IELTS Task 2 Essays

Understand the 5 Different Types

There are 5 main types of IELTS Task 2 essays:

1)  Opinion Essays 

2)  Discussion Essays

3)  Problem Solution Essays

4)  Advantages & Disadvantages Essays

5)  Double Question Essays

Most questions fit one of these categories. However, questions can be written in many
different ways, which can make it difficult to determine which type they are.

On this page, I want to give you an overview of all 5 IELTS Task 2 essay types, with
samples questions to help you recognise some of the different wording often used. I’ve also
included a basic structure for each that you can use to as a guide for essay planning, a vital
step in the writing process.

I go into each type of question in more detail on its own page. Click the links above or at the
bottom of this page to see these. 

First, here’s the basic 4 part structure I recommend that you use for Task 2 essays:

1)  Introduction

2)  Main Body Paragraph 1 

3)  Main Body Paragraph 2 

4)  Conclusion

Want to watch and listen to this lesson?

Click on this video.

The sort of information you include in each of the 4 sections will vary depending on the
question type and that’s what I’m now going to outline for you.

These easy to learn structures will enable you to quickly plan and write any IELTS Task 2
essay.

The structures below are not the only ones you could use but they are the ones I
recommend because they’re simple and give proven results.
 1) Opinion Essays

These are sometimes called ‘agree or disagree’ or ‘argumentative’ essays and are one of
the most common types of IELTS Task 2 question.

The first part of the question will be a statement. You will then be asked to give your own
opinion about the statement. Here is some typical wording that might be used:

 What is your opinion?

 Do you agree or disagree?

 To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Here is an example of each:

Key tips:

 Choose one side of the argument.

 State your opinion clearly in the introduction.

 Keep the same opinion throughout the essay.

  Give reasons why you hold this view.

It doesn’t matter which side of the argument you take or even that you agree with it. Choose
the one you can develop the best argument for.

Don’t change your opinion part way through the essay and don’t give reasons for the
opposing idea.

Essay Structure
1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 Give your opinion
 State two supporting reasons

2) Main body paragraph 1

 Topic sentence – outline 1st reason for supporting this view

 Explanation – explain this idea
 Example – give an example

3) Main body paragraph 2

 Topic sentence – outline 2nd reason for supporting this view

 Explanation – explain this idea
 Example – give an example

4) Conclusion

 Summarise opinion and key reasons

2) Discussion Essays

In discussion essays, you have to discuss both sides of an argument. Usually, you will be
asked for your own opinion as well.

The easiest way to approach this type of IELTS Task 2 question is to choose one point of
view to agree with and one side to disagree with.

Here are 3 examples of discussion essay questions:

Key tips:

 Develop both sides of the argument.

 Talk about the view you don’t agree with first.

A big mistake many students make is to fully develop only one point of view. This leads to an
unbalanced essay and a low score for task achievement. 

It is easier to begin by discussing the opinion you don’t agree with and then present the
reasons for your opposing view.

Essay Structure
1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 Give your opinion
 State two supporting reasons

2) Main body paragraph 1 – Negative Viewpoint

 Topic sentence – outline the view you don’t agree with

 Explanation – explain why this view is held by some people
 Example – give an example
 Your opinion – state whether you agree or disagree
3) Main body paragraph 2 – Positive Viewpoint

 Topic sentence – outline the view you do agree with

 Explanation – explain why this view is held by some people
 Example – give an example
 Your opinion – state whether you agree or disagree

4) Conclusion

 Summarise the key points and state your opinion

3)  Problem Essays 

These are sometimes called ‘causes and solutions’ or ‘problems and solutions’ essays. This
type of IELTS Task 2 question starts with a statement, then asks you to discuss the
problems or causes and the solutions.

Key tips:

 Don’t list lots of causes and solutions.

 Choose just one or two and develop them fully.

 Be sure to link each problem/cause and its solution.

A common mistake is for candidates to list all the problems/causes and solutions they can
think of, not necessarily linking them together. They also fail to explain any of them in detail
and don’t include any examples.

The wording of this type of essay question can vary considerably. Here are 3 examples of
problem essay questions:
Essay Structure
1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 State 1 key problem/cause and related solution

2) Main body paragraph 1 – Problem or Cause

 Topic sentence – state the problem or cause

 Explanation – give detail explaining the problem or cause
 Example – give an example

3) Main body paragraph 2 – Solution

 Topic sentence – state the solution

 Explanation – give detail explaining the solution
 Example – give an example

4) Conclusion

 Summarise the key points and state your opinion

 4)  Advantages & Disadvantages Essays

The first part of the question will be a statement. You will be asked to write about both the
advantages and disadvantages of the idea stated.

Here is some typical wording that might be used:

 What are the advantages and disadvantages of….?

 Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your opinion.

Here are 3 examples of advantages and disadvantages essay questions:

Each of these different types of questions fits into one of two slightly different essay
structures. We’ll look at these in detail on the main IELTS Task 2 Advantages &
Disadvantages Essays page. For now, I’ll give you the basic structure.

Essay Structure
1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 Outline the view or views stated the statement

2) Main body paragraph 1 – Advantage

  Topic sentence – state 1 advantage
 Explanation – give detail explaining the advantage
 Example – give an example
 Result – state the result

3) Main body paragraph 2 – Disadvantage

 Topic sentence – state 1 disadvantage

 Explanation – give detail explaining the disadvantage
 Example – give an example
 Result – state the result

4) Conclusion

 Summarise the key points

 State your opinion if required

5)  Double Question Essays

This type of IELTS Task 2 question is sometimes called a ‘direct question’ or ‘two questions’
essay. It has one statement with two different questions after it. The questions may or may
not be linked.

