IELTS Writing Task 2: Band 8 Essay Structures Complete Guide

Numerous candidates possess fantastic ideas, yet they still get a Band 6.5, simply because the structure of their essay confuses the examiner and, as a result, diminishes the strength of their essay. This obstacle can be quickly eliminated with a sound structure. This plan will show you how to develop such a structure for each of the IELTS Writing Task 2 question types. Vous will also learn how the examiner will mark your essay, which plan is adequate for which question type and how to express yourself to attain a Band 8.

The format has been adopted from the official IELTS format and the marking criteria used. Please check for updates from the official site.

IELTS Writing Task 2 requires you to write an essay of minimum 250 words within 40 minutes on any social or general topic. It is worth double the marks compared to the Writing Task 1, so it is essential to compose a decent essay in order to get your desired score. The Academic and General Training tests have the same task and scoring criteria. This work can be done either on paper or computer, irrespective of the type of exam. It is recommended that you visit the official IELTS site prior to the day of your test, as the requirements and costs may differ according to the country and year.

Requirements and fees can vary by country and year, so check the official site before test day. For a quick overview of the test format, sections and registration, read our IELTS Exam Details guide.

Your IELTS examiner will mark your essay in four areas (each 25% of your Task 2 score). These are:

1. Task response: you cover all parts of the task and state your opinion clearly with suitable examples.

2. Coherence and cohesion: you structure your ideas logically and you space them out into different well-constructed paragraphs. You connect your ideas with different cohesive devices.

3. Lexical resource: you show excellent vocabulary (use many correct rare, sophisticated) with some spelling mistakes.

4. Grammatical range and accuracy: there is good range of correct sentence constructions throughout your piece of writing, with very few errors.

At band 8, students should write answers that develop the points mentioned. This will also contain the odd error. As such clarity should be given more importance than style while writing at band 8. While the task response might be sufficient at band 7, for band 8, the development of all the points will be good as well as the language.

Want to see how your writing score affects your overall result? Try our IELTS Score Calculator to check your band across all four modules.

Most of the Band 8 essays follow a simple structure of four paragraph: introduction, two body paragraphs, and a short conclusion. They can be completed within 40 minutes, since they give ample opportunity for planning, thinking writing, and editing.. The four-paragraph essay is not a requirement the examiners have but it makes the most of the strict time limitations to have three points discussed over five paragraphs.

• Introduction - The first sentence of the introduction must restate the question while the second must express your opinion about it. Paraphrasing is the technique that allows replacing the main words (key words) with some other synonymous words (key synonyms) and changes the sentence structure at the same time; however, the exact meaning of the sentence must not be changed. For instance, if you are asked to paraphrase the sentence "Many people consider that technology simplifies people's lives", you can say "A great number of people think that new technologies or implements simplify everyday problems"
• Body Paragraphs – In each body paragraph, there has to be a topic sentence followed by the development of that topic with just one example. Don’t try to include several topics in one paragraph as it may affect your Coherence and Cohesion score.
• Conclusion- expressing your position differently and summarizing your ideas briefly in no more than two or three sentences.

Read the question carefully before you plan because the question type will dictate the structure for your paragraph.

• Opinion Essays (Agree or Disagree)->Remember you are being asked whether you agree or disagree so you need to say what you think in your introduction and stick to it through your essay. Here's what you have to do for this one: introduction stating, which side you agree with, then a paragraph for each main reason why, then conclusion repeating what you think. You can show partial agreement but is not enough to say you agree with part and disagree with part. State what part you agree with clearly and show what part you disagree with.
• Discussion Essays (Discuss Both Views)-Some questions will require you to talk about both sides and give your opinion so you need to make three points in your essay. Read the question carefully because some simply require discussion of two sides, and others ask for your opinion as well. Here's a plan: a brief introduction, a paragraph about each point, and a conclusion that gives your viewpoint.
• Advantages and Disadvantages Essays-These questions require you to balance the advantages and disadvantages and a couple of them will also require you to decide whether the advantages are greater than the disadvantages.1Use one paragraph for the advantages and one paragraph for the disadvantages and give your overall opinion in the conclusion if the question asks you to.2
• Problem and Solution essays. Since these questions ask you to identify or propose possible causes or issues and than give reasonable solutions each body paragraph should be focused on one purpose. The first body paragraph should be for the problem, and the second should be your solutions, and each solution should be related to a cause you identified previously.
• Two-Part Questions-Two-part questions about two distinct issues, with balanced attention to both, with a paragraph on each. For example, you will be asked why a certain trend is taking place and whether it is good and, in your paragraphs, you should obey the order.

