HOW TO ACE YOUR WRITING TASK 2

Essay Writing Tips

STEP 1- UNDERSTANDING THE QUESTION
• Read the question carefully and identify the type
of essay.
• This will help you formulate your essay correctly
and answer to the point.
• The examiner can judge your understanding of
the language based on appropriate content.
STEP2- BRAINSTORMING
• How to Brainstorm?
▫ To brainstorm ask yourself these questions: What?
Why? Or How?
▫ You can apply these questions to most of IELTS essays
▫ The aim of brainstorming is to write down as many
ideas that you can that are related to the topic.
▫ You should have more ideas than you actually need for
your essay because when you plan your essay you will
feel some ideas are inappropriate or lack detail and
you will delete them.
▫ During the exam, this process should take you about 5
minutes
SO, LETS START WITH AN ESSAY
QUESTION!
• Schools should concentrate more on teaching
students the academic subjects that will be useful for
their future careers. Less importance should be given
to non- academic subjects such as music and sports.
To what extend do you agree or disagree?

▫ I have highlighted the key words in red- these are the words
you should circle in your IELTS exam!

▫ The opinions for this essay are my own and can change as
there is no perfect answer and everyone has different
opinions. Some ideas may not be needed and will not be
used n the essay
STEP 3- FROM BRAINSTORMING TO WRITING
PARAGRAPHS
• What is an Academic Paragraph?
▫ An academic paragraph should consist of a main
idea, supporting sentences and maybe an example
(if necessary)
EXAMPLE OF A CLEARLY WORDED ACADEMIC
PARAGRAPH
• By encouraging students to engage in
extra-curricular activities, schools can
bring out their hidden talents. This will
help not only the students but also the
society. After all, not everybody is
required to be a doctor or an engineer.
For example, a student does not need an
A grade in physics or mathematics to be a
successful singer, writer or painter.
STEP 4- WRITING INTRODUCTION
PARAGRAPHS
• The easiest way to write an introduction for an
IELTS essay is to follow this formula:
▫ Write one sentence to start the topic
▫ Paraphrase (re-word) the statement from the
question in your own words.
▫ Give your opinion
• From your introduction you examiner should be
able to :
▫ What the topic is
▫ How you feel about it
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD INTRODUCTION
• What young people should study at school
has long been the subject of intense debate.
Most schools these days have a curriculum
that includes both academic and non-
academic subjects. However, many parents
and teachers believe that non-academic
subjects should be removed from the
curriculum so that children can focus on
academics. This might sound logical but I do
not believe that removing non-academic
subjects is the solution.
STEP 5: WRITING BODY PARAGRAPHS
• In the main body paragraphs, you want to show
the examiner that:
▫ you can write about your ideas
▫ explain them
▫ support them with examples that are relevant,
 If you do this, you will gain marks for
coherence. You should also make sure your writing
is following a formal style as this is an academic
essay.
MAIN BODY PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
• Introduce the topic
▫ Start the paragraph by introducing the topic. This is where
you need to have a topic sentence that introduces the examiner to
the main idea of the paragraph.
• Explain/give detail
▫ The next sentence(s) should explain the topic, going into
detail. It explains the idea, telling the examiner how it is relevant
to the question.
• Example
▫ The third part of your main body paragraph should give an
example to support your main points. The example you give could
be something from your own experience or made up - it is ok
to make up something as the examiners will not fact check your
information. They want to see your ability to use English at a
certain level. You could make up an example from a report,
journal, newspaper or University study to support your view.
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD BODY PARAGRAPH
• We need to provide young people the best possible
chance of doing well at school. In traditional curriculum
there is a wide variety of subjects with a mix of academic
and non- academic subjects. In this way a young person
is formed with a rounded education. Non- academic
subjects would include sports, cooking, and music. A
young person should learn things other than academic
subjects. Sport is particularly important. Young people
have to learn to love sport so that they can be fit and
healthy later in life. If not we will be raising an obese and
unfit generation. These subjects provide relaxation and
help students concentrate better on academic subjects.
Also, learning these is essential for the overall
development of children.
STEP 6- WRITING CONCLUSIONS
• The easiest way to write conclusion for an IELTS
essay is to follow this formula:
▫ Start with a concluding phrase
▫ Repeat main ideas from your essay- try and use
different words if possible
▫ State your final opinion
• Starting the last paragraph with a concluding phrase
tells the examiner that this is the end of the essay
and not the beginning of another body paragraph.
They expect to see a summary of your essay
TYPICAL CONCLUDING PHRASES
• You need to use a linking device when concluding. There are some
choices below.
▫ To Conclude,
▫ In conclusion,
▫ To summarize,
▫ To sum up
• Do not to use informal linking devices in the conclusion such as
these listed below. They are just too informal or inappropriate in the
conclusion.
▫ I reckon (informal)
▫ In the end (informal)
▫ All in all (informal)
▫ Generally speaking (too vague for a conclusion)
▫ Finally (this means you are making another final point)
▫ Lastly (this means you have a last point to make)
▫ All things considered (informal)
KEY POINTS ABOUT WRITING A
CONCLUSION.
• Do not add new information to the conclusion. Any new ideas or
main points should be covered in the main body paragraphs.
• Do not go into too much detail, conclusions should only be about 2
or 3 sentences long. Keep it short and concise.
• Sometimes you can have a prediction statement, (an ‘if’ statement)
in a problem solution essay for instance, this shows that you have a
good range of grammar.
• Do not use memorized ‘stock sentences’ in an IELTS essay
▫ This is because of bad advice being given on the internet. These kinds of
memorized sentences are not necessary and may affect your score. See
below:
 In conclusion, I firmly agree with the aforementioned statement….
 To conclude, as stated above, I think….
 To sum up, I wholeheartedly agree with the above mentioned points in
this essay…
 To reiterate, according to the aforementioned points….
HOW CAN YOU TELL IF IT’S A GOOD
CONCLUSION?
• If you were to just read the conclusion only and not
the essay, then you should be able to get a very good
idea of what the essay was about without even
reading the main body paragraphs. It should re-
paraphrase your thesis statement and briefly
summarize your main points.
▫ To conclude, there is no point is eliminating non-
academic subjects from the syllabus. In my opinion,
schools should encourage students to pursue a career
in a field of their choice. This would not be possible
without including a variety of topics in the curriculum.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
• If your conclusion is too long it could become irrelevant and
lose marks. There is no mention in the IELTS marking criteria
about this, but I advise a word count of under 45 words
• You do not have to be an expert on the topic to write about it,
the IELTS exam is not a general knowledge test. You do not
have to personally agree or disagree, just give an opinion, its
does not have to be your own personal view.
• The whole point of giving your opinion and giving specific
examples is to show the examiner how well you have
understood the question, you can paraphrase, explain and
support your ideas, use grammar effectively and use good
vocabulary. In the conclusion you need to summarize and be
concise.
• I advise practicing as much as possible with paraphrasing
introductions, thesis statements and conclusions.