A detailed guide to this IELTS Writing Task 2 essay type, with structure templates, useful vocabulary, and techniques to achieve Band 7+.
Originally published December 2017. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
In this post, we will look at the common topics that are seen again and again in the IELTS writing task 2 test. Students often ask if the questions are repeated year after year and the answer is no, but the topics are. There are so many questions written each year, you may find you practice answering various questions on different topics. For example, you could write essays to answer questions about education or the environment, which benefits you because you learn vocabulary associated with those topics and develop ideas that can help you in your writing test.
Practicing writing IELTS task 2 essays on a range of topics is a great way to learn new vocabulary for those topics, but also to practice your essay structures. You begin to develop your ideas around those topics, thinking of examples and giving your opinions.
Writing Task 2 Common Topics
The list below shows you the common topics that are seen every year.
There is quite a range of writing task 2 topics, with many subtopics. Take a look at the list below and look for questions in each area when you are completing your IELTS preparation >
Environment
Government legislation
Environmental problems
Climate Change
Animals
Health
Obesity
Hospitals
The elderly
Funding
Poor countries vs rich countries
Health education
Exercise
Education
The rise of technology
Subjects/curriculum changes
Uniforms
The role of teachers
Discipline
Funding
Rules
Government
Change to laws
Rules that affect groups of individuals
International laws
Benefits to individuals and society
Funding
Society
Poverty
Overpopulation
Homelessness
Modern lifestyles
Funding
Public services
Crime
Youth crime
Punishment
Repeat offenders
Major vs minor crimes
Prisons
Technology
The role of technology in our lives/in society
The internet
Social media
Children online / safety measures
Hacking/data protection
Economics
World spending
Cash vs credit cards
Economic progress and success
Communication
Technology
Family
Social media
Types of personalities
Characters in society
Work
Women in the workplace
The role of the employee
Employer vs employee issues
Types of jobs
Salary
Equality
Family and Children
Family roles
Family size
Role models
Discipline (parents to children)
Education
Transport
Different forms of transport
Comparisons
Problems
Environmental issues
Travel
Culture differences
Travelling benefits/drawbacks
Meeting people
Forms of travel
There are many other topics that you can also prepare for, including art, business, marketing, sport, reading, language, and food/diet.
Top Tips For IELTS Writing Task 2 Preparation
When you are preparing for your IELTS writing task 2 test, practice answering questions on topics that you find difficult, as this is really good practice.
Learn vocabulary associated with the topic. Make word lists and learn the meanings of those words.
Read around the topic, take a look at news websites or journals and read about these topics. What is happening in the news? Can the news stories give you ideas for examples that you can use in your essay?
Listen to TED Talks, podcasts, the news or documentaries related to the common topics and develop ideas, vocabulary and your opinions.
Practice talking about these topics with a friend. Ask them their opinion about something you have seen in the news and give them your opinion, discuss the latest news and events related to the common topics.
We hope you found this post useful in helping you to study for the IELTS Test. If you have any questions please let us know in the comments below or on the Facebook page.
The best way to keep up to date with posts like this is to like us on Facebook, then follow us on Instagram and Pinterest.
If you need help preparing for the IELTS Test, join the IELTS Achieve Academy and see how we can assist you to achieve your desired band score. We offer an essay correction service, mock exams and online courses.
A detailed guide to this IELTS Writing Task 2 essay type, with structure templates, useful vocabulary, and techniques to achieve Band 7+.
Originally published December 2017. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
In this post, we will look at how you can make your writing task 2 essay clear for the examiner. Having a clear and easy to understand essay improves your score in coherence and cohesion. Creating a clear essay may sound like a simple thing to do, but many students often try too hard and end up with an essay that is confusing and difficult to follow. This obviously lowers your score if the examiner cannot understand what it is you are trying to say in your writing.
How To Write A Clear Essay
Here are 5 tips on how to write a clear essay >
1. Understand the Question
Read the question and understand it, look at the keywords and what it is asking you to do. What are the main issues and the sub-issues? Can you tell if it is an agree/disagree essay? What type of essay is it? These are all questions you should be able to answer from understanding the question. If you do not understand the question properly, you could present irrelevant information in your essay, which can lead to a confusing essay and lower marks.
