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    IELTS Writing Task 2

    How to practise IELTS Writing Task 2 online

    A practical guide to the essay: what it demands, how to plan it in five minutes, and how to review it like an examiner before you submit.

    Practise IELTS Writing
    • 250-word essay method
    • Worked example included
    • 40-minute workflow

    In short

    IELTS Writing Task 2 asks for an essay of at least 250 words in about 40 minutes, and it counts twice as much as Task 1 toward your Writing band. The way up is a repeatable method: read the exact question, plan a position with two developed reasons, write four clear paragraphs, then review against the four marking criteria. This guide teaches the method; SpeakMetry's Writing Simulator gives you the timed room and the examiner-style marking to rehearse it.

    The task in numbers

    Most Task 2 problems come from misunderstanding the job. These are the facts the method below is built on.

    At least 250 words

    Shorter than 250 words caps your Task Response score no matter how good the English is. Aim for 260–290 so you clear the floor with room to review.

    About 40 minutes

    The paper gives 60 minutes for both tasks. Spend roughly 20 on Task 1 and 40 here — this essay decides two-thirds of your Writing band.

    Same essay, both modules

    Academic and General Training differ in Task 1 (a visual description versus a letter), but Task 2 is an essay in response to a viewpoint, argument or problem in both.

    Four marking criteria

    Task Response (did you answer the exact question?), Coherence & Cohesion (is it organised?), Lexical Resource (is the vocabulary precise?) and Grammatical Range & Accuracy (are structures varied and controlled?).

    No citations needed

    Relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience are explicitly welcome. Invented statistics add nothing; specific reasoning does.

    A worked example: from prompt to plan

    Watch the first five minutes of a Task 2 answer happen. Read the prompt, then see the plan a strong candidate makes before writing a word.

    The prompt

    Discussion type: cover both views, then give your own opinion.

    1. Some people believe that university education should be free for all students, while others think students should pay for their own tuition. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

    The five-minute plan

    One line of position, two distinct reasons, one concrete example each — then a logic check.

    1. Position: free tuition widens access, but a full subsidy is hard to sustain — so a middle path of low fees plus support for poorer students.
    2. Reason 1 (for free tuition): cost stops talented students from poorer families studying further. Example: a high-scoring school student who skips a degree because the family cannot fund fees and living costs.
    3. Reason 2 (against fully free): universities need funding for staff, labs and libraries, and the bill falls on taxpayers either way. Example: overcrowded lecture halls where funding per student has fallen.
    4. Logic check: does each example prove its paragraph's claim, and do both paragraphs support the middle-path position? If yes, start writing.

    These are illustrative practice prompts written in the official format, not official IELTS questions. They show you the shape of each part so you can rehearse out loud before your mock.

    Your 40-minute workflow

    Run every practice essay on this clock until the rhythm is automatic.

    1. 1

      Minutes 0–5: plan on paper

      Split the prompt into topic, task and scope. Write your position line, two reasons and one example per reason. Confirm the conclusion can honestly repeat the same position.

    2. 2

      Minutes 5–8: introduction

      Two sentences: paraphrase the real debate in your own words, then state your position. Skip memorised openers — examiners can spot a frame that fits any topic.

    3. 3

      Minutes 8–28: two body paragraphs

      One reason per paragraph: claim, why it happens, a concrete example, and how the example supports your position. Stop each paragraph before it drifts into a second idea.

    4. 4

      Minutes 28–33: conclusion

      Summarise the two reasons and restate your position. Add nothing new — a surprise idea in the final lines reads as poor planning.

    5. 5

      Minutes 33–40: review like an examiner

      Check every part of the question got answered, each paragraph has one job, and subject–verb agreement, articles and sentence boundaries hold. Fix real errors before upgrading ordinary words.

    Self-review checklist before you submit

    Run this list on every practice essay. It catches the errors that separate Band 6 from Band 7.

    • Every instruction word in the prompt is addressed — nothing added, nothing skipped
    • The position in the conclusion matches the position in the introduction
    • Each body paragraph develops one idea with a claim, a reason and an example
    • Ideas link within and between paragraphs without overusing moreover and furthermore
    • Vague words (thing, good, bad, a lot) are replaced with precise terms
    • Word count is at least 250, counted the way the examiner counts

    How your essay is actually marked

    Knowing what each criterion rewards changes what you practise.

    1. Task Response is about relevance and development: did you answer every part of the exact question asked, take a clear position where one is required, and extend each idea rather than listing points? An essay about the general benefits of technology fails a question about whether universities should replace classrooms with online teaching, however fluent it is. This is why the five-minute plan exists — most relevance failures are decided before the first sentence.

    2. Coherence & Cohesion and Lexical Resource are about organisation and precision. Each paragraph should do one job, ideas should progress logically, and linking should feