IELTS essay topics

The essay for Task 2 IELTS requires you to write at least 250 words and has to be completed in 40 minutes. It is important to understand more about the IELTS essay topic to clear in the first attempt. It is important to be quick while writing but most importantly it is essential to maintain calm. This will help the aspirant to write a quality essay. The aspirants have to prepare general essay topics before appearing for the test so that they are aware of the writing style and pattern. This will consume less time and they will be able to finish the task in the stipulated time.

There are several students who aim to score well in the first attempt itself. Hence it is important that these aspirants become aware of the IELTS Writing Test 2 so that they can have an impressive band score and get admission to the university of their choice or pursue the course of their choice or apply for immigration.

What are the common topics for essays in IELTS Writing Task 2?

The IELTS essay topic is generic and related to society. The topics are generally related to education, health, the role of youth in society, age, gender, environment, etc. This means that purely general topics have found a place in IELTS Writing Task 2 test.

The aspirants can learn the basic structure to write the essay so that they are familiar with the pattern and can write an impressive essay easily. Prior preparation is very helpful.

What are the steps which can be followed while giving IELTS Writing Task 2?

Step 1: Introduction

Look at the question properly and repeat the same in the opening sentence of the essay but in different words. The introduction part of the essay should be correct and impressive because of the first few lines from the opinion in the mind of the IELTS examiner. Hence the aspirants should be able to give the best start to the essay. An example will prove the point in a better way.

Some people think and believe that capital punishment should not be used while some think otherwise. Discuss both views and give your opinion. 

In the above-mentioned topic, the writer should make use of the same question but using synonyms to make it sound different but the meaning should remain intact. For example, the death penalty is not the best way to deal with crime in the modern era. However, the other side of the coin is also true that rarest of rare crimes should meet with the death penalty.

In this way, the aspirant should start the introduction part of the essay.

Present your opinion about the subject in question. The examiner will come to know about your perception too. The fact is that the examiner is not interested to know what your opinion is. He or she is only interested to judge the level of English in the essay. So it is not required to think out of the box. But correct English is definitely required.

Step 2: Support your opinion

After giving the opinion, it is important to support your opinion by using phrases like I personally feel, From my point of view, in my opinion, I am convinced that, etc. These phrases can be used to support the opinion and the guidelines also state the same.

Step 3: Give the other side of the argument

The next paragraph should focus on the argument from another’s point of view if that is required as per the question. This will prove to the examiner that you have a balanced way of writing the essay which means that you weigh both sides with equality. The style of writing should be correct and grammar also needs to be correct. After all, it is an English test. Sentences like in contrast I hold the opinion, there is another side of the discussion, and etc. can be written.

Step 4: Conclusion

For finishing the IELTS essay topic, a conclusion is very important. The entire argument has to be summarized as a conclusion. Try to use impressive synonyms and finish the essay with an impressive conclusion. Weigh the argument so that an optimum conclusion is achieved. Students are given the best direction to write the conclusion because just like the introduction, the conclusion should summarize the points concisely and clearly.

IELTS Writing Task 2 information:

It is better to be aware of a few pointers before appearing for the IELTS Writing Task 2.

  • The aspirant should not spend more than 40 minutes to write the test.
  • The length has to be at least 250 words.
  • The total weight of the IELTS Writing Task 2 is 66%of the total Writing marks. 
  • The aspirant will be marked on:
  1. Coherence and Cohesion (25%)
  2. Task Response (25%)
  3. Grammar (25%)
  4. Vocabulary (25%)
  • Academic Writing Task 2 is about writing a formal essay. The essay has to focus on opinion, advantages, and disadvantages, agree to disagree with direct questions and solutions. These are the parameters upon which the essay requires elaboration and hence is judged by the examiner. It is important that the aspirants should have sample essays for preparation. This will brush their skills and make them confident enough to write the essay.
  • All words are counted; even repeated and small words. The word count should not be less than 250. 

How many paragraphs for IELTS Writing Task 2?

The IELTS essay topic must have 3-6 paragraphs as per the requirement of the task. The introduction, opinion, and conclusion are the main parameters upon which the essay is judged. Not to forget the English part for which the aspirant is accessed. Introduction and conclusion are a must and the aspirant should follow it with complete care. Hence prior preparation of essay writing will prove to be very helpful for the aspirants. They will be able to score a higher band.

How many body paragraphs should IELTS Writing Task 2 have?

Having 2-3 body paragraphs in the IELTS essay topic is enough to express your views. With the help of 2-3 paragraphs, the aspirant can expect to get a high score. After reading the essay topic, the aspirant can plan and decide the number of paragraphs to be written in the essay. The type of question and ideas also play a decisive role in this context.