When you are thinking of ideas for your essay, make sure they are specific. Don’t write generally about the topic or try to stuff as many ideas as possible into the main body paragraphs. The main body paragraphs should each contain one main idea. If you present more than this, the paragraphs will become confusing for the examiner. The paragraphs should follow a certain structure, to ensure you gain marks for coherence and cohesion. If you have many ideas, you will not have time to explain them all and support them with examples. By choosing one main specific idea, explaining it, giving details and supporting with an example, this will make the information clear and easy to understand.
If the essay question asks you to give your opinion, then make sure you give it clearly in the writing. There are many ways to introduce your opinion, including using ‘in my opinion, I believe that’ or ‘In my view’. If you don’t give a clear opinion or state your position on the subject, then you can lose marks.
By reviewing and practising the essay structures for the various question types, you will be able to demonstrate to the examiner that you can structure an IELTS writing task 2 essay successfully. The marking criteria – coherence and cohesion for a band score 7 states ‘logically organise information and ideas, there is clear progression throughout, uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under/overuse, presents a clear central topic within each paragraph’, and for a band score 8 ‘sequences information and ideas logically, manages all aspects of cohesion well, uses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately’. If you can organise your essay into clear easy to follow paragraphs, with cohesive devices and logical order, then you will be on your way to gaining a high band score.
Take a look at the structures needed for each type of Writing Task 2 essay here.
5. Vocabulary
The vocabulary you use in your essay also has a huge impact on how easy it is to read through and understand. When students try too hard, putting in high-level words they don’t really know the meaning of and trying to fit in as many complex structures as possible, this makes an essay very difficult for the examiner to read and follow. When you read your essay over after you have finished, does it make sense to you? Can you clearly understand each part? It is very important that your essay clearly communicates your message in relation to the question. If you have many grammatical errors this can also make the essay hard to understand.
Here is an example of an essay that is not very clear due to grammatical errors, structure and vocabulary (this essay is a band score 5).
Can you list the errors?
How could you improve this essay?
Writing task 2 — Cause/Effect essay People in all modem societies use drugs, but today’s youth are experimenting with both legal and illegal drugs, and at an early age. Some sociologists claim that parents and other members of society often set a bad example. Discuss the cause and effects of widespread drug abuse by young people. Make any recommendations you feel are necessary to help fight youth drug abuse.
Drug usage is very common in present-day population, however the teens starting to use legal and illegal products as well, at very young age. Usually a bad model, this is what some experts are saying. This essay will discuss some reasons why this has occurred and analyze the consequences of this worrying trend. One of the main causes of this problem is the stressful life of the people, some sever trauma or injury, but also an other reason can be a parent who had an addiction. Furthermore, in modern societies the street drugs and alcohol are very available even for the adolescents. A newspaper article shows that last year a Secret Service in New York made an investigation in 50 different schools and universities regarding to the drug consumption. The results were shocking: in 42 institutes they found a drug dealer.
The effects of this have been and will be very serious. Firstly the drug abuse can occur severe health problems like heart diseases, kidney or liver damage, abdominal pain, can weaken the immune system etc. Secondly can also damage the brain, causing for example behavior problems. While using drugs people are unable to do different activities well, or to think clear. This can lead to conflicts in families or between friends, and unfortunately sometimes can go into crime. In short, it is obvious that nowadays the usage of different psychotropic agents is widespread already in early age, and the effects of this are very tragically. The society should fight more and harder against drug abuse, the prevention programs could be much convincing, and the social media could help too, for example with more antidrug publicity.
