IELTS Writing Task 2: A Structure That Works Every Time

By Connor Engels, OCT · 27 July 2026

What Task 2 is, and why it matters more

In IELTS Writing, Task 2 asks for a formal essay of at least 250 words in about 40 minutes, responding to a statement or question. It carries roughly twice the weight of Task 1 in your writing score. If you are short on preparation time, this is where to spend it.

Write Task 2 first if you find yourself under pressure. Running out of time on the shorter, lower-weighted task costs you far less.

The four criteria, in plain terms

• Task response — did you answer the whole question, take a clear position, and develop it?
• Coherence and cohesion — is it organised, and does it flow without feeling mechanical?
• Lexical resource — vocabulary range and precision.
• Grammatical range and accuracy — sentence variety and correctness.

Task response is where most candidates quietly lose a band. An essay can be well written and still only half-answer the question, and half an answer caps your score no matter how good the English is.

Know which question type you have

There are five common types, and each needs a slightly different plan. Identify yours before writing anything.

1. Opinion (agree or disagree). Take a clear position and hold it. Sitting on the fence is the most expensive mistake here.
2. Discussion (discuss both views and give your opinion). You must do both. One paragraph per view, and your own opinion stated explicitly, not implied.
3. Advantages and disadvantages. Cover both. Check whether it also asks which outweighs the other — if it does, answer that too.
4. Problem and solution. Name causes, then propose realistic solutions that actually address those causes.
5. Two-part question. Two direct questions in the prompt. Answer both. Leaving one out is an automatic cap on task response.

The structure

Four paragraphs. It is not the only structure that works, but it works for every question type and it removes the decision from test day.

Introduction (2 sentences)

Paraphrase the question, then state your position or say what the essay will cover. Do not copy the prompt — copied words are excluded from your word count and signal a narrow vocabulary. Do not write a general opening about the modern world.

Body paragraph 1

One main idea, stated in the first sentence. Then explain it, then support it with a specific example. One developed idea beats three undeveloped ones, every time.

Body paragraph 2

A second main idea, handled the same way. For a discussion question, this is the opposing view. For an opinion question, it is your second reason.

Conclusion (2 sentences)

Restate your position in different words and close. No new ideas, no new examples. A missing conclusion costs more than a short one.

Spend the first eight minutes planning

This feels wasteful and it is the highest-return habit in the whole test. Candidates who start writing immediately tend to discover their argument halfway through and produce an essay that changes direction — which coherence and cohesion punishes.

A 40-minute plan:

• 0–5 minutes: read the question twice, identify the type, decide your position, note two main ideas and one example each.
• 5–33 minutes: write, without stopping to polish.
• 33–40 minutes: check. Look for the errors you personally make — articles, plurals, subject-verb agreement, tense consistency.

Cohesion without sounding robotic

Linking words help until they are overused. An essay that begins every paragraph with "Firstly", "Secondly", "In conclusion" reads as a template, and examiners are explicitly trained to notice mechanical cohesion.

Better cohesion comes from referencing what you just said: "This shift…", "Such policies…", "The result of that…". It connects ideas rather than labelling their order.

Examples: specific beats hypothetical

"For example, in many countries, governments have implemented such policies" is not an example. It is a vaguer restatement.

"Finland's decision to delay formal schooling until age seven is often cited in this debate" is an example. You do not need statistics and nobody is fact-checking you to the decimal. You need something concrete enough that it could only support this specific point.

Common band-limiters

• Under 250 words. A direct penalty. Learn what 250 of your words looks like on paper so you can estimate without counting.
• Memorised sentences. Prefabricated introductions are recognisable and they are discounted.
• No clear position on an opinion question.
• Answering half a two-part question.
• Informal language — contractions, "stuff", "a lot of", rhetorical questions.
• One long paragraph. Paragraphing is part of coherence, and an unbroken block of text limits that score on sight.

How to practise

Write fewer essays, more carefully. Four essays that you plan, write to time, and then analyse properly will teach you more than fifteen rushed ones.

After each, mark yourself against the four criteria honestly and keep a running list of the grammar errors you repeat. Most candidates make the same five mistakes over and over, and fixing those five is often worth half a band on its own.