in detail
• IELTS Writing band descriptors, Task 2 (PDF)