Key tips:

 You must answer both questions fully.

 Don’t confuse it with an opinion or a discussion essay.

 Be careful that you don’t end up with too many ideas to write about.

Here are 3 examples of double question essay questions:

Essay Structure
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 – explain why you think this
 Example – give an example

3) Main body paragraph 2 – Answer question 2

 Topic sentence – state your answer

 Explanation – explain why you think this
 Example – give an example

4) Conclusion

 Summarise both questions and answers

How to Plan & Write

IELTS Opinion Essays
IELTS opinion essays, also known as ‘agree or disagree’ essays, come up frequently in the
writing exam. In this lesson, I’m going to show you how to plan and write them step-by-step.

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

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.

The Question
The first part of the question for an IELTS opinion essay will be a statement. You will then be
asked to give your own opinion about the statement. Here is some typical wording that might
be used:

 What is your opinion?

 Do you agree or disagree?

 To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Want to watch and listen to this lesson?

Click on this video.

Here's a question from a past test paper.

A big salary is much more important than job satisfaction. 

Do you agree or disagree? 

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

Write at least 250 words.

I’ll be using this question to guide you through the process of planning and writing an IELTS
opinion essay.

3 Common Mistakes

These three errors are common in IELTS opinion essays.

 Not stating an opinion.

 Giving arguments for both views.

 Not supporting your opinion with clear reasons.

The most common mistake that students make is not giving an opinion. The question will
clearly state that you must choose one side of the argument. If you fail to do this, you will get
a low score for task achievement.

It doesn’t matter which side of the argument you take or even, that you agree with it. Choose
the one you can develop the best argument for.

Make sure that you don’t change your opinion part way through the essay, and don’t give
reasons for the opposing view.

Essay Structure

Now let’s look at a simple structure you can use to write opinion essays. It’s not the only
possible structure but it’s the one I recommend because it’s easy to learn and will enable
you to quickly plan and write a high-level essay.

1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 Give your opinion
 State two supporting reasons

 2) Main body paragraph 1

 Topic sentence – outline 1st reason for supporting this view

 Explanation – explain this idea
 Example – give an example

3) Main body paragraph 2

  Topic sentence – outline 2nd reason for supporting this view
 Explanation – explain this idea
 Example – give an example

 4) Conclusion

 Summarise opinion and key reasons

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

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

How To Plan IELTS Opinion Essays

# 1  Decide on your opinion

The question I've chosen to work on is quite straightforward and easy to understand so we
don’t need to spend time analysing it. The first task, then, is to decide on our opinion.

Here’s the question again:

A big salary is much more important than job satisfaction.

Do you agree or disagree?  

For this essay, I’m going to disagree with the statement and argue that job satisfaction is
more important than a big salary.

# 2  Generate ideas
The second task is to generate some ideas to write about.

Since I‘m going to argue that job satisfaction is more important than a large salary, I need
ideas to support this view.

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

With this particular question, I immediately thought of a couple of examples of situations

where job satisfaction did prove to be more important than a high salary, so I’m going to use
the ‘example method’ of generating ideas.

Once you’ve thought of an example or two, ideas to include in your essay should come to
you easily.

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

Here are my examples and some ideas they generated.

Both the examples are partly true but I've adapted them to better fit the essay. It's fine to do
this as the examiner won't check your facts.

Examples:

 Uncle Barry – boasted about high salary but hated his job. Nervous breakdown – lost
job & can’t work.

 Me – gave up teaching. Now enjoy my work and am much more relaxed and happy
even though I earn much less money.

Ideas:

 High-salary jobs are generally more stressful

 Stress leads to ill health, both mental and physical

 40 hours a week at work – a third of the day

 Money doesn’t bring happiness

 Better quality of life

 Sense of fulfilment

 Less stressed – healthier and happier

I’ve got more ideas here than I need so I’m going to pick two to develop in the essay – one
for each of the main body paragraphs.

Idea 1 – High-salary jobs are generally more stressful and can lead to ill health.

Idea 2 – Job satisfaction gives a sense of fulfilment.

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

# 3  Vocabulary
In an IELTS essay, it’s important to be able to say the same things in different ways, either
by paraphrasing and/or using synonyms. During the planning stage, quickly jot down a few
synonyms of key words you could use to save you having to stop and think of the right
language while you’re writing.

For example:

satisfaction – fulfilment, achievement, sense of accomplishment, content, sense of well-

being

salary – income, wages, pay, earnings

important – significant, valued, has more meaning

job – work, employment, position

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

How To Write an Introduction

A good introduction has a simple 3 part structure:

1)  Paraphrased question

2)  Thesis statement

3)  Outline statement

An introduction should:

 Have 2-3 sentences

 Be 40-60 words long

 Take 5 minutes to write

1)  Paraphrase the question

Start your introduction by paraphrasing the question.

     Question: A big salary is much more important than job satisfaction.

                       Do you agree or disagree?  

Paraphrased question: 

It is argued that earning lots of money has more significance to people than being
content in their work.
Note that I’ve used some of the synonyms I listed, although it’s fine to repeat one or two
words if you need to. Above all, your language must sound natural.

