Overview
Are you preparing for the IELTS Writing Task 2 exam? It is an essay writing task administered to check your ability to express and develop ideas on a given topic in 40 minutes. The topic will be a question or a statement, and you need to prepare both sides of the argument.
Writing is a very important skill for communicating your thoughts or opinions. When you plan to study abroad, some universities make the IELTS mandatory to demonstrate that you have strong writing skills and won’t have any problems communicating with your classmates or professors. We will give you all the details and tips you need to know to prepare for the IELTS Writing Task 2 exam .
Understanding the IELTS Writing Task 2
Before starting the preparation for IELTS Writing Task 2, understanding the exam is the most important part. Let’s discuss all the details in the points below.
Format & Requirements: The essay writing task starts with a statement or question-related topic, followed by a structure consisting of introduction, body paragraphs, and summary. It is important to fulfil the requirements, plan your essay effectively, avoid mistakes, manage your time, and be prepared for the exam. The essay's total word count should be at least 250 words, and the given time limit is 40 minutes.
Example of Common Topic: Many people believe that social networking sites (such as Facebook and Instagram) have had a huge negative impact on individuals and society. To what extent do you agree?
Task Type: Identifying the question you’re being asked will help you stay on topic, organise your ideas, plan your essay accordingly, express yourself with appropriate language and vocabulary, and achieve a higher band score in IELTS Writing Task 2. Look at the table below to learn the different types of essay tasks.
| Essay type | Sample prompt |
|---|---|
| Opinion essay | To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement/opinion? |
| Discussion essay | Debate both views and give your own opinion. |
| Multi-part essay | Why is shopping so popular? What effects does its increase in popularity have on individuals and society? |
| Multi-part and opinion essay | What dimensions do these issues take? Do the issues outweigh the advantages? |
| Advantages/disadvantages of essay | What are the pros and cons of...? |
| Positive/negative essay | Is this a good or bad development? |
| Cause/solution essay | What are the reasons for these problems, and what are some possible solutions? |
Planning and Organising Your Essay
To prevent needing to rewrite the body paragraph later on, it is important to have a proper plan and organise writing task 2. Brainstorm some ideas first and get insights on what to write for the IELTS Writing Task 2 exam. Here are some detailed tips for organising your essay:
Introduction: Paraphrase your question first, then state your opinion when required
Body Paragraph 1: Explain the main idea of your essay, elaborate on the topic, and write down examples on the paper.
Body Paragraph 2: Same method as above, explain the main idea, elaborate on your statements, and state examples again.
Conclusion: Point out the main ideas of the particular topic and restate your opinion when needed.
Examples are important in every section because they will help you get a better grade for ‘Task Response’ and ‘Coherence’ according to the IELTS Score Scale. Your writing will be easier to understand if you use examples to illustrate your points. An example is easier to write than trying to explain a complex subject, and must be properly presented.
Writing the Essay
Do you know how to write a compelling overview? First, write a hook statement, then general information, followed by a concise statement and a 2-3 line summary of what you will cover in the essay.
Moreover, before developing your main arguments, brainstorm your ideas, use examples, add statistics, address counterarguments and maintain a balanced approach. For such essays, various sentence structures exist; and which one you need to use depends on the task type. Use of the right sentence structure shows language proficiency, enhances clarity and coherence, expresses complex ideas effectively, avoids repetition, and keeps it interesting and engaging.
Apart from this, it is very important to avoid common grammatical mistakes which make your essay dull and monotonous. Grammatical errors make your essay difficult to understand and lower your score.
Editing and Proofreading
The IELTS Writing Exam may seem difficult, but planning and writing with care can help you to score higher. After writing your essay, editing and proofreading are mandatory to avoid silly mistakes. Proofreading reduces your errors made when:
Writing with Speed
Uncertain Flow of Thoughts
Setting some time aside for proofreading is not easy, but you have to try. So that you face less difficulty, you should learn grammar beforehand, especially on verb tenses, prepositions, spellings, etc. From making clear and organised ideas to following and understanding the arguments on your essay topic, checking your work leads to a high score.
Sample Questions for Writing Task 2 in IELTS
Look at some examples of both academic and general writing assignment 2 questions to get an idea of the question types.
Q1. Essay Writing - Companies should provide sports and social facilities for local communities. To what extent do you agree?
Q2. Essay Writing - Everyone should adopt a vegetarian diet because eating meat can cause serious health problems. Do you agree or disagree?
You should practise the IELTS Sample Questions at PrepareIELTS (PI). To assist students in preparing for the IELTS Exam, our professionals have crafted the questions and produced sample test papers. By logging in here, you may access the documents.
Conclusion
We hope this piece on the IELTS Writing Task 2 covered all the complicated topics, including the format, tips, how to write a strong introduction, proofreading, common grammar mistakes, etc. For those planning to study abroad, you need to improve your writing skills, learn to manage your time, practice vocabulary, understand the types of tasks, and write regularly to build a bank of ideas. We hope that we have provided you with sufficient information about the Writing Task for IELTS.
If you still need clarification or would like to get deeper insight, we encourage you to have a word with our team of expert counsellors at Prepare IELTS (PI). If you are unable to travel to our offices, we offer online counselling services via our website. Our dedicated counsellors will provide you with the best guidance regarding your preparation for IELTS Writing Task 2 exam. Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@prepareieltsexam.com or call us at +91 9773398388.
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FAQs
Although you can never guess what questions may arise in the exam, some of the main topics are education, technology, health, environment, government spending, and sociology. Read newspapers regularly, learn vocabulary, and be up to date with information about topics like those given above.
In the IELTS Writing exam, the total time is 60 minutes. For task 1, you need 20 minutes, while task 2 requires 40 minutes. It is completely on you to manage your time efficiently between both papers.
A certified IELTS examiner will grade your Writing test. Task 2 of the IELTS Writing test is worth twice as much as Task 1. Scores are provided in whole and half bands.
IELTS tests are divided into two parts - Academic and General. The difference is in the type of prompts and the level of formality needed. Academic tests are measured in English proficiency for the academic environment and whether you can study there; they need to be written in a formal style. Whereas, the IELTS General tests are only for conversational contexts and should be written more casually.