I have written this sample for illustrative purposes, and no official examiner has reviewed and scored this article. Question: Some people believe that governments should pay for the university education of all students. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Many people claim that the governments should pay for degree courses, so that all citizens may study, and graduate without burden of debt. I completely agree with this statement, since free classes would make educational opportunities more equitable for younger generations, and also help the economy thrive.

Firstly, the universal accessibility to knowledge would give poor but talented students a legitimate chance to succeed, regardless of their family's financial state or social ties. Nowadays, expensive university fees prevent many promising youngsters from entering the institutions of their dreams, forcing them to either quit their studies or sign up for a lower degree, which does not correspond with their skills and qualifications. For example, German universities cancelled the tuition fees in 2014, so they now provide the population with competent workers, who do not have to repay any sums of money to the state. As a consequence, this allows them to start their own business, change jobs, or freely seek underpaid yet fulfilling occupations during their working years.

Secondly, free educations would benefit the motherland, since the fresh graduates would occupy more profitable positions, corresponding to their qualifications and giving the state budget a stable income through taxes. In addition, many specialists, such as medical workers and teachers, usually hold public service jobs with decent yet not sky-high wages. Consequently, the absence of debts would motivate more students to enter various fields of science, leading the country to prosperity. However, the opponents of my statement argue that the taxpayers should not fund the degrees, which only increase the income levels of the applicants. Nevertheless, the governmental investments in education would yield high dividends in the long run. After all, it is the highly-educated population, which makes the countries strong.

Thus, free classes would give the young people a chance to realize themselves and show their abilities, while being motivated by the opportunity to obtain good and well-paid jobs. Therefore, I believe that the states should take care of the educational opportunities of their future generations.

Choose exact vocabulary: Apply precise vocabulary rather than rare or fancy words. Instead of saying “make traffic less,” say “reduce traffic congestion.”

• Learn collocation: Learn the correct word combinatory, for instance, “tackle a problem,” “raise awareness,” and “long-term benefits.”
• Use different sentence structures: Vary your sentence structures to demonstrate better grammar understanding. The mix of short and long sentences will also help your paper look more interesting and not boring.
• Apply complex structures carefully: Use if-clause, which-clause, and others to make your sentences sound more meaningful. You can also apply contrasting constructions to put across your points clearly.
• Use ‘although’ or ‘while’ whenever applicable.
• Emphasize correctness over complexity: Do not attempt to write intricate sentences unless you feel confident about your grammatical skills. It is better to have fewer but correct sentences.
• Adopt a formal style for your essay: Try not to use too many contractions, colloquialisms and expressive language while attempting IELTS Writing Task 2.
• Remain objective in your thoughts: Employ proper language and grammar for expressing your views precisely.

Linking words help your reader follow you, so do not skip them. However, do not overdo it, or your paper will sound robotic and forced, so use sparsely. Use “first” and “moreover” to add information, “however” and “although” to show contrast, and “as a result” to show consequences. Use “for instance” to give an example and “in conclusion” to conclude, but do not use the same linking words in each of your paragraphs.

• You must not write more than 250 words for your essay. Pay attention to the word count as you write your essay and in the test too.
• You only answered part of the question, so be sure to highlight all the instruction words in the question before you begin to plan your answer.
• You learned some essays templates, which negatively influence your writing as the examiners are giving heavily a plagiarized sentence feeling and you may even lose marks for not answering the question.
• There are some indefinite examples in your essay, which do not specify anything. Try to write some helpful examples instead of states.
• You do not hold the same opinion throughout your passage, therefore be sure to stick with the same perspective and your answers are coherent.
• You have written too many words in your introduction and conclusion paragraph as your question can be summarized within one or two sentences and your stance can be easily depicted

Want to see how your writing score affects your overall result? Try our IELTS Score Calculator to check your band across all four modules.

Self-practice proves to be the most effective strategy when an expert evaluates your work and points out the exact areas where you are losing marks.
An ideal IELTS Coaching Class will help you with timed practice sessions along with essay correction and personal feedback.
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Attaining the IELTS writing task 2 score of bands 8 is not a difficult task if one knows how to present one’s idea clearly. Having the knowledge of the various options of essay structures is essential in providing an appropriate answer to every type of question. Though knowing the various structures also takes you to communicate your ideas in a logical and clear fashion using correct grammar and suitable vocabulary. The writing task 2 of the IELTS should not be memorized in full or deflated with excessively complex words trying to impress the examiner. One needs to practice writing daily, setting a time limit comparable to an actual test. Moreover, one should always analyze one’s mistakes in order to avoid repeating them. A student should also consider getting professional assistance from a qualified teacher who can assess their writing performance and provide useful recommendations.