If you would like to view more high band score essay examples please click the button below >
Good Example
Here is the re-written essay, can you see the difference? Is it easier to understand? This essay follows the following elements for a successful high scoring essay (this essay is a band score 8) >
Answers the question
Uses paraphrasing and synonyms
Follows the cause/effect essay structure
Uses logical paragraphing
Includes relevant ideas
Includes specific examples
Uses cohesive devices
Uses complex sentences
Has a wide variety of vocabulary
No grammatical errors
People in all modem societies use drugs, but today’s youth are experimenting with both legal and illegal drugs, and at an early age. Some sociologists claim that parents and other members of society often set a bad example. Discuss the cause and effects of widespread drug abuse by young people. Make any recommendations you feel are necessary to help fight youth drug abuse.
Drug usage is very common in the present-day population as many adolescents are using these legal and illegal products, beginning in their childhood years. Some social academics think that adults are terrible role models because they are heavily influencing the behaviour of the young people around them. This essay will discuss the principal reason why this has occurred and analyze the main consequence of this worrying trend.
On the one hand, the primary cause of this issue is the stressful lives many of these young people are living in today’s society. Some may have terrible home lives, with absent parents, no stable accommodation or other traumatic events experienced on a daily basis. For many youngsters, they experiment with illegal drugs and alcohol, in order to escape from their present situations. These kinds of substances are readily available to children and teens, as they are eager to try drugs, or are pressured into it by their peers or family members. For example, an article from the New York Times in 2017 reported that in 50 state schools interviewed, over 90% of the students aged between 14-16 had experimented with a class A drug.
On the other hand, common substance abuse in adolescents can lead to one main consequence, which is health problems. Regularly using drugs, from prescription medication to hard drugs can have both short term and long terms health effects, including; heart disease, kidney or liver damage, abdominal pain and lead to a weaker immune system. Certain drugs can also cause brain damage, sometimes causing severe problems with the use of motor skills or nerves. For instance, a documentary filmed by the BBC in 2017, showed the effects of serious drug dependencies amongst teenagers aged between 16-19. One person interviewed had developed serious damage to the brain, as well as facial nerves, through the overuse of MDMA. This had left the teen with permanent facial twitching and psychosis. In addition, teens should be taught about the serious and harmful effects of taking drug in school. The students should learn about the damaging and lasting effects of taking recreational drugs, even though they may see them as a way to unwind or escapism. The health issues relating to drugs and alcohol should be explained with case studies given as a deterrent to any young people who are thinking about experimenting. For example, as part of the curriculum in Sixth Form Colleges in the UK, students are made to watch a series of documentaries about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, in order to learn about the risks. They listen to teenagers talk about their own bad experiences and the consequences of this. In conclusion, many teens are experimenting with common drugs from an early age, leading to heavy consequences like health issues, as they grow older. To combat this issue, more initiatives should be set forth through the school system, to create awareness of the risks involved.
We hope you found this post helpful in helping you to study for the IELTS Test. Let us know in the comments or on the Facebook page if you have any questions. The best way to keep up to date with posts like this is to like us on Facebook, and then follow us onInstagramand Pinterest. We offer essay correction services, mock exams, and online courses. If you need help preparing for the IELTS Test, join the IELTS Achieve Academy and see how we can help you achieve your desired band score faster.
Step-by-step guide to answering this type of IELTS Writing Task 1 question. Covers structure, key language, and band-scoring criteria.
Originally published December 2017. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
In this post, we will look at the word count needed in the writing tasks. You should know that 250 words are the minimum for a writing task 2 essay and 150 words are minimal for writing task 1. If you write less than the word counts specified in the question, you will lose marks in task achievement, because you will not have completed one of the requirements for the task.
The examiner will count your words to check that you have the minimum word count. If you have not reached 250 and have, for example, 240 words they will mark your essay lower because of this. It is possible to write more than 250 words during the time allocated for the task 2 essay, however, you should be careful you do not run out of time and find that you cannot write a conclusion, or check over your work.
Test Instructions
On the writing test paper, the instructions will look something like this below (Taken from the British Council IELTS) >
The highlighted sections show you that the instructions state clearly that at least 150 words are required for Task 1 and at least 250 words are required for Task 2.
The question examples below are taken from a free resource available on The British Council’s IELTS page. Take a look and download the free practice papers.
As you can see below, the highlighted section shows you that you have to write at least 150 words in Task 1.