2)  Thesis statement

In IELTS opinion essays, the thesis statement is where you state your opinion. For example,

   Thesis statement: 

   This essay totally disagrees with that statement.

That’s all you need to say.

If you decided to agree with the statement, you would write:

'This essay completely agrees with that statement.'

3)  Outline statement

Finally in the introduction, you must outline the two main points (ideas 1 and 2 above) that
you’ll cover in the rest of the essay. Do it in one sentence, or you can add them onto the end
of the thesis statement if appropriate.

Outline statement: 

I believe that people are increasingly concerned about the risk of stress-related ill-
health frequently experienced by people in highly paid positions and they care more
about feeling fulfilled at work.

So, let’s bring the three 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 – concerns about the risk of stress-related ill-health

Main body paragraph 2 – a sense of fulfilment at work

How To Write Main Body Paragraphs

The structure of a good main body paragraph has 3 parts:

 Topic sentence

 Explanation

 Example

If you can’t think of an example, you can add further supporting ideas but we already have
our two examples so that’s not an issue here.

A common problem when writing main body paragraphs for IELTS opinion essays is having
too many ideas. Again, we have already chosen the two ideas we are going to develop, so
we are all set to start writing.

You can see how important the planning stage is and how it make the actual writing of the
essay far quicker and easier.
Main Body Paragraph 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 idea 1 – concerns about the risk of stress-related ill-health

Topic sentence: 

Employees earning a large income are generally under significant mental and
emotional pressure to perform well and achieve targets.

Next, we must write an explanation sentence. This explains to the examiner what we
mean. It expands on our first idea.

Explanation sentence: 

This causes many individuals to suffer high levels of stress which can result in both
mental and physical health problems.

Finally, we add an example to support our main point. I thought of this in the planning stage
so I have it ready to use.

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.

Example sentence:

This happened to my uncle. He used to boast about his huge salary but the boss kept
increasing his sales targets and in the end, the stress became too great and he had a
nervous breakdown. Now he regrets being driven by the money.

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

Main idea 2 – Job satisfaction gives a sense of fulfilment.

First, we write the topic sentence to summarise the main idea.

Topic sentence:

Having a job that they enjoy doing, and in which they feel valued, is a major concern
for most of the modern workforce.

Now for the explanation sentence to explain this idea..

Explanation sentence:

A significant number of people are giving up well-paid positions to do jobs which pay
less but that they find more enjoyable and less stressful.

Finally, an example to support our main point. As before, I thought of this in the planning
stage so just need to form it into a couple of sentences.

Example sentence:

I am an example of this myself. A year ago I left the teaching profession because the
workload had become too great and I am now a gardener. I feel really fulfilled in this
work and I am much more relaxed and happy even though I earn far less money.

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 opinion essay is done.

How To Write a Conclusion

Conclusions to IELTS opinion essays should do two things:

 Summarise the main points

 State your opinion

This can generally be done in a single sentence.

If you are below the minimum 250 words after you’ve written your conclusion, you can add
an additional prediction or recommendation statement.

Our essay currently has 233 words so we’re on target and don’t need this extra sentence but
you can learn more about how to write a prediction or recommendation statement for IELTS
opinion 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 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 opinion essay with the words:

 In conclusion

        or

 To conclude

Now all you need to do is briefly summarise the main ideas into one sentence.

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. Let’s give it a
go.

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.

   Question:

   A big salary is much more important than job satisfaction.

   Do you agree or disagree?

Finished IELTS opinion essay.

 How To Plan & Write
IELTS Discussion Essays
Students can find it difficult to identify IELTS discussion essays and often
confuse them with either opinion essays or advantage and disadvantage
essays.

This is one of the issues I’ll be covering in this lesson. I’m also going to
show you how to plan and write discussion essays step-by-step.

Here’s what we’ll be covering:

 Identifying IELTS discussion essays 

  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.

The Question
The first part of the question for an IELTS discussion essay will be a
statement containing two opposing views.

You will then be asked to discuss both sides of the argument and give your
own opinion. Here is some typical wording that might be used:

 Discuss both views and give your opinion. 

 Discuss both these views and then give your own opinion. 

 Discuss both sides of this argument and give your own opinion.
Here's a question from a past test paper.

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.

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

Write at least 250 words.

I’ll be using this question to guide you through the process of planning and
writing an IELTS discussion essay.

The key to identifying this type of question is the fact that you are required
to discuss BOTH views. This is different to opinion questions where you
must decide between two opposing views and make an argument to
support your own opinion.

Opinion essays, also known as ‘agree or disagree’ essays, a generally

worded in one of these ways:

What is your opinion? / Do you agree or disagree? / To what extent do

you agree or disagree?

The other essay type that students mistake for discussion essays
is advantages and disadvantages essays. With these, the statement will
contain just one view and the question will typically be written as shown in
this sample question.

School children are using computers in school more than ever.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this and give your own
opinion.

The consequence of incorrectly identifying the question type is that you will
use the wrong structure for your essay. This is a major reason why people
make the mistakes we’ll now look at.
 3 Common Mistakes
These three errors are common in IELTS discussion essays.

 Not stating your opinion.

 Not giving arguments for both views.

 Not developing both sides of the argument equally.

The most common mistake that students make is not giving their opinion.
The question will clearly state that you must choose one side of the
argument to agree with. If you fail to do this, you will get a low score for
task achievement.

It doesn’t matter which side of the argument you take or even, that you
actually agree with it.

