Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS (Question Analysis)

Lar Ryan AvatarbyLar Ryan

The internet is full of ineffective Writing Task 2 tips for IELTS.

This is because there are several types of Task 2 questions and each one requires you to respond in a different way.

In this lesson, you’ll learn simple tips to ensure you always know what to include in your Task 2 answer to get a high score.

When considering Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS, the very first tip you'll need is to analyze the question carefully.

In this lesson, you will;

Prefer to watch the video version?

The Importance of Question Analysis

The average Task 2 question is 35 words long, meaning there are 35 opportunities for you to misunderstand the question.

Over and over again, I see IELTS students get a low score for Task Achievement because they didn’t analyse the question correctly.

Analyzing IELTS Writing Task 2 questions is incredibly important.

IDP and British Council, the organisers of the IELTS test, indicated that analyzing the question is the first thing you must do. You can see this for yourself by clicking here and here.

However, most candidates rush this step or skip it completely because they are worried that they won’t be able to finish their essay in 40 minutes.

The thing is, if you incorrectly analyse the question, your answer will be irrelevant, and your Task Achievement score will be 5 or even lower.

A Typical Mistake

Now let’s look at an essay that one of my subscribers sent me recently.

The question was;

In some countries, most people prefer to rent their homes rather than buying them.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of renting a home?

She first stated that people prefer to rent a house close to where they work.

It's easy to write an irrelevant essay when you don't analyze the Task 2 answer carefully.

This idea was irrelevant because people prefer to buy a house close to where they work too.

Her second idea was that people who rent a house are under pressure to pay the landlord every month.

This idea is perfect and definitely belonged in the essay.

The final problem is that she only included one advantage and one disadvantage.

The question specifically asked for ‘advantages and disadvantages’, which meant that she failed to answer the question properly.

Because she incorrectly analysed the question, her Task Achievement score for this essay was a band 5.

Why do candidates misread the question?

There are two main reasons why this happens.

Reason 1 – In a rush

A lot of students just scan the question quickly and start writing.

They are worried about the 40-minute time limit and want to get started as quickly as possible.

Trust me!

A specific element of my Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS is to allow enough time for analyzing the question.

It’s better to have an incomplete essay than an essay that doesn’t answer the question.

Question analysis is an essential part of getting a high score, so you shouldn’t feel like you’re wasting time by doing this.

Reason 2 – Unknown vocabulary

The other most common reason is that candidates don’t have the necessary language ability.

If you regularly find words you don’t know in Task 2 questions, the information on this page is not the solution you need.

You need to follow my strategy for improving vocabulary first, and you can come back here once you’re ready.

What to Expect in Task 2 Questions

IELTS Writing Task 2 questions all follow a similar pattern.

If you know what to expect, there will be no surprises on test day, and you’ll know exactly what you need to do.

Knowing what to expect in your IELTS Writing Task 2 test will mean that you have no surprises on test day.

The instructions

The instructions are always the exact same in IELTS Writing Task 2.

That means that you don’t even need to read them when you’re doing your test.

You’ll see the instructions highlighted in yellow in the image below.

The instructions that appear in every IELTS Writing Task 2 question.

The context

The context is the part highlighted in green in the image below.

The context of a Task 2 question is the basis of what your essay will be about.

The context is what you need to write about in your essay.

Fact or opinion?

It will always be a fact or an opinion that you need to respond to in some way.

We know the question above is an opinion because of the phrase ‘some people believe that‘.

Other common phrases used to introduce an opinion in Task 2 are;

  • some people say that
  • some people think that
  • some people claim that

However, not all opinion topics will start with a phrase like this, so you still need to read the question carefully.

The main topic

There will be a specific topic, and you need to write about exactly that topic and nothing else.

In the question above, the main topic is; we should replace all plastic products with more environmentally-friendly materials.

Writing about the general topic in the Task 2 question will result in a low score. You can avoid problems like this by following my Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS.

A very serious mistake that many candidates make is writing an essay about the general topic.

For example, if you write an essay explaining ‘why plastic is bad for the environment’, you won’t score higher than band 4 for Task Achievement.

You need to say if we should or shouldn’t replace all plastic products. Anything else is irrelevant.

