Here is a model answer based on an essay topic from the Cambridge IELTS 15 textbook on the role of newspapers and books in the future. It’s an opinion essay and in this type of essay, you need to clearly state your opinion throughout the response.
The answer is quite long at over 300 words so I would advise aiming for under 300 words as you will only have 40 minutes to write the essay.
Model answer for an IELTS essay on the topic of wealth and helping others.Before writing anything we must always analyse the task. Take 2 minutes to do this and underline keywords and decide what exactly you need to write about. In this stage check the instruction words too.
It might seem obvious but this is a crucial stage before even planning or writing. I have seen so many essays go off-topic because the student did not spend the time at the start analysing the task Let’s see the task question below.
What is the ideal word count for IELTS writing?Updated July 2022.
This is a common question many IELTS candidates have but there seems to be misinformation out on the internet about word count in the IELTS writing section.
Although the word count penalty has been abolished I would advise writing more than 250 words in an essay and over 150 words in writing task 1 to fully develop your answer. Here are some examples of what I have heard about the word count in IELTS essays and writing task 1.
How to write examples in IELTS essay body paragraphs.Updated: January 2023
In IELTS writing task 2 it is very important to be able to extend your ideas and support your main idea in the body paragraphs. This can be done with supporting points and specific examples. This is necessary to get a good band score in task response and helps with the overall cohesion of the essay.
By using examples the examiner can see how you are developing your main idea in the main body paragraphs. However, the examples given must be specific to the task question and your main idea, and they should also be clear, easy to follow, concise, and realistic looking, but never include statistics.
Timing and preparation in IELTS WritingI have had many students who get to the IELTS writing section and start stressing out because their time management becomes an issue and they can’t finish the essay or leave only 10 minutes for task 1. You will only have around 40 minutes to write a 250+word essay, so straight away this tends to create anxiety. Then there is writing task 1 which should only take 20 minutes. That’s 1 hour in total for the writing section. It is easy to feel pressure in this situation.
If you don’t finish your essay and fail to write a conclusion then you will end up with a Band 5 in task response.
Time management issues come from not being prepared. If you feel that you are not quite ready for the exam or if you are in a hurry to get to Band 7 or more, it will only cause anxiety and you will end up under huge pressure to finish in a set amount of time. Fear creeps in and you stress about timing and worry about failing. This is not a good mindset to have in IELTS.
It takes weeks or months of consistent preparation, practice and good feedback to get from a Band 6 to a Band 7.
You should allocate 10 minutes to planning your essay. Some students think they are wasting time planning or they only spend 2 minutes planning. So they start writing and suddenly get new ideas and think, ‘maybe I should put that in’ hoping to impress the examiner with sophisticated ideas. I have had a few students who did this, they couldn’t finish their essay and ended up with a Band 6 even though they were capable of a Band 7.
Do not go into the exam until you have found your weaknesses and got feedback from an IELTS expert on your writing.
It could be just two or three areas which are causing problems such as grammar (articles, plurals, faulty complex sentences) or wording issues (wrong collocations, memorised words from lists) Maybe it is task response (going off-topic, not covering both sides in a discussion essay, not supporting your ideas etc..)
I advise anyone doing IELTS to spend at least a few months preparing so that when you go into the exam you will feel relaxed. When you feel confident in your writing then you can practice timing your essay in 40 minutes and 20 minutes for a task one.
Begin by giving yourself over an hour to write an essay. WHen you get the hang of it bring that down to 1 hour, then 50 minutes, then 45 minutes, and finally, start timing yourself to get the essay written in 40 minutes. Start slowly and work at it over time.
Planning is very important in the writing exam. Set aside 10 minutes to plan your essay. It sounds like a long time but you need this time to analyse the question, think of ideas and supporting points and get an idea for the structure. Once you have decided on your plan and got your main points with supporting points, stick to them, don’t suddenly change your ideas when writing, you will only confuse yourself.
See this lesson here about the 5 things you need to do before you begin writing an essay.
If you have issues with grammar and vocabulary and you are stuck at Band 5.5 then you will have a lot of work to do that could take months or even a year. It really depends on your study schedule.
Ask yourself this: are you finding the time to study or are you finding excuses not to study?. Remember that to jump from a Band 5 to a Band 7 is a huge task.
The IELTS test is quite simply testing your English. If you are a Band 5 your English level is around Pre-intermediate (B1 on the CEFR scale) so you will need lots of good feedback on your writing and speaking.
To have a good chance at a Band 7 your English level should be at the higher end of B2 and close to C1 on the CEFR scale below.
Source: ielts.org
Many people studying for IELTS think that by doing practice test after practice test and doing the exam over and over it will give them different results. It doesn’t. Why? because you need to get feedback on what your weaknesses are. For example, if writing is an issue ask yourself lots of questions.
Spend 15 minutes asking yourself questions about your preparation and you will find many areas that need improvement. It’s a big job to jump a whole band score. Your goal is to raise the level of your overall English abilities.
Find your weaknesses and start fixing them. It will be worth it in the end.
What is the difference between a Causes Solution and a Problem Solution essay?Problem solutions and causes solutions essay are very similar but there is a subtle difference. One type asks about the problems and the other type asks about the causes.
It is very important to spend a couple of minutes analysing the task question so that you know what to write about in the essay. I have seen many good essays lose marks in Task Response because the writer did not find the issues in the task question or did not fully understand what to write about.
Updated: Feb 18th 2022
There are some IELTS teachers out there who tell students to write an outline statement after the thesis statement. In my view, this is not a good way to structure the introduction.
Outline statements are only for true academic essays that are many pages long like you would write at university (IELTS essays are short discursive essays)
Another reason why I advise not writing them is that they look like they have been memorised. The examiner is looking out for memorised statements and sentences. You could lose points on this in task response and lexical resource. To put it simply, you have to use your own words. The IELTS examiners are looking at how you can use language naturally and coherently.
5 steps you should take when planning your IELTS essay.Update: May 20th 2021
Planning is extremely important before writing an essay in writing task 2. (also for writing task 1) Most teachers have different advice for this. Some say 2 minutes others say 5 minutes and yet others say 7 to 10 minutes of planning time.
I believe that you should take at least 10 minutes to plan. Why? because I have had students before with good English skills who did not take the time to plan, they ended up with a Band 6 even though they were capable of a Band 7.
Showing the other side of the argument in an opinion essay.Updated: March 2023
In an opinion essay you should give 2 reasons for your opinion in the thesis statement then back them up with with an explanation in the main body paragraphs. I usually advise my students to choose one side, either agree or disagree, and stick with that.
You do not actually get a higher band score for a balanced approach, so it is safer to choose one side and stick with that view throughout the essay. Remember that your opinion must be in the introduction, main body paragraphs and the conclusion.
However, something that will showcase your language ability is to show the other side of the argument or give a concession to help balance the essay. This gives the essay good coherence cohesion and a wider range of grammar. This should be done carefully though, because you still have to maintain your own opinion and not contradict yourself.
Updated Jan 18th 2023
Below is an IELTS question for writing task 2 and my model answer. It is on the topic of Education. After analysing the question, I can see that it’s about whether homework is a good idea or not in helping kids in their educational development. It asks me to discuss both views and also asks for my opinion.
In this case, you must state your opinion in the introduction, the body and conclusion.