Task 2
The commonest Task 2 question, and the one candidates most often refuse to answer. With a worked example and a practice exercise.
An IELTS opinion essay asks you to take a position and defend it for 250 words. It is the most frequent Task 2 question in both modules, and the most common way to lose marks on it is not writing badly but declining to commit.
Examiners see a great many essays that present both sides fairly, reach no conclusion, and score Band 5 on Task Response despite being fluent and well organised. Balance is the right answer to a different question.
The task
Six points, and the first two decide the band.
To what extent do you agree or disagree? Do you agree or disagree? Is this a positive or a negative development? Do you think this is a good thing? All four want your view.
State it in the introduction, support it in every body paragraph, restate it in the conclusion. An essay whose position moves between paragraphs reads as unplanned, because it usually was.
You may agree completely, disagree completely, or agree only partly. All three are acceptable. What is not acceptable is leaving the reader unsure which one you meant.
Introduction with a clear thesis, two body paragraphs supporting your position, a short concession if you want one, and a conclusion that restates rather than introduces.
It is true that…, but… Acknowledging the strongest objection and answering it is what a confident argument looks like. Ending the paragraph on your own side is what keeps it an opinion essay.
Sitting on the fence caps Task Response. So does the opposite error: a position stated so absolutely that no reasonable reader would accept it. Commit clearly, then hedge the predictions rather than the view.
Worked example
A typical opinion question, with a model introduction and one body paragraph.
Question. Some people believe that university education should be free for all students. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Introduction. Whether higher education should be funded entirely by the state is now a live question in most developed countries. I agree that university tuition should be free, though only where places are allocated on academic merit rather than expanded indefinitely, because the alternative excludes able students on grounds that have nothing to do with ability.
Body paragraph. The strongest argument for free tuition is that fees deter precisely the applicants a country most needs. A student from a low-income household weighing three years of debt against immediate employment will often choose employment, and that decision is made at eighteen on the basis of family circumstances rather than potential. Countries that removed fees have generally seen participation among poorer students rise, which suggests the barrier was financial rather than academic.
Concession. It is true that free tuition is expensive and that the cost falls on taxpayers who may never attend university themselves. That objection would be decisive if graduates gained nothing beyond a private benefit, but higher earnings are taxed, and the professions a state depends on cannot be staffed without them.
The position appears in the second sentence of the introduction and is qualified there rather than later. Everything after it argues one line, including the concession paragraph, which ends on the writer’s own side.
Method
Six decisions, most of them made before you write a word.
Not the strongest position, the one you can support with two reasons in five minutes. Which side you take is not marked; how well you defend it is.
The examiner should know your view by the end of the first paragraph. Withholding it for the conclusion is a habit from other exams and it costs marks here.
One idea, developed with an explanation and an example, beats three ideas listed. Development is what Task Response is measuring, not coverage.
If you only partly agree, say so at the start: I agree, though only where… A qualification that appears in paragraph three reads as a change of mind.
This would probably reduce… is cautious about the outcome and firm about the view. Perhaps it might possibly help is neither.
Restate the position and the reasons. A new idea in the last three lines has nowhere to go and weakens the essay.
Practice
Six questions on reading the task and shaping the answer. Choose the best option.
Every option below could be written in correct English. The question is which one answers the task as it was actually set.
That is what Task Response measures, and it is the criterion candidates lose most often without knowing it.
1Which instruction is asking for an opinion essay?
To what extent do you agree or disagree. The others ask for balance, solutions, or a two-sided discussion. Only this one requires you to take a position and hold it.
2Which is the best thesis for an opinion essay?
The third. It commits and qualifies in one sentence. The others announce, describe or decline, and none of them tells the examiner what the writer thinks.
3You partly agree. When should you say so?
In the introduction. A qualification stated late reads as a change of position. Partial agreement is perfectly acceptable, provided the reader knows about it from the start.
4What is the purpose of a concession paragraph?
To answer the best objection. A concession that simply agrees with the other side turns an opinion essay into a discussion essay. It has to end back on your own line.
5Which conclusion is strongest?
The second. It restates the position and the reason. The first retreats, the third introduces a new argument with nowhere to go, and the fourth is emphasis without content.
6A well-written essay presents both sides fairly and reaches no conclusion. What happens?
Task Response is capped. The question asked for a position. An essay that never gives one has not addressed the task, and no amount of accurate English repairs that.
It is the most expensive mistake in Task 2 and the hardest to catch alone, because a fluent, well organised essay looks right on the page whatever question it happens to be answering.
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Recognising the right approach in a multiple choice is not the same as holding it for forty minutes and 250 words.
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No. Partial agreement is fine and often easier to argue. State the qualification in the introduction so the position is clear from the start.
No. A conclusion restates the position. Arriving at a different one suggests the essay was not planned, and it is treated as inconsistency.
One concession paragraph strengthens the argument, provided you answer the objection rather than simply agreeing with it.
Two developed ones is standard. A third is possible, but depth is worth more than coverage.
No, it is the commonest way to lose marks. An opinion question asks for a position, and balance answers a question that was not set.
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Grammar and vocabulary can be checked. Whether an essay actually answered the question asked, and held that answer all the way through, is a judgement, and it is the one that most often decides whether a script is a 6 or a 7.
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