To avoid this mistake, you must analyse the question properly. You will learn to do this later in this lesson.

Examples

Not every Task 2 question will contain an example.

However, you will sometimes find examples to help you better understand a concept or a phrase in the topic.

These examples do not need to be referred to in your answer.

In IELTS Writing Task 2, you'll sometimes be given an example to help you understand.

In the Task 2 question above, the example of ‘glass’ is included to help you better understand the meaning of ‘environmentally-friendly materials’.

In fact, if you don’t mention ‘glass’ in any part of your answer, that’s completely fine, as this is not what you were asked to discuss.

Just be aware that examples like this won’t always be at the end of the sentence and can also be included in the middle.

As well as the phrase ‘such as’, you will also see examples introduced with;

  • e.g.
  • for example
  • for instance

Common topics

It’s impossible to know exactly what topic you’ll get in your IELTS test, but some themes come up over and over again that you should be aware of.

I have already written about the most common Task 2 topics to help you prepare for your IELTS Writing test. Make sure to check that out if you haven’t already seen it.

Another of my Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS is to focus on the most common topics when studying vocabulary.

The task

This is the part of the question that tells you what to do. You can see this highlighted in orange below.

The task in the IELTS Writing Task 2 question will instruct you what to do.

One of the best Writing Task 2 tips for IELTS that I can give you is to know what to expect.

In this part of the lesson, we will go through every variation of how a Task 2 question tells you what to do.

These have been organised according to how many main ideas you’ll need in your answer.

2 Main Ideas Required

Category A – What do you think?

These questions ask for your opinion and appear in roughly one-third of all IELTS Writing tests.

To answer these questions, you simply state what you think and then support your opinion with 2 main ideas.

Here are examples of how IELTS will phrase this type of question;

The fewer ideas you need to include in your essay, the better. But we need 2 at the least.
  • Do you agree or disagree?
  • To what extent do you agree or disagree?
  • To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
  • To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
  • Is this a positive or a negative development?
  • To what extent do you think animals should be owned as pets?
  • Which do you consider to be the major influence?
  • What is your opinion about this?
  • What, in your opinion, should be the main function of having a pet?
Important considerations
  1. To write a fully developed essay, you’ll need to support your opinion with two main ideas.

    Many of the questions in this category seem like one main idea would be suitable, but one main idea would not be enough development for a high score.


  2. Essays with fewer main ideas are easier to write, so stick with two whenever possible.


  3. When asked if you agree or disagree, your opinion will be clearer when you fully agree or fully disagree.

    This will help you get a higher score because you need a clear opinion throughout your answer.


  4. When a question asks ‘to what extent‘, that means that you need to say the amount such as ‘a little bit‘, ‘a lot‘ or ‘mostly‘.

    So when you’re asked ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree?‘, you cannot say ‘I agree‘, you must say, ‘I completely agree‘.

Category B – Two Questions (2 main ideas)

In this category, you’ll be asked two questions and will need one main idea for each question.

Here are examples of what these questions look like;

When there are two questions asked, you'll often just need two ideas in your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay.
  • Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?
  • Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?
  • Why do many people neglect their pets? What can be done about this problem?
  • Why do you think pets are popular? What is your opinion of having a pet?
  • Why do you think this is happening? What can governments do to help unwanted pets?
Important considerations
  1. The fewer main ideas we have, the easier it is to write our essay.

    So when we’re asked something like ‘Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?’, we include one main idea for the first question and one main idea for the second question.

    However, in category A above, when we were only asked the second question, ‘Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?‘, we needed to include two main ideas because one main idea wouldn’t be enough.

3 Main Ideas Required

Category C – Discuss both views

This is the most common category in the IELTS Writing test and appears in about a third of all Task 2s.

The wording is always the same, and it will say;

  • Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
When discussing both views, you need to do this independently of your own opinion.
Important considerations
  1. Firstly, you need to explain why some people have the first view, then explain why some other people have the second view and finally say what your opinion is.

    It’s not suitable to just discuss one view and then discuss the second view as if it’s your own opinion.


  2. It’s most logical to discuss the two views first and then, for your opinion, say which view you agree with and why.

Category D – Two questions (3 main ideas)

Like category B above, you will be asked two questions.

