Let’s look at an example of this kind of question:
Nowadays governments are investing more in public transport such as buses and trains rather than in building new roads.
What are the reasons for this?
Is this a positive or negative development?
I. Clear position
For this kind of task you need to discuss both questions.
In the first question, you are given a situation and asked to explain why.
The second question requires a clear opinion so you must choose a side.
This is very important for your task response score.
If you don’t choose a side and support that ‘position’ clearly, you will lose marks for your task response.
You will get a maximum of a 5 for task achievement if you do not choose a side.
It’s not important which side you choose as long as you choose one.
Here are the options for the second question:
1) Agree. You think it’s a positive development that governments are spending more money on public transport. You support r this opinion.
2) Disagree. You think it’s a negative development that governments are spending more money on public transport. You support this opinion.
II. Clear essay structure
I always recommend to my students that they give their opinion in the introduction as well as the conclusion (for all IELTS Task 2 questions).
Technically, it’s OK to write a very general introduction and leave your opinion to the end.
But I strongly suggest that you don’t do this because it’s not as clear.
Also, you might run out of time before you’ve got to your conclusion, so overall it’s a risky strategy. If you don’t choose a side and support that ‘position’ clearly, you will lose marks for your task response.
Therefore my suggested IELTS Task 2 essay structure is four paragraphs – an introduction, two main (or body) paragraphs and a conclusion.
The opinion is presented in the introduction and re-stated in the conclusion.
Ideally each body paragraph should discuss one main idea.
Now let’s look at the options in more detail.
III. Possible Essay structures
1) Agree – you feel it’s a positive development that governments are spending more money on public transport.
You need at least one good reason why it’s happening and one good reason why it’s a positive development.
| Paragraph 1 (intro) | Paraphrase both questions and state your overall opinion (you feel it’s a positive development) |
| Paragraph 2 (body 1) | Explain and support your reason why governments are spending more money on public transport. |
| Paragraph 3 (body 2) | Explain and support your reason why this is a positive development. |
| Paragraph 4 (conclusion) | Re-state your overall opinion (you feel it’s a positive development) and summarise your main reasons. |
2) Disagree – you feel it’s a negative development that governments are spending more money on public transport.
You need at least one good reason why it’s happening and one good reason why it’s a negative development.
Only the parts highlighted below are different from the first essay
| Paragraph 1 (intro) | Paraphrase both questions and state your overall opinion(you feel it’s a negative development) |
| Paragraph 2 (body 1) | Explain and support your reason why governments are spending more money on public transport. |
| Paragraph 3 (body 2) | Explain and support your reason why this is a negative development. |
| Paragraph 4 (conclusion) | Re-state your overall opinion (you feel it’s a negative development) and summarise your main reasons. |