TIP: Plan your work before you start to write, to make sure that all of the information you write in your essay is relevant. Do not write and write about anything and everything and go off-topic. It is more than possible to write a 250-word essay that is concise and to the point.
TIP: Check your word count during your IELTS essay preparation. Count the words (or if you are typing using the word count option) and see how many you are producing in 40 minutes for task 2 and 20 minutes for task 1.
TIP: Words that are hyphenated like in-depth or part-time will be counted as one word. prepositions like in, of, on and articles like the, a, at will all be counted. Punctuation, like commas, semi-colons and full stops (periods) will not be counted.
TIP: Practice writing your essay answers on the official writing answer sheet. This will allow you to practice counting your words to see how many you get in the time period allowed. You should aim to exceed the word count slightly so that you are sure you have met the minimum requirements.
A detailed guide to this IELTS Writing Task 2 essay type, with structure templates, useful vocabulary, and techniques to achieve Band 7+.
Originally published December 2017. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
In this post, we will look at how to use cohesive devices in your IELTS writing task 2 essay. Being able to include cohesive devices in your writing is important because it shows the examiner that you know how to use them effectively. This can increase your band score in the coherence and cohesionsection.
Cohesive devices are also known as linking words and they are there to help the examiner to read through your essay clearly. Linking words are a great way to join your ideas together and make your sentences and your paragraph much more coherent.
Cohesive Devices
Below is a list of cohesive devices that you will use in your IELTS essays. In the IELTS exam, to reach a band 7 or above you need to be able to use a range of cohesive devices accurately.
Examples
In the writing task 2 marking criteria for a band score of 7, it states – ‘ uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under-/over-use‘. This means that the student understands how to use cohesive devices but is using too many (in nearly every sentence) or too few.
Many students who receive a band score 6 or lower, will have used far too many, making the writing sound mechanical and not like a native speaker. A high scoring answer of 8+ will contain a few but well placed cohesive devices as using them with precision and in the correct context counts for more than inserting as many as possible.
Take a look at the examples below with the cohesive devices highlighted in bold >>
Bad Example
On the one hand, the main advantage of having a standardised punishment system could lead to a downward trend in crime, as the system would serve as a deterrent. Therefore, this would allow the courts to easily hand out justice to all criminals, in order to make the judiciary system more powerful. For example, in some states in the USA, there are tough sanctions in place for criminals, including death by lethal injection. However, in 2014, the New York Times reported that up to 65% of criminals who were incarcerated for high-level crimes (murder, manslaughter) received the lethal injection.
Good Example
On the one hand, the main advantage of having a standardised punishment system could lead to a downward trend in crime, as the system would serve as a deterrent. This would allow the courts to easily hand out justice to all criminals, in order to make the judiciary system more powerful. For example, in some states in the USA, there are tough sanctions in place for criminals, including death by lethal injection. In 2014, the New York Times reported that up to 65% of criminals who were incarcerated for high-level crimes (murder, manslaughter) received the lethal injection.
How Should I Use Them In My Essay?
Review sample essays and see how many are used in high-level answers. You will see that there are the same ones used in many sample essays time and time again. Learn a core few and use them during your writing practice.
Take a look at this band 9 essay below and see how the cohesive devices have been used to introduce the reader to the paragraphs and to lead them through the essay effortlessly. The cohesive devices are highlighted in bold.
Essay Example >>
Question
In current society, many people are struggling with obesity. What is the main cause of this? What are the effects?
Answer
In many countries all over the world today, there are many people who are extremely overweight. This essay will firstly discuss the main reasons that this is happening and secondly look at the effects this is having on individuals and society.
Firstly, obesity is caused by many factors in modern society, including the easy availability of unhealthy food. When a bad diet is matched with a sedentary lifestyle, weight gain is inevitable, since eating large portions of food that is mainly processed, high in salt, sugar and filled with chemicals, the body gains weight fast. For example, a documentary by Channel 4 in 2016 showed that the most obese populations were situated in underdeveloped nations, like Venezuela, where people admitted to finding it difficult to eat a balanced and healthy diet and had no nutritional education.