This time, one of the questions will include a plural noun, meaning you have to include three main ideas in your answer.

Here are some examples;

Sometimes when there are two questions, you'll need to include 3 ideas in your Task 2 answer.
  • Why is this the case? What are the benefits of pet ownership for the owner?
  • Why might this be the case? What could be the disadvantages of owning a pet?
  • How might owning a pet make people happy? What are other benefits of owning a pet?
  • What problems can a poor diet cause? What can be done about a poor diet?
  • What factors contribute to having a poor diet? How realistic is it for everyone to have a good diet?
  • To what extent do you agree or disagree? What other measures do you think might be effective?
Important considerations
  1. It’s important to read the question carefully. If the question says ‘benefits’, we’ll need to include 2 benefits, but if the question said ‘benefit’, we would only include one.
Category E – Advantages vs Disadvantages

In this category, we also need to include 3 main ideas in our answer.

This time, you’re required to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of a situation.

The following are examples of how these tasks are worded;

Advantages versus disadvantages questions need to be navigated carefully.
  • Does this development have more advantages or more disadvantages?
  • Does this situation have more advantages or more disadvantages?
  • Are there more advantages than disadvantages of owning a pet compared to not owning one?
  • Do you think being a celebrity brings more benefits or more problems?
  • Do the advantages of this situation outweigh the disadvantages?
  • Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Important considerations
  1. How to respond to this category isn’t obvious, so I’ll show you what to write.
    Adapt one of the following sentences in the introduction of your essay;

    a) This has more advantages because the main advantages are A and B, whereas the main disadvantage is C.

    b) This has more disadvantages because the main disadvantages are A and B, whereas the main advantage is C.

    c) The advantages outweigh the disadvantages because the main advantages are A and B, whereas the only disadvantage is C.

    d) The disadvantages outweigh the advantages because the main disadvantages are A and B, whereas the only advantage is C.

4 Main Ideas Required

Category F – Plural & Plural

This category only appears in roughly 1 in every 17 IELTS Writing tests, so they’re quite rare, but it’s still important that you know how to respond.

There are two plural nouns in these questions, so we have no choice but to include 4 main ideas in our essay.

Here are some examples;

On rare occasions, you'll have to include four main ideas in your Task 2 essay.
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of giving children this message?
  • What are the benefits and disadvantages for tourists who visit such places?
  • Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.
  • What do you think are the causes of these problems and what measures could be taken to solve them?
Important considerations
  1. Just make sure to carefully look for the letter ‘s’ at the end of the nouns to confirm that they are both plurals.

The Stages of Question Analysis

This strategy for analyzing Writing Task 2 questions is simple but very effective.

Following the steps carefully will ensure you properly understand the question, and that means that you’re off to a perfect start for a high Task 2 band score.

At first, this process seems like it will take a long time, but once you get familiar with the steps, it only takes 1 or 2 minutes and is actually a great use of time.

The is the most important part in this step of my Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS.

Step 1 – Read the question

You need to read the question slowly and carefully two times.

Step 2 – Circle words you don’t understand

On rare occasions, you’ll come across words that you don’t understand.

This is not an ideal situation, but all you can do is guess the meanings of these words by using the context of the question.

When preparing for the IELTS test, if you frequently find words that you don’t understand in Task 2 questions, this means that you need to improve your English level before you get a high score.

If you can't understand a word in the Task 2 question, you'll just need to guess.

If that’s the situation you’re in, you can use my vocabulary improvement and grammar improvement strategies to help you.

Step 3 – Identify key information

The following questions will help you establish what the question is about.

  1. Does the question contain a fact or an opinion?
  2. Are there examples in the question?
  3. How many concepts are in the question?
  4. Is my opinion required?
  5. How many main ideas does my essay need?

Step 4 – Write the question in your own words

Cover the question so that you can’t see it and write it down in your own words.

When you write down the question in your own words, it’s very easy to discover any mistakes and fix them.

If you try to do this in your head, your understanding won’t be fixed, and the next step won’t be effective.

Most candidates will skip this step of my Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS.

Step 5 – Compare

Now you’re going to compare the question with what you’ve written.

Review each word in the question one at a time, and make sure you don’t ignore any of them.

