The first rule of IELTS essays is to answer the question. One problem in doing that is there are different types of IELTS essay questions each of which poses its own problems. In this post, I talk you through the three main types of essay questions and show you how to identify them and what problems they pose.
I strongly suggest that you practise writing essays on each type of question before you get to the exam. You will find a selection of essay questions organised by question type on my sample essay question page.
1. The discussion
Here you are given a social issue or problem and asked directly to discuss it and very often asked to suggest a solution for it.
Two examples
In this type of question you are given the problem (here in red) and then told how to discuss it/your task (in blue).
In many countries schools have severe problems with student behaviour. What do you think are the causes of this? What solutions can you suggest?
and
Many universities charge higher fees for foreign students. Why do they do this? Do you believe that it is fair?
Typical task words
- “Why do they think that?”
- “What solutions can you suggest?”
Typical problems
There are 2 typical problems with understanding this type of essay question.
- You are being asked for your personal opinion: it is not enough to talk generally about the topic. You must give your personal view.
- Very often you given two tasks: for example, to discuss the causes and the solution. If you discuss only one of these, you will be penalised on Task Achievement.
- The question does not give you much help with ideas: you may need to spend more time planning and thinking of ideas
2. The proposal
Here you are given an opinion about some social issue to discuss. Typically, you are asked whether or to what extent you agree with it.
Two examples
In this type of question you are given an opinion (in red) and then told how to discuss it/your task (in blue). Sometimes the question is longer and you are given some background information (in green), then the opinion and then the task.
Fatherhood ought to be emphasized as much as motherhood. The idea that women are solely responsible for deciding whether or not to have babies leads on to the idea that they are also responsible for bringing the children up. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
and
Currently there is a trend towards the use of alternative forms of medicine. However, at best these methods are ineffective, and at worst they may be dangerous. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Typical task words
- “What is you opinion?”
- “Do you agree that…”
- “To what extent do you agree?”
- Discuss
Typical problems
There are three typical problems with understanding this type of essay question:
- The questions are simply longer to read and sometimes harder to understand. Spend plenty of time reading the question and underlining the key words and making sure you understand what words like “this” and “these” refer to.
- It can be easy to confuse the background information from the opinion. You must discuss the opinion (the bit in red). If you only discuss the topic (the bit in green), you will be penalised on Task Achievement.
- You need to discuss the opinion in the question. You cannot only give your opinion.
3. The argument
Here you are given a problem or issue and two different solutions or opinions about it. Typically, you are then asked to decide which solution/opinion is the better.
Two examples
The argument type essay question has two main types. In the first type, you get two different situations or opinions (red) and then your task (in blue) is to decide between them.
In some countries people pay different rates of tax depending on their salary, in other countries everyone pays the same rate. Which do you believe is the best system?
In the second type, you get a solution (in red) to a situation (in green) and you then your task (in blue) is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of that solution.
Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing developed nations today. What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of reducing the working week to thirty five hours?
Typical task words
“What are the advantages and disadvantages of this”
Typical problems
There are two typical problems here:
- The essay discusses the problem generally and doesn’t talk about advantages or disadvantages or make a choice between the two options. Again this will be penalised under Task Achievement.
- The essay only looks at the advantages or the disadvantages. It needs to look at both sides of the question.
Other question types
I would like to emphasise that you may well find questions that could fall into two different categories. That is not so important. What really matters is learning to look at each question and deciding what precisely it is asking you to do and what possible problems it poses.
A checklist
This is my very simple checklist to help you decide which type of question you are looking at:
1. Does it ask me what my own opinion is about a topic? → Discussion question → Use my own opinions
2. Does it ask me to discuss a particular proposal? → Proposal question → Discuss that proposal
3. Does it ask me to decide between two different opinions or look at the advantages and disadvantages of a topic → Argument question→ Discuss both sides and come to a decision
An exercise
Look at these reported recent IELTS questions and decide which type of essay you need to write:
- Many people have an unhealthy diet and do not take enough exercise. What do you think are the reasons for this and what can be done to encourage people to lead a more healthy lifestyle?
- Although countries with long average working hours are economically successful, this often has some negative social consequences. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
- Some people think that paying taxes is enough to contribute to society. Others argue that being a citizen involves more responsibilities. Discuss.