What are the common essay topics?

The IELTS essay topic keeps changing but the subject of the topics remains the same. It is recommended that the aspirant should practice writing an essay on the entire possible essay topic so that they are not found confused in the test center.

Some of the common topics and their sub-topics are elaborated below:

  • Art

✔ Art in school

✔ Censorship of art and artists

✔ Creativity

✔ Benefits of art for society and individuals

✔ Funding

  • Communication and Personality

✔ Family and communication’

✔ Technology and communication

✔ Types of communication

✔ Face to face and long-distance communication

✔ Innate or developed personalities

✔ Male and female characters

  • Business and Money

✔ Family run business

✔ Small Vs big business

✔ International business

✔ Management and leadership

✔ Skills and knowledge for business

✔ Materialism and consumerism

  • Education

✔ Relevant subjects

✔ Children and education

✔ Education amongst under-privileged

✔ Role of teachers

✔ Technology and education

  • Crime and Punishment

✔ Capital punishment Vs other types of punishment

✔ Prison or rehabilitation

✔ Major Vs minor crime

✔ What makes a criminal

✔ Teenagers and crime

✔ Role of police and law

✔ Men and women in law enforcement

  • Economics

✔ Saving Vs Spending

✔ Cash Vs credit cards

✔ Economy and globalization

✔ Economic progress

✔ World issues regarding economics

  • Family and Children

✔ Family size

✔ Role of family

✔ Generation gap

✔ Family and education

✔ Role models

✔ Discipline

  • Environment

✔ Animals

✔ Protection of endangered species

✔ Global warming

✔ Environmental issues

✔ Zoos

✔ Solutions to preserve the environment

  • Food

✔ Education of diet

✔ Health foods and diet

✔ Traditional Vs modern diet

✔ Children and diet

✔ Fast food and side effects

  • Health

✔ Health and education

✔ Funding

✔ Prevention Vs cure

✔ Health aid

✔ Poor countries Vs rich countries

✔ Hospitals and treatment

✔ Dealing with epidemics

✔ Obesity

✔ Exercise and health

  • Media and Advertising

✔ Types of advertising

✔ Social media

✔ Media and technology

✔ Children and advertising

✔ News and reporting

✔ Censorship, control, and freedom of speech

  • Language

✔ Travel and language

✔ Language and culture

  • Reading

✔ Books and reading

✔ Children and reading

✔ Paper books Vs e-books

✔ Libraries

  • Technology

✔ Internet

✔ Cybercrime

✔ Hacking

✔ Cybersecurity

✔ Children and technology

✔ Letters Vs e-mail

  • Other common essay topics

✔ Water and oceans

✔ Space exploration

✔ Change and moving Vs constancy and stability

  • Travel

✔ Living in a global world

✔ Travel and tourism

✔ Culture and travel

✔ Travel and technology

  • Transport

✔ Different types of transport

✔ Development of infrastructure

✔ Environmental issues

✔ Problems with modern types of transport

  • Society

✔ Poverty

✔ Population

✔ Crime on the streets

✔ Homeless people

✔ Public services

✔ Government budget

✔ Modern life styles

✔ Discrimination in society

  • Sports

✔ Sport equipment

✔ Players and their future

✔ Professionals Vs amateurs

✔ Sport as a school subject

✔ Men Vs women in sports

✔ Types of sports

  • Work

✔ Types of work

✔ Working women

✔ Employment issues

✔ Trade unions

✔ Shift work

✔ Salary

✔ Gender inequality in work place

How to write IELTS essay band score eight essays?

Don’t just practice essay writing for the IELTS writing test. In fact, prepare and practice essay writing to score a high band. The IELTS essay is scored using the following 4 criteria:

✔ Task response

✔ Coherence and Cohesion

✔ Grammatical range and accuracy

✔ Lexical resource

What does the IELTS examiner want?

The examiner basically looks for correct English. They are not essentially looking for the knowledge an aspirant may or may not have about the topic. The essay should have clarity and correct grammar which are the most important points that the examiner wants.

  • Plan an essay. Spend some time for this so that the essay turns out to be a good one. 
  • Analyze the question and present the essay in the right format which includes an introduction, opinion, and conclusion. 
  • Use examples in the body paragraph to make it interesting.
  • Correct use of synonyms. Incorrect use of the same can lead to minus points.

It is always better to be prepared for the IELTS Writing test. Several IELTS teachers are there who are ready to offer the best preparation to the students. They have the expertise in the subject and are ready to offer the best guidance to the aspirants.