Secondly, the effect that immense weight gain can have on a person, is that they will likely develop health issues, like diabetes or heart disease. As the body becomes larger, the metabolism slows down, so that the body is more likely to get a chronic illness. This is impacting on health services around the world, as hospitals are seeing an increased demand to care for obese patients. For instance, The NHS in the UK has admitted to spending around 16 billion per year on obese related diseases like diabetes. UK newspaper The Telegraph reported in 2016 that more money is spent on treating obesity in the UK than on staffing the police force and fire service.
In conclusion, obesity is being caused by easily available calorie-rich processed food and little exercise. The effects of this are impacting individuals health as well as the cost of national healthcare services. In order for obesity to be lessened, individuals should be educated about nutrition, furthermore, the governments should implement higher taxes on all junk food and sugar.
We hope you found this post helpful in helping you to study for the IELTS Test. Let us know in the comments or on the Facebook page if you have any questions. The best way to keep up to date with posts like this is to like us on Facebook, and then follow us onInstagramand Pinterest. We offer essay correction services, mock exams, and online courses. If you need help preparing for the IELTS Test, join the IELTS Achieve Academy and see how we can help you achieve your desired band score faster.
Comprehensive guide covering essential IELTS preparation strategies and techniques to help you achieve your target band score.
Originally published December 2017. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
In this post, we will look at how to use complex sentences in your IELTS writing task 2 essay. Being able to include complex sentences in your writing is important because it shows the examiner that you know how to use them effectively. This can increase your band score in the grammatical range and accuracysection.
In order to gain a band score 7, you need to be able to show the examiner that you can ‘use a variety of complex structures’. For the higher band scores of 8, you need to ‘use a wide range of structures’ and for a band score 9 ‘use a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy’. This means that you should include complex sentences in your essay, but you do not have to make all of your sentences complex.
What Is A Complex Sentence?
Complex sentences are when two or more basic sentences are joined together, using connecting words. Below you will see four simple sentences:
Simple Sentences
Communities meet online via private Facebook groups.
People no longer meet up in a community hall to discuss matters.
Many people do not socialise physically with others.
People like to isolate themselves in a virtual world.
If you wrote all of your sentences like this in the essay, you would gain a low band score. Therefore, you take the basic sentences like those above and make them into complex sentences by joining them together. Take a look at the example below where you can see the word ‘since’ joins the sentences together;
Complex Sentence Example
Communities meet online via private Facebook groups, instead of in a community hall to discuss matters, since this does not allow them to socialise physically with people, they isolate themselves in this virtual world.
Where do I use them in my essay?
In your writing task 2 essay, you can use a complex sentence in any part of the essay. Here we will look at how they can be used to explain your main idea in your main body paragraphs. Your first sentence can be a basic sentence, that introduces the main topic, followed by a complex sentence that explains the main idea, then an example, which can contain a mixture of simple and complex sentences. Think of it like this;
Main Body Paragraph
Simple sentence (introduce your topic)
Complex sentence (explain your topic/main idea)
Complex sentence (example)
Take a look at this example below from a discussion essay;
Firstly, during the last two decades, there have been many tech developments and advancements, bringing convenience to all. One significant attribute of this modernization is the internet, while this technology has made our lives more convenient in many aspects, including our approach to communication. In the past, we only used mail or the telephone to send our messages across the globe, whereas today, the internet allows us to reach out to almost everyone in just a few seconds. The inconvenience of long distances is eliminated as we can talk and even see distant friends or relatives for an unlimited time. For example, the internet connects people whose relatives or families are abroad, through Facebook, Twitter or Skype anytime and anywhere.
If we break it up you can see how it has been structured;
The first sentence – introduces the topic and is simple >
Firstly, during the last two decades, there have been many tech developments and advancements, bringing convenience to all.
The second part of the paragraph is more complex and gives the reader an explanation of the main topic. The words highlighted in bold connect the clauses and make the sentences complex >
One significant attribute of this modernization is the internet, while this technology has made our lives more convenient in many aspects, including our approach to communication. In the past, we only used mail or the telephone to send our messages across the globe, whereas today, the internet allows us to reach out to almost everyone in just a few seconds. The inconvenience of long distances is eliminated as we can talk and even see distant friends or relatives for an unlimited time.