However, you must give equal attention to both sides. A common error is to
provide a stronger argument for the view you favour. This leads to an
unbalanced essay and a low score for task achievement. 

Essay Structure
Now let’s look at a simple structure you can use to write IELTS discussion
essays. It’s not the only possible structure but it’s the one I recommend
because it’s easy to learn and will enable you to quickly plan and write a
high-level essay.
1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 State two supporting reasons
  Give your opinion

 2) Main body paragraph 1

 Topic sentence – outline the view you don’t agree with

 Explanation – explain why this view is held by some people
 Example – give an example

 3) Main body paragraph 2

 Topic sentence – outline the view you do agree with

 Explanation – explain why this view is held by some people
 Example – give an example

 4) Conclusion

 Summarise the key points and state your opinion

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

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

How To Plan IELTS Discussion Essays

# 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:

1. Topic words

2.  Other keywords

3.  Instruction words

We’ve already considered the instruction words (the actual question) so

we’ll focus on the first two.
Topics words are the ones that identify the general subject of the 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.

So, this question is about ‘zoos’.

Many people 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.

What we need to do now that we know the general topic, is to understand

exactly what aspect of zoos we're being asked to write about.

The other keywords in the question tell you the specific topic you must
write about. They define the opinions stated in the statement.

Some people think that zoos are cruel and should be closed down.

Others, however, believe that zoos can be useful in protecting wild
animals.

By highlighting these words, it’s easy to see that you are being asked to
write about the opposing views that zoos are cruel and should be closed
down and that zoos can be useful in protecting wild animals. Your essay
must only include ideas relevant to these ideas.

# 2  Decide on your opinion

As already mentioned, it doesn’t matter if you genuinely agree with the view
you take in your essay or not. IELTS discussion essays are about your
ability to write a well-structured essay in the English language and you will
not be assessed on any opinion you might hold.

So, choose one view and make sure that your opinion is clear throughout
the essay.

For this model essay, I’m going to agree with the statement that zoos are
cruel and should be closed down.
# 3  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 my preferred method 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 you are chatting with a friend and they ask
you the question in a casual conversation. What answers would you give
them off the top of 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:

Cruel – closed down:

 Cramped cages – animals distressed

 Unnatural environments

 Most animals not endangered

 Animals become a public spectacle for entertainment

Useful – protect wild animals:

 Research work to learn more about wild animals

 Breeding programmes for endangered species

 Some species saved from extinction

  Seeing wild animals close up inspires people to want to help protect
them

I’ve got more ideas here than I need so I’m going to pick two to develop in
the essay – one for each of the main body paragraphs.

Idea 1 – Cramped cages & unnatural environments, animals

distressed.

Idea 2 – Breeding programmes for endangered species, some species

saved from extinction.

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

# 4  Vocabulary
In an IELTS essay, it’s important to be able to say the same things in
different ways, either by paraphrasing and/or using synonyms. During the
planning stage, quickly jot down a few synonyms of key words you could
use to save you having to stop and think of the right language while you’re
writing.

For example:

zoos – animals in captivity, collections of wild animals, menagerie, wildlife

park

cruel – to cause suffering, inhumane

protect – safeguard, preserve

animals – creatures, species

With that done, we can focus on the first paragraph of the essay – the
introduction.
 How To Write an Introduction
Good introductions to IELTS discussion essays have a simple 3 part
structure:

1)  Paraphrase the question

2)  State two supporting reasons (outline statement)

3)  Give your opinion (thesis statement)

It should:

 Have 2-3 sentences

 Be 40-60 words long

 Take 5 minutes to write

1)  Paraphrase the question

Start your introduction by paraphrasing the question.

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.

There are various phrases you can use to do this. Here are three
examples. They all say the same thing using different language.

 Some people argue that… while others say that…

 It is considered by some…. while there are others who think….

 It is often argued that... whilst others disagree and think...

Choose one and add the details in the question statement in a paraphrased
form. I recommend putting the view you don’t agree with first.
Paraphrased question: 

Some people argue that zoos help to preserve wild creatures, while
others say that they are inhumane and should be abolished.
Note my use of synonyms. You don’t have to replace every key word
but do so where possible whilst ensuring that your language sounds
natural. There aren’t any suitable synonyms of ‘zoo’ that I can think of,
so I've repeated this word from the statement.

2)  Thesis and outline statements

Now we need to add an outline statement where you outline the two
main points that you’ll cover in the rest of the essay (ideas 1 and 2
above) and a thesis statement where you state your opinion.
Outline & thesis statements:

While the development of breeding programmes contributes to the

preservation of endangered species, I believe that the poor conditions
that many animals held in captivity are kept in make the existence of
zoos unacceptable. 
So, let’s bring the three 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 – Breeding programmes for endangered species,

some species saved from extinction.

Main body paragraph 2 – Cramped cages & unnatural environments,

animals distressed.

How To Write Main Body Paragraphs

Main body paragraphs in IELTS discussion essays should contain 3 things:

 Topic sentence – outline the view you don’t agree with

 Explanation – explain why this view is held by some people

 Example – give an example

It is easier to begin by discussing the opinion you don’t agree with and
then present the reasons for the opposing view that you support. So,
we’ll start with idea 1.

Main Body Paragraph 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 – Breeding programmes for endangered species,

some species saved from extinction.

Topic sentence: 

On the one hand, there are many projects in existence in zoological

parks around the world where species facing extinction have been
successfully bred in captivity and their numbers increased
substantially.