- Many people argue that children should stay in school until the age of eighteen. What are the advantages and disadvantages of making school compulsory until the age of 18?
- Many people nowadays leave their county to work abroad and take their family with them. What are the advantages and disadvantages in terms of family development?
Hello Dominic,
I have a question about the checklist above.
1. Does it ask me to give my own opinion about a topic? → Discussion question → Use my own opinions
—> It seems to me this is a proposal question.
2. Does it ask me to discuss a particular opinion about a topic? → Proposal question → Discuss that opinion
—> Isn’t it Discussion question?
Best regards
Hi
Thanks for your highly intelligent comment.
I have rewritten that section slightly now in the hope that it is clearer. There is perhaps a slight difficulty with terminology here. I’m tying to avoid the word “opinion essay” as much as possible. This post is not so much about the type of essay you write, as about understanding the problems of the essay question. For me, this is a necessary first step. I will in due course be looking at different types of essay.
My point in distinguishing between proposal and discussion questions is this: in the “Proposal Question”, you are “discussing” someone else’s point of view whereas in the “Discussion Question” you need to find your own solutions to a problem. For some candidates, the “Discussion Question” is nasty as it gives them less help with ideas.
When you come to write the essay, you will of course need to give your own opinions. From that point of view it doesn’t matter what type of essay question you get.
Dear Dominic,
Thank you for further explanations and rewriting. Now I understood that you are telling about understanding the problems of the essay question and key points when I answer to different type of questions.
Hello, Dominic
I have a slightly irrelevant question. Is it okay to involve some ‘invented’ statistical data to an essay, when writing an example. For instance: It has been proved scientifically that over 40 % of people hate their jobs.
thank you in advance
No problem whatsoever. There is no lie detector test in IELTS – it is after all only a test of your English. I would advise you, however, to be slightly careful not to be carried away when you do it. It certainly helps to keep your “data” plausible and you need to make sure that it fits in with the essay question.
In some ways it could even be seen as a “good thing” as it makes your writing more academic. Although in truth the IELTS essay is not a particularly academic piece of writing and I would generally advise you to keep your writing fairly plain and simple, as opposed to trying to show off academically. IELTS examiners are not academics!
Here are some sample phrases for you to consider:
It has been demonstrated that
Research has shown that
A recent opinion poll showed that
thanks, this clarifies a lot.
hello again, Mr.Cole. There’s one thing that’s unclear to me about the proposal essay. Here’s the example.
“Education should be free. To what extent do you agree or disagree? ”
Should I take a firm position about only one side ( agree or disagree) and then devote the whole essay to proving this particular side, or should I describe both plus and minus of the statement and then say what i think in the conclusion ??
2 Mr. Cole
My overall band score is 7.5! Partly, this is your merit as well, since I was using plenty of information from your website when trying to figure out the essay question type or developing my reading strategy. Thaks alot! I wish you further sucess.
Hi Mr Cole,
4 weeks back i suddenly got the idea of attempting ielts, so i booked a slot and had a descent 2 weeks of time to prepare . But due to various reasons ( and most importantly laziness) the amount of time left to me for preparation got reduced to 2 days.. jus 2 days to go for IELTS and i din had any idea about it..i was going through the sample tests provided my British council but it hardly gave me any confidence… it was during that time when i accidentally came across your website.(Serendipity..:)) and i was amazed.. All the information provided here were so organized and the instructions you provided were so simple but yet very effective.. i concentrated the last 2 days before my exam on your website..following all your guidelines.. ( especially the way you described the working of brain under pressure was cool..) and did my best at the exam..
And today i got my result..an overall band of 7.5.. thanks a lot sir..:):)
Thank you very much! I’ve struggled to picture the 3 types, and they are clear to me now
Thanks again
Hi Mr Cole,
This is Ajay from India.
I have taken IELTS 5 times till now any everytime I am getting 6.5 ..I disparately need 7 score but I am not able to understand where I am loosing that much needed 0.5.
Can you help me to understand this.
Also is there anyway you can review my essays.