The third part of the paragraph is the example and it is a complex sentence, connected by the words highlighted in bold >
For example, the internet connects people whose relatives or families are abroad, through Facebook, Twitter or Skype in order to contact them anytime and anywhere.
Clauses – A clause is the key element of a sentence.
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can form part of a sentence or a complete simple sentence. Clauses can be main or subordinate and they can behave like adjectives or adverbs.
Main Clauses – Also known as an independent clause, the main clause includes a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. Main clauses are the same as simple sentences because they have to make sense on their own.
Example– The dog (subject) played (verb).
Subordinate Clauses – A subordinate clause (also called a dependent clause) contains a subject and a verb but it does not make sense on its own. It depends on the main clause for its meaning. Subordinate clauses often explain or add more information about where or when things happen, or how they are done. relative and adverbial clauses are types of subordinate clauses.
Example – Because the dog (subject) was lazy (verb).
Relative Clauses – Relative clauses are also known as adjective clauses, and they are a type of subordinate clause. Like adjectives and adjectival phrases, relative clauses describe nouns and pronouns. Unlike adjectives, they can only be placed after the noun or pronoun they are modifying. Relative clauses always start with one of the relative pronouns who, whom, whose, which or that, which acts as the subject or the object of the clause.
Examples
Subject > which was (verb) excellent (adjective)
Object > which the dog (subject) did (verb) every day (adverbial phrase)
Adverbial Clauses – An adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause that behaves like an adverb. It gives additional information about how, when where and why something is happening. Adverbial clauses start with subordinators such as because, although, after, while, as and until.
Examples
Why? as (subordinator) the dog (subject) wanted (verb) food (object)
When? after (subordinator) the dog (subject) had eaten (verb) food (object)
Sentence Structures
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence is the same as the main clause. it must have a subject and one main verb and it must express a single idea. The subject is the person or thing that does the action (the verb), but one subject can be made up of more than one person or thing. Most simple sentences also include an object, which is the person or thing receiving the action.
Example
The student and his friends enjoyed the library field trip.
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are made up of two or more main clauses, but no subordinate clauses. The main clauses are linked using conjunctions and the resulting sentence conveys different ideas of equal importance. Compound sentences are a useful way of connecting two or more ideas of equal importance. They help to improve the flow of a piece of writing as many successive simple sentences can be uncomfortable to read. to make most compound sentences, two main clauses, each containing a subject and a verb are joined together using a coordinating conjunction such as and, but or so. A comma is used before the coordinating conjunction to separate the two clauses.
Example
John is a student who loves to study English grammar, and he also reads many science fiction books.
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is made up of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. The subordinate clause depends on the main clause for its meaning. Complex sentences are useful because they can be used to indicate that one idea is more important than another. The secondary idea is contained in a subordinate clause, which has a subject and a verb but does not make sense without the main clause to which it is attached. Subordinate clauses add information to main clauses.
Examples
John put his hat on because he was cold.
The couple allowed their dog to sleep on their bed, although they managed to have very little sleep.
Preparing For Your IELTS Test
Please practice writing IELTS essays and using complex sentences in your work before your test day. Some students try to write complex sentences, which then turn into very hard to understand sentences. They somehow get the word order muddled up and the writing becomes confusing. Don’t allow this to happen, check your work and practice, using essay examples to guide you.
Even better – have lessons or essay corrections with an experienced teacher, who can help you to understand how to structure your essay, make it clear and include all of the necessary elements to pass with a high band score.
We hope you found this post useful in helping you to study for the IELTS Test. If you have any questions please let us know in the comments below or on the Facebook page.
The best way to keep up to date with posts like this is to like us on Facebook, then follow us on Instagram and Pinterest.
If you need help preparing for the IELTS Test, join the IELTS Achieve Academy and see how we can assist you to achieve your desired band score. We offer an essay correction service, mock exams and online courses.
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