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

This explains to the examiner what we mean or why this is the case.

Explanation sentence: 

This is important for ensuring the survival of animals under threat

from poaching and the destruction of their natural environments.

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.
Example sentence:

A good example of this is the golden lion tamarin from Brazil which
nearly died out because of logging and mining activities which are
destroying its habitat. Today, a third of wild golden lion tamarins were
raised in captivity.
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

Main idea 2 – Cramped cages & unnatural environments, animals

distressed.

First, we write the topic sentence to summarise the main idea. I started

main body paragraph 1 with the phrase ‘On the one hand...’, so main body
paragraph 2 will naturally begin, ‘On the other hand... .
These are great cohesive devices to use when making a direct contrast
between two opposing views and they link the ideas together well. They
can be used in most IELTS discussion essays and will help to earn you a
good score for cohesion and coherence.

Topic sentence:

On the other hand, a significant percentage of zoos house their

animals in cramped cages with very little space to move around or
behave naturally.
Now for the explanation sentence where we expand on this idea.

Explanation sentence:

This can lead to them becoming distressed and depressed as well as

suffering physically through lack of exercise.
Finally, an example to support this point.

Example sentence:

A friend of mine recently visited a wildlife park while on holiday

abroad and was very upset to see the lions pacing up and down in a
narrow, bare pen and eagles in enclosures so small that they were
unable to fly.
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 discussion essay is done.

How To Write a Conclusion

Conclusions to IELTS discussion essays should do two things:

 Summarise the main points

 State your opinion

This can generally be done in a single sentence.

If you're below the minimum 250 words after you’ve written your
conclusion, you can add a prediction or recommendation statement.
Our essay currently has 231 words so we’re on target and don’t need
this extra sentence but you can learn more about how to write a
prediction or recommendation statement for IELTS discussion 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 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 discussion essay with
the words:

 In conclusion

        or

 To conclude

Now all you need to do is briefly summarise the main ideas into one
sentence.

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. Let’s give it a go.

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.

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.

Finished IELTS discussion essay.

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 discussion essays
from past exam questions. Practice is the only way to improve your skills.
 How to Plan & Write
IELTS Problem Solution Essays
IELTS problem solution essays are the most challenging essay type for
many people. The way they are worded can vary hugely which can make it
difficult to understand how you should answer the question.

Generally, you’ll be asked to write about both the problem, or cause, and
the solution to a specific issue. Sometimes, however, you will only be
required to write about possible solutions.

The 3 essay types:

 Problem and solution

 Cause and solution

 Just the solution

Hence, it’s essential that you analyse the question carefully, which I’ll show
you how to do in this lesson. I’m also going to demonstrate step-by-step
how to plan and write IELTS problem solution essays.

Here’s what we’ll be covering:

 Identifying IELTS problem solution essays 

 6 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.

The Question
Here are two typical IELTS problem solution essay questions. They consist
of a statement followed by the question or instruction.

1. One problem faced by almost every large city is traffic congestion.

What do you think the causes are? What solutions can you suggest?

2. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the number of endangered

species has increased significantly and we have witnessed more
mass extinctions in this period than in any other period of time.

State some reasons for this and provide possible solutions.

These are some examples of different ways in which questions can be
phrased. The first half of the questions relate to the problem or cause, the
second half to the solution.

What issues does this cause and how can they be addressed?

What are some resulting social problems and how can we deal with
them?

What problems arise from this and how can they be tackled?

Why is this? How might it be remedied?

What are the reasons for this, and how can the situation be
improved?

Why is this happening, and what measures can be taken to tackle this
problem?
And here are a few questions where you only have to write about the
solution.

How can this situation be improved?

What solutions can you suggest to deal with this problem?

How can this problem be solved?

What measures could be taken to prevent this?

It’s important that you are able to recognise the common synonyms, words
and phrases used in problem solution questions. Here are the key words
and their synonyms used in the questions above.

 Problem – issues, resulting, situation

 Cause – reasons, why

 Solution – deal with, addressed, tackled, remedied, improved,

measures taken, solved, prevent

Before we move on to some common mistakes, I want to quickly explain

the difference between a problem and a cause. Read the following
examples.

Problem – I've missed the last bus home after visiting my friend for the
evening.

Cause – I misread the timetable and thought the bus left at 22.45 when it
actually left at 22.35.

The ‘cause’ is the reason for the ‘problem’. We’ll be looking at

question analysis in more detail in a minute.

6 Common Mistakes
These six errors are common in IELTS problem solution essays.

 Confusing problem and causes questions.

 Having too many ideas.

 Not developing your ideas.

 Not developing both sides of the argument equally.

 Not linking the problems and solutions.

 Not being specific enough.

It is common for an essay to consist of a list of problems and solutions

without any of them being expanded on or linked to each other.
Sometimes, a student will focus on just the problem or only the solution
which leads to an unbalanced essay. Both these issues will result in a low
score for task achievement.

You must choose just one or two problems and pick solutions directly
linked to them. Explain them and give examples.

Another serious error is to write generally about the topic. You need to be
very specific with your ideas. Analysing the question properly is essential to
avoiding this mistake. I’ll show you how to do this.

Essay Structure
Now let’s look at a simple structure you can use to write IELTS problem
solution essays. It’s not the only possible structure but it’s the one I
recommend because it’s easy to learn and will enable you to quickly plan
and write a high-level essay.

