IELTS Writing Task 2: Essay Types, Structure and a 40-Minute Plan

Writing Task 2 is an essay of at least 250 words. You have about 40 minutes, and it counts twice as much as Task 1 in your Writing band. The task gives you a point of view, an argument or a problem, and asks you to respond to it.

What it tests

• Answering the exact question, including every part of it.
• Presenting a clear position and keeping it consistent from introduction to conclusion.
• Developing ideas with explanation, examples and consequences, not just listing them.
• Organising the essay into paragraphs that each have one central idea.

It is marked on Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

Essay types

Type	Typical instruction	What a full answer does
Opinion	To what extent do you agree or disagree?	States a clear position (fully, partly, or not at all) and supports it throughout.
Discuss both views	Discuss both views and give your own opinion.	Explains each view fairly in its own paragraph, then gives and justifies your view.
Advantages and disadvantages	Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?	Covers both sides and clearly answers which side is stronger.
Problem and solution	What problems does this cause? What can be done?	Identifies real problems and links each solution to a problem.
Two-part question	Why is this happening? Is it a positive development?	Answers both questions, giving each one real development.

Read the instruction carefully: a "discuss both views" essay that only argues one side, or a two-part question that only answers one part, is not fully addressing the task.

Step-by-step plan (40 minutes)

1. Analyse the question (2 minutes). Identify the topic, the specific angle, and every question you must answer.
2. Decide your position (1 minute). Choose the view you can support best, not the one you think the examiner wants.
3. Plan (5 minutes). One main idea per body paragraph, each with an explanation and an example. Make sure the plan answers every part of the question.
4. Write the introduction (3 minutes). Paraphrase the topic in one sentence and state your position or outline in another.
5. Write the body (20 minutes). Start each paragraph with a clear topic sentence, then explain, give an example and link back to the question.
6. Write the conclusion (3 minutes). Restate your position in fresh words and summarise the main reasons. Add no new ideas.
7. Check (5 minutes). Grammar, spelling, repeated words, and the word count.

Common traps

• An unclear or changing position. Agreeing in the introduction and half-disagreeing in the conclusion confuses the reader and limits Task Response.
• Answering a different question. Writing about the general topic instead of the specific angle in the prompt.
• Missing a part of the task. Forgetting your own opinion in a discussion essay, or one question in a two-part essay.
• Over-generalised ideas. Claims like "everyone knows technology is harmful" with no explanation or example.
• Copying the prompt. Copied sentences are not counted towards your words or vocabulary.
• Memorised phrases and templates. Stock introductions and linking formulas are easy to spot and add no value.
• A repetitive conclusion. Copying the introduction word for word instead of summarising your argument.
• Under length. Fewer than 250 words limits your score. Aim for 260–300.

Try it: mini-example

This prompt and model answer are original practice material written for Bee English.

Task: Some people think that cities should make public transport completely free for everyone. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Model outline

• Introduction: Topic paraphrase; position: partly agree. Free fares are worthwhile for some groups, but making them free for all is not the best use of public money.
• Body 1: Benefits of free travel for low-income residents, students and older people: access to jobs and services. Example: discounted passes already change who uses buses.
• Body 2: Why universal free travel is less convincing: the lost fare income must come from taxes, and crowded, under-funded services may drive people back to cars.
• Conclusion: Restate the partial position: targeted free travel plus investment in reliability.

Model body paragraph (Body 2)

However, removing fares for every passenger is a far less convincing idea. Ticket sales pay for a significant share of running costs in most cities, so the money would have to be found elsewhere, most likely through higher local taxes or cuts to other services. More importantly, a free service that is overcrowded and unreliable may not attract many drivers at all; for a commuter who owns a car, a bus that arrives on time matters more than one that costs nothing. Funding spent on making every journey free could therefore achieve more if it were invested in more frequent and dependable services.

Why this works

• The position (partly agree) is stated in the outline's introduction and this paragraph supports it directly.
• The paragraph has one central idea (universal free travel is less convincing) set out in the topic sentence.
• The idea is developed: a cost argument, then a stronger argument signalled by More importantly, then a link back to the question.
• The example is specific (the commuter who owns a car) rather than a vague generalisation.
• It avoids an invented statistic. "A significant share" makes the point without claiming a figure the writer cannot know.

Related guides

• IELTS Writing: complete guide
• Task Achievement and Task Response, band by band
• Coherence and Cohesion
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Sources

• IELTS, Academic Writing format
• IELTS, General Training Writing format
• IELTS, Writing band descriptors (PDF)