IELTS Writing Task 2 asks you to build an argument that answers the exact question. Start with the original prompt below, compare your plan with the worked plan, then read a complete essay and see why each paragraph is there. This guide is for learners preparing for Academic or General Training Writing.
Format · Try the planning exercise · Complete sample essay · Review your own writing · Start Writing practice
Task 2 format: words, timing and assessment
Write at least 250 words and allow about 40 minutes within the 60-minute Writing test. Both tasks matter; Task 2 carries twice Task 1's weight. Write connected paragraphs, not a bullet-point answer. Confirm your format through the official Academic Writing or General Training Writing page. References checked on 20 September 2026.
The minimum is not a target to miss deliberately, and a longer answer does not automatically earn more credit. Leave time to check relevance and language. An answer below the minimum may not provide enough evidence of your language skills for higher bands.
Try this original question before reading the answer
Some people think public libraries should spend most of their budget on digital resources instead of printed books. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
This is a BandLadder teaching prompt, not a reported future exam question. Take a few minutes to write a position and two reasons. Pay attention to most of their budget: the question is about a funding priority, not whether digital resources have any value.
Which plan addresses that decision more directly?
- Plan A: Describe how libraries have changed, list several popular websites, and explain that reading is important.
- Plan B: Partly agree with expanding digital access, explain who benefits, then argue against a universal majority allocation because local access needs differ.
Check the plan and see a possible outline
Plan B answers the budget decision. It gives a position on the proposal and a reason to limit that agreement. Plan A stays near the topic but could finish without answering how the budget should be used.
- Introduction: support digital investment but reject the same majority allocation everywhere.
- Body 1: explain how remote access helps people who cannot visit during opening hours.
- Body 2: explain why local access barriers and demand still justify printed materials.
- Conclusion: recommend a needs-based balance rather than a universal rule.
A different position could also work. What matters in this exercise is whether the reasons actually support the position you chose.
A complete original Task 2 essay
The response below is a teaching example. It has not been awarded an official examiner band. Read it once for its argument, then read the paragraph notes that follow.
Public libraries increasingly provide electronic books and online learning services alongside their printed collections. Although I support substantial investment in these digital resources, I do not believe that every library should allocate most of its budget to them. Spending decisions should reflect the practical needs of the community each library serves.
Digital materials can make a library useful to people who rarely enter the building. A parent working evening shifts, for example, might borrow an electronic book after the local branch has closed. Students could also consult reference materials from home without spending time travelling. These advantages justify maintaining a reliable digital collection and helping readers learn to use it. Where many residents already have suitable devices and internet connections, expanding this service may be a sensible priority. However, convenience for these users does not establish the best allocation for every community.
A large shift away from printed materials could exclude readers whose access is already limited. Someone with an old phone and an unreliable connection may find a printed textbook easier to use than a complex online platform. Children may also need books that a family can share without purchasing another device. Libraries should therefore examine borrowing patterns and ask residents about their needs before redirecting funds. A branch serving many digitally confident commuters might reasonably invest more online, while another may need to replace worn books and maintain a varied physical collection. Both choices can serve the same public purpose.
In conclusion, digital resources deserve meaningful funding, but a fixed rule favouring them would overlook differences between library users. I would support a flexible budget that improves remote access while preserving printed materials wherever they remain necessary.
What each paragraph contributes
- Introduction: makes the degree of agreement clear. It accepts investment but rejects one allocation rule for all libraries.
- First body paragraph: connects remote access to a specific reader's needs. The example illustrates the reasoning; it is not presented as a research finding.
- Second body paragraph: explains the limitation and gives a decision method. Device access and borrowing demand relate directly to the proposed spending priority.
- Conclusion: returns to the same conditional position rather than introducing an unrelated benefit.
The four-paragraph shape is one possible organisation for this response. It is not a rule that makes any essay a particular band. The content of each paragraph must do useful work.
Develop a reason rather than list several opinions
A useful drafting question is: “How does this reason lead to my conclusion?” Compare “Digital books are convenient” with an explanation of who gains access, what prevents them from visiting, and how remote borrowing addresses that obstacle. The second version makes the relationship visible.
Try expanding this claim in your own words: Libraries should ask local residents before changing their collections. Add a mechanism, a plausible example and a connection to the funding decision. Avoid inventing a survey percentage to make the paragraph sound authoritative.
Compare with one possible paragraph development
Asking residents can reveal needs that borrowing totals alone may miss. For instance, a person who stopped visiting because the large-print collection is outdated would not appear as an active borrower. A short consultation could identify that barrier before the library spends its available funds on another digital subscription. Listening to this group would help the library choose resources that people can actually use.
The development moves from a claim to a reason, then an illustrative situation and its implication. It remains connected to allocating resources. This is paragraph feedback for learning, not an examiner's score.
Review the whole response against four criteria
The official Writing band descriptors assess Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Use the full descriptors when studying band differences. A Task 2 criterion profile alone is not the final Writing band because Task 1 also contributes.
For your own review, ask four concrete questions:
- Did I answer the question? Underline the exact sentence that states your view on the proposal. Check that every requested part has an answer.
- Can a reader follow my reasoning? Write a short margin label for each paragraph. If two labels say the same thing, you may be repeating rather than developing the argument.
- Did I choose words accurately? Look for vague labels, awkward combinations and words selected only because they sound difficult.
- Do my sentences express the relationships clearly? Check sentence boundaries, agreement and clauses that became difficult to control while drafting.
Do not award yourself a complete band score from one introduction or an isolated list of errors. Use feedback on the whole response, then make one specific improvement and test it in a fresh essay.
Build a repeatable practice session
A starting routine is five minutes for reading and planning, thirty for drafting, and five for checking. These divisions are a practice suggestion, not separate official timers. Adjust them if your drafts show that you need more planning or checking time.
- Circle the instruction words and the topic's limits.
- Write your position in one sentence.
- Choose reasons you can explain without relying on memorised statistics.
- Draft connected paragraphs, with examples that support those reasons.
- Check the response against the actual prompt before polishing individual words.
After feedback, revise the weakest paragraph rather than immediately copying a model answer. Then try a different prompt to see whether you can apply the improvement without remembering the sample.
When to use the separate structure guide
If your main difficulty is deciding what each paragraph should cover, use the five-question-type structure and paragraph guide. It has planning examples, a paragraph-choice exercise and fifteen prompts. This page is the full-response walkthrough; the structure guide is the planning reference.
For the other part of your Writing test, choose the Academic Task 1 data and overview guide or the General Training letter-writing guide. Keep your exam version consistent when moving into practice.
For a larger worked set, use the ten complete essays in our July 2026 Task 2 practice archive. Attempt a prompt first, then compare its sample and revision task. The collection is practice material, not a guarantee of future exam questions.
Turn the plan into your own Writing attempt
Start IELTS Academic Writing practice · Start IELTS General Writing practice
BandLadder offers 30k+ IELTS questions and 25k+ PTE questions across its wider library, with mock tests, AI feedback for supported tasks and prediction resources. These are whole-library counts, not Task 2 totals. Begin with the free practice available in your account; compare plan inclusions for broader access. AI feedback is practice guidance, and prediction resources do not guarantee future exam questions.