1) Introduction

 Paraphrase the question

 State 1 key problem/cause and related solution
2) Main body paragraph 1 – Problem or Cause

 Topic sentence – state the problem or cause

 Explanation – give detail explaining the problem or cause
 Example – give an example

3) Main body paragraph 2 – Solution

 Topic sentence – state the solution

 Explanation – give detail explaining the solution
 Example – give an example

4) Conclusion

 Summarise the key points 

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

One Problem/Cause & Solution or Two?

Most questions will state problems, causes and solutions in the plural, that
is, more than one. However, it is acceptable to write about just one.

This will give you an essay of just over the minimum 250 words. To write
about two problems/causes and solutions will require you to write between
350 and 400 words which are a lot to plan and write in the 40 minutes
allowed.

It is better to fully develop one problem/cause and solution than ending up

with one idea missing an explanation or an example because you run out of
time.

The step-by-step essay structure I’m going to show you includes one
problem and solution but you can write about two if you feel able to or more
comfortable doing so.

How To Plan IELTS Problem Solution Essays

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

One problem faced by almost every large city is traffic congestion.

What do you think the causes are? What solutions can you suggest?

 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:

1. Topic words

2.  Other keywords

3.  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.
One problem faced by almost every large city is traffic congestion.

So, this question is about ‘traffic congestion’.

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.

What we need to do now that we know the general topic, is to understand

exactly what aspect of traffic congestion we're being asked to write about.

 
The other keywords in the question tell you the specific topic you must
write about. 

One problem faced by almost every large city is traffic congestion.

By highlighting these words, it’s easy to see that you are being asked to
write about the problem of traffic congestion in large cities. Your essay
must only include ideas relevant to these ideas.

The instruction words are the question itself. These tell you the type of
IELTS problem solution essay you must write. This is a ‘causes and
solutions’ question.

What do you think the causes are? What solutions can you suggest?

# 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 chatting 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:

Cause:
  Too many cars on the roads – increasing numbers of people own
cars, more convenient than buses & trains

 Inadequate public transport – crowded, old & dirty

 Poor road layout

 Rush hour traffic – most people travel to & from work at the same
times each day

Solution:

 Car sharing, park-and-ride scheme, congestion charge

 Improve public transport – more frequent and better quality

 Improve infrastructure – bus lanes, cycle lanes will make it safer for
people to cycle

 Flexible working hours

For each cause you think of, immediately write down a possible solution.
This you will ensure that the problems and solutions you think of are linked.

You don’t need to spend long on this as you only need one or two ideas.

I’ve got more far more ideas here than I need as I spent more time thinking
about it that I would in the real exam. I’m going to pick just one cause to
develop in the essay and one or two solutions.

My advice on making your selection is to choose ideas you can quickly

think of an example to illustrate.

Here are my choices:

Cause – Too many cars on the roads.  Why? – increasing numbers of

people own cars, more convenient than buses & trains

Solution – Park-and-ride schemes

We’re almost ready to start writing our IELTS problem solution essay
but first, we have one more task to do.
# 3  Vocabulary
During the planning stage, quickly jot down some vocabulary that comes to
mind as you decide which cause and solution 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 example:

 traffic jam

 heavy traffic

 queue

 vehicles

 commute

 rush hour

 private transport

 infrastructure

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

How To Write an Introduction

Good introductions to IELTS problem solution essays have a simple 2 part
structure:

 Paraphrase the question

 State 1 key problem/cause and related solution/s (outline

sentence)
It should:

 Have 2-3 sentences

 Be 40-60 words long

 Take 5 minutes to write

1)  Paraphrase the question

Start your introduction by paraphrasing the question.

Question: One problem faced by almost every large city is traffic

congestion.

                  What do you think the causes are? What solutions can you
suggest?
Paraphrased question: 

One of the most serious issues facing the majority of large urban
areas is traffic jams. 
Note my use of synonyms to replace key words in the question statement.
You don’t have to replace every key word but do so where possible whilst
ensuring that your language sounds natural.

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 cause and the
solution I chose earlier. Here they are again.

Cause – Too many cars on the roads.  Why? – increasing numbers of

people own cars, more convenient than buses & trains

Solution – Park-and-ride schemes

And, this is one way to develop them into an outline sentence.

Outline statement:
The main reason for this is that there are too many private cars on the
roads these days and a viable solution is to introduce more park-and-
ride schemes.
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 – Too many cars on the roads  

Main body paragraph 2 – Park-and-ride schemes

How To Write Main Body Paragraphs

Main body paragraphs in IELTS problem solution essays should contain 3
things:

 Topic sentence – outline the main idea

 Explanation – explain it and give more detail

 Example – give an example

Main Body Paragraph 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.

Obviously, we’re going to write about the cause of the problem first.

Main body paragraph 1 – Too many cars on the roads 

Topic sentence: 

The number of people owning cars increases year on year, with most
families now having more than one car. 

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

Explanation sentence: 

Most people like the convenience of travelling at the time they want to
rather than being restricted to public transport timetables, so they
prefer to drive themselves around rather than taking the bus or train.
This is despite the fact that they frequently have to sit in long traffic
queues as they near the city centre.
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.

Example sentence:

Whenever I have to attend a meeting in the city, I always drive

because it means that I can leave home when I want to rather than
getting stressed about getting to the station in time to catch the train.

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

Main idea 2 – Park-and-ride schemes

First, we write the topic sentence to summarise the main idea. 