Thanks,
Ajay
Hi Ajay
I’m simply too busy yo help sorry. It’s partly for this reason I’ve added online tutors to the site. They all look at essays. So I suggest you contact one of them.
Good luck with the 7.
Dominic
In advantages and disadvantages essay, can be take one side either of advantages or disadvantages in conclusion paragraph
please reply soon because my ielts test is coming soon
This will depend slightly on how the question is worded. Always always read the question very carefully.
If the question is “Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this proposal”. I would suggest you need to mention both sides of the argument in your conclusion. This is because your conclusion should reflect your whole essay. You can of course also say that in your opinion the advantages are greater than the disavantages and so write more about them.
Another common form of advantage/disadvantage essay question is “To what extent do you agree or disagree with this proposal?” Here you have 3 basic options:
1. You can agree
2. You can disagree
3. You can agree and disagree
In this case, you must make your position clear in the conclusion.
hello Mr cole i realy want to thank you for sending me this amazing email But i have one question ihave taken ielts exam thrice and on every exam 5 without any develope idont know why the same mark
hello sir
i have only 1 day for my exam still iam confused about writing can plzzzzzzzzzzz help so dat i can get a band 7 in writing. infact while searching on net i came to know about ur site and i really found it very helpul but still give me tips for d last minute preparation plzzzzzzzz
One day before is too late to do anything serious. the best thing you can do is relax and clear your head. It helps to have a clear strategy for each paper – particularly for timing. If you feel in control, you feel better and should perform better.
Hello Dominic,
I have recently written IELTS and was given a problem to discuss in writing. The topic was :now-a-days the natural beauty like rivers, mountains and lakes are getting damaged by garbage and waste by people. Why do people do that? What do you think should be done to prevent this?
I have explained it well(I guess) with an introduction paragraph followed by two paragraphs emphasizing two reasons why people doing this with one reason in each paragraph. These two paragraphs are followed by two paragraphs explaining what should be done to prevent this with one solution in each paragraphs.
I forgot to write a conclusion paragraph. Do we really need to give conclusion for a problem task in the end?
Thank you and awaiting for your reply
Yes, i’m afraid you do. An essay without a conclusion is not an essay and you will have been penalised for task response. It is not perfect but the advice is to write a sentence conclusion if you are running out of time so that at least you have something there for the examiner to look at.
For me, a good conclusion does make an essay better. It is a skill worth practising. It need not be a long/complex conclusion, but if you can briefly summarise the essay and return to the introduction, it does help your task response
Hello Dominic,
I have recently written IELTS and was given a problem to discuss in writing. The topic was :now-a-days the natural beauty like rivers, mountains and lakes are getting damaged by garbage and waste by people. Why do people do that? What do you think should be done to prevent this?
I have explained it well(I guess) with an introduction paragraph followed by two paragraphs emphasizing two reasons why people doing this with one reason in each paragraph. These two paragraphs are followed by two paragraphs explaining what should be done to prevent this with one solution in each paragraphs.
I forgot to write a conclusion paragraph. Do we really need to give conclusion for a problem task in the end?
Thank you and awaiting for your reply
Yes, sadly for you the conclusion is needed. It is an essential part of an essay.
Dear Mr. Cole,
I would like to Thank you and all the Blog participants for clearing out many confusions for IELTS candidates. However, I have few questions where I feel myself weak.
1. How can I use a strong vocabulary in Writing Exam? Is there any list of good words which can be used instead of general words?
2. Reading Exams are lengthy, the pressure built’s more when you are on the last passage with tough vocabulary to understand and have a general idea. What do you suggest?
Please, do pray as I am appearing for IELTS tomorrow.
Thanks.
Good luck tomorrow. Get a good night’s sleep and try to relax is my best advice.
On writing the best vocab is very often simple vocab. many candidates get this wrong and try and use over-complex words. You may not believe this, but all my essays are at least band score 8.0 and mostly 9.0. Don’t be fooled that they use simple language. They are well written and clearly written. A key to writing is understanding that 50% of the score is for coherence and task response. Take a look at IELTS Simon’s blog – you will find he says the same thing.
On reading, yes time can be a problem. Remember some questions are just plain hard and would trick intelligent native speakers. Don’t get stuck, move on.