You’re looking for any words that could potentially change the meaning of what you wrote.

Hopefully, you’ll find a mistake in your version because that will mean that you’re definitely right after you correct it.

Question Analysis Exercises

When you learn Writing Task 2 tips for IELTS, it’s also very important to practise these.

Practice will help you confirm that you understood the tip and that you can use it.

Analyse the questions as you learned in this lesson, and you’ll find the answers below.

It's time to practise what you've learned about analyzing Task 2 IELTS Writing questions.

Here is the template you need to fill out for each of the 12 Task 2 questions below;

a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion?
b) Are there examples in the question?
c) How many concepts are in the question?
d) Is my opinion required?
e) How many main ideas does my essay need?
f) Question in my words –

Task 2 practice questions

  1. All over the world, different cultures are more similar now than they were in the past.
    Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?

  2. Each country has its own traffic laws, such as speed limits, to ensure the safety of its citizens. However, many of these laws are broken every day.
    What do you think are the causes of this problem and what measures could be taken to solve them?     

  3. In many places around the world, the percentage of elderly people in the population has increased.
    Why is this the case? What are the benefits?     

  4. In most countries, despite the benefits of cycling, fewer and fewer people are using bicycles as a means of transportation.
    Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?     

  5. Many parents work long hours in stressful jobs so that they can provide a good standard of living for their children.
    Does this development have more advantages or more disadvantages?     

  6. Nowadays, some older people choose to live in retirement communities with other older people rather than living with their adult children.
    Discuss the advantages and disadvantages.     

  7. Nowadays, it has become normal for couples to spend a large amount of money on their wedding day.
    What is your opinion about this?     

  8. Nowadays, for many people, shopping has become a leisure activity rather than something that needs to be done out of necessity.
    What problems can this cause? What can be done to resolve this?     

  9. Some people believe that it’s better to live in the countryside. Others argue that living in the city is superior.
    Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.     

  10. Some university students live with their families while studying, but others prefer to move away from home.
    Do the benefits of moving out to attend university outweigh the disadvantages?     

  11. There are some who feel that extreme violence in movies should be banned as it can lead to criminal behaviour.
    To what extent do you agree or disagree?     

  12. There are many who feel that public transportation is the best way to commute. Others believe that private transportation such as cars is better.
    Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. 

Answers

Any incorrect answers will help you better understand what you need to do when analyzing Task 2 questions.
  1. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 2
    f) Question in my words – cultures were more different in the past
     
  2. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? yes
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? no (the cause I mention isn’t stating an opinion)
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 4
    f) Question in my words – traffic laws are regularly broken
     
  3. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? no
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 3
    f) Question in my words – there are more old people nowadays
     
  4. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? no
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 2
    f) Question in my words – more people cycled in the past
     
  5. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 3
    f) Question in my words – some parents work a lot in stressful jobs to earn money for their families
     
  6. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? no
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 4
    f) Question in my words – some elderly people decide to live in nursing homes instead of with their children
     
  7. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 2
    f) Question in my words – couples spend a lot on their weddings
     
  8. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? no
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 3
    f) Question in my words – people are shopping for pleasure instead of when they need something
     
  9. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? opinion
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 2
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 3
    f) Question in my words – living in the countryside vs living in a city
     
  10. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? fact
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 2
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 3
    f) Question in my words – staying at home vs moving out for university
     
  11. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? opinion
    b) Are there examples in the question? no
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 1
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 2
    f) Question in my words – violent movies should be illegal to help reduce crime rates
     
  12. a) Does the question contain a fact or an opinion? opinion
    b) Are there examples in the question? yes
    c) How many concepts are in the question? 2
    d) Is my opinion required? yes
    e) How many main ideas does my essay need? 3
    f) Question in my words – public vs private transportation

Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS – What now?

Continue to practice this process at home until you remember exactly what to do and you’re completely comfortable with it.

Click here, here, here and here for reliable questions you can use while doing this.

Now that you’ve completed the first of my Writing Task 2 Tips for IELTS, the next step is to plan your essays carefully so that your main ideas are relevant and specific and then you’ll be able to follow the exact method of writing an essay.

However, if you haven’t already completed my Task 2 lessons for Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, I recommend that you do these first.