Topic sentence:

A solution that is proving successful in many areas is park-and-ride

schemes.
Now for the explanation sentence where we expand on this idea.

Explanation sentence:

This is where you park your car for free in a large car park on the
outskirts of the city and take a bus for the final part of your journey.
The fee you have to pay for the bus trip is usually very small and this
public transport system is generally very regular, running every ten
minutes or so.
Finally, an example to support this point.

Example sentence:

A survey carried out in the city of Exeter showed that the rush hour
congestion decreased by 10% when the council set up a park-and-ride
scheme to the north of the city. There was an additional drop of
another 10% in traffic volume when a second scheme began
operating to the south.

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 problem solution essay is done.

How To Write a Conclusion

The conclusion is a summary of the main points in your essay and

can generally 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 problem solution
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 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 problem solution
essay with the words:

 In conclusion

        or

 To conclude

Now all you need to do is briefly summarise the main ideas into one
sentence.

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 good conclusion, you simply have to paraphrase the

introduction. 

Introduction:
Here is the same information formed into a conclusion. I’ve also added a
personal statement at the end to link back to one of my example
sentences. You don’t have to do this but in this case, I think that it rounds
the essay off better.

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

Question:

One problem faced by almost every large city is traffic congestion.

What do you think the causes are? What solutions can you suggest?
Finished IELTS problem solution essay.
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 problem solution
essays from past exam questions. Practice is the only way to improve your
skills.

How to Plan & Write

IELTS Advantages and
Disadvantages Essays
Questions for IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays can be worded in
several different ways. Here is some typical wording that might be used:

 What are the advantages and disadvantages of….?

 Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your

opinion.
It is also common for synonyms of ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’ to be
used, such as ‘benefits’ and ‘drawbacks’, as can be seen in this sample
question.

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of

income. Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it
is not well-managed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern

world? Do you think that the benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks?
I’ll be using this question to guide you through the process of planning and writing an
IELTS advantage and disadvantages essay later on in this lesson.

Here’s what the lesson covers:

 Understanding IELTS advantages & disadvantages essay

questions 

 Essay structures

 How to plan

 How to write an introduction

 How to write main body paragraphs

 How to write a conclusion

Want to watch and listen? 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.

The Question
IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay questions fall into two main categories:

 Questions that ask for your opinion.

  Questions that do not require you to state your opinion.

The first part of the question will always be a statement. You will then be
asked to write about both the advantages and disadvantages of the idea
stated. You may also be required to state your opinion.

Here are two more sample questions for illustration. For the first one, you
must give your opinion but in the second, you should not.

1. Small businesses are disappearing and being replaced by large

multinational companies.

Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

2. Most career choices demand vocational skills or specialist

knowledge. However, despite this, most schools still teach academic
subjects such as history or social studies.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Essay Structures
Now let’s look at two simple structures you can use to write IELTS advantages and
disadvantages essays. They're not the only possible structures but are ones I
recommend because they are easy to learn and will enable you to quickly plan and
write a high-level essay.

I’ll explain later why I’m giving you two slightly different structures.
These structures will give you a well-balanced essay with 4 paragraphs.

One Advantage and Disadvantage or Two?

The question will state 'advantages' and 'disadvantages' in the plural, that is, more
than one. However, it is acceptable to write about just one.

This should give you an essay of just over the minimum 250 words. To
write about two advantages and disadvantages will require you to write
nearer 400 words which are a lot to plan and write in the 40 minutes
allowed.

It is better to fully develop one advantage and one disadvantage than

ending up with your second idea missing an explanation or an example
because you run out of time, but you can write about two if you feel able to
or more comfortable doing so.

Having said that, using essay structure 2, where you start with the
examples, will enable you to easily add more than one advantage and
disadvantage without having to write many more words.

It will be more suitable for some question than others so bear this in mind
when you're writing practice essays and try out both structures.

I’m going to use essay structure 2 to show you step-by-step how to write an
IELTS advantage and disadvantages essay. I’ll also give you a model
answer using essay structure 1 so that you can compare the two.

How To Plan
IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essays
The planning process only takes around 5 minutes but it is essential as it will save
you time overall and will result in a far better essay and thus, higher marks. There
are the 3 things you need to do:

 Analyse the question

 Generate ideas

 Identify vocabulary

# 1  Analyse the question

Analysing the question will ensure that you answer it 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.

Here is the question we’re going to be working on. I’ve highlighted the topic
words in blue.

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of

income. Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it
is not well-managed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern

world? Do you think that the benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks?

So, this question is about ‘tourism’.

Many people 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.

What we need to do now that we know the general topic, is to understand

exactly what aspect of tourism we're being asked to write about.

The other keywords in the question tell you the specific topic your essay
must be about. 
A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of income. Unfortunately,
tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not well-managed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern

world? Do you think that the benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks?
By highlighting these words, it’s easy to see that you are being asked to
write about the conflicting issues of tourism being ‘a main source of income’
in many places, yet also being ‘a source of problems’.

Your essay must only include ideas relevant to this aspect of tourism.

The instruction words are the question itself. They tell you exactly what to
include in your essay.
A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of income. Unfortunately,
tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not well-managed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern

world? Do you think that the benefits of
tourism outweigh its drawbacks?

Here, we are required to write about:

 The advantages of tourism in relation to income generation.

 The disadvantage of tourism in relation to problems it can

cause.

 Our opinion as to whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Note the use of the synonyms ‘benefits’ and ‘drawback’ in the second sentence of the
question.

# 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.

I’m going to demonstrate two of them for you here – the ‘friends technique’,
which is suitable for most IELTS essays, and the ‘example method’, which
perfectly fits essay structure 2.
The ‘friends technique’ is the method I generally 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 chatting 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.

Here are my ideas using the friends technique:

There are far too many ideas here to include in an essay of just over 250
words. Think up a few then pick one advantage and one disadvantage that
you think you can develop well.

With the 'example method', on the other hand, you start by thinking of
specific examples related to the question. They can come from your own
experience or be something you’ve read or heard about. These examples
will generate ideas that will become the main points of your essay.

It works particularly well for the model question I’ve selected for this lesson
which is why I’ve included the second essay structure.

Here are my ideas using the examples technique:

Now that we have some ideas, we’re almost ready to start writing our IELTS
advantages and disadvantages essay, but first, we have one more task to do.
# 3  Vocabulary
During the planning stage, quickly jot down some vocabulary that comes to mind as
you decide what you're 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.

Writing an IELTS Advantages and

Disadvantages Essay
We’re ready to begin writing our essay. For the first model answer, I’m going to take
you step-by-step through essay structure 2. I’ll then give you a model answer for
essay structure 1.

Here’s a reminder of the question and the essay structure. 

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of

income. Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it
is not well-managed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern

world? Do you think that the benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks?
We’ll now start work on the introduction.

How To Write an Introduction

The introduction to an IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay should have a
simple 2 or 3 part structure:

 Paraphrase the question

 Outline the main ideas

 State your opinion (if required)

Our tourism question asks for our opinion so our introduction will have 3 parts.

1)  Paraphrase the question

Start your introduction by paraphrasing the question statement.
     Question: A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source
of income.             

      Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not well-

managed.
Paraphrased question: 

Although holidaymakers contribute hugely to the economies of many

popular destinations, the influx of tourists can also cause serious
issues.
Note my use of synonyms for some of the key words. It’s fine to repeat one or two words if
you can't think of suitable synonyms. Above all, your language must sound natural.

2)  Outline statement

Now we need to add a statement where we outline the main points that we’ll be
covering in the rest of the essay, that is, an advantage of tourism and a
disadvantage of tourism.

Here are the two main ideas I’ve chosen to write about:

 Advantage – Poor areas are now prosperous tourist resorts

 Disadvantage – Displacement of local people

Outline statement: 

This essay will demonstrate how tourism can transform the economy
of poor areas but will also show that this can lead to such problems
as the displacement of local people.

3)  Opinion statement

The question also asks for our opinion and it’s essential that we include it in the
introduction.

Opinion statement: 
Whilst acknowledging that there are drawbacks, the essay will argue
that the advantages of the tourist industry outweigh the
disadvantages.
So, let’s bring the three 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 – Poor areas are now prosperous tourist resorts

Main body paragraph 2 – Displacement of local people

How To Write Main Body Paragraphs

Main body paragraphs in IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays written using
structure 2, should contain 3 things:

 Topic sentence – give an example

 Explanation – explain the benefits/advantages

 Consequence – state the result

Main Body Paragraph 1

The topic sentence summarises the main idea of the paragraph. 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.
In this instance, the topic sentence will introduce our first example, for
which I’ve chosen Thailand.

 Main idea – Poor areas are now prosperous tourist resorts

 Example – Thailand

Topic sentence: 

One country that has experienced a significant economic boost from

tourism is Thailand.
Next, we must write an explanation sentence that states the main point of our
example.

Explanation sentence: 

Over the past 50 years, many of its small fishing villages, where
people often struggled to make a living, have been developed into
thriving holiday destinations.
Finally, we explain the consequence or result of the situation. This is where we give
an example of one specific advantage. It is better to pick one and develop it than to
just add a long list.
Consequence:

With all the hotels, restaurants, shops and other tourist facilities that
have been developed, there are now enough jobs for everyone and
the general standard of living has greatly increased.  Many local
people have spotted new business opportunities and become
entrepreneurs which has further diversified the economy.
That’s the 3 parts of our first main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished
paragraph.

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

Main Body Paragraph 2

Main idea – Displacement of local people

Example – Venice

First, we write the topic sentence to summarise the main idea.

Topic sentence:
In Venice, on the other hand, the huge popularity of the beautiful
canals and stunning architecture with visitors from around the world
has had a negative impact on local residents.
Now for the explanation sentence that states the main point of our example.

Explanation sentence:

The growing need for tourist accommodation, places to eat and shops
has forced many people from their homes to make way for this new
development.
Finally, a specific example to explain the consequence.

Consequence:

Not only have these people suffered by having to move away from
their family and friends but the situation has also resulted in a lost
sense of community in the worst affected areas.
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 advantages and disadvantages

essay is done.

How To Write a Conclusion

The conclusion is a summary of the main points in your essay and can generally 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 near 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 advantages and disadvantages
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 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 advantages and disadvantages
essay with the words:

 In conclusion

        or

 To conclude

Now all you need to do is briefly summarise the main ideas into one sentence.

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's the same information formed into a conclusion:

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

Question:

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of

income. Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it
is not well-managed.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern
world? Do you think that the benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks?
Finished IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay.

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 advantages and disadvantages essays
from past exam questions. Practice is the only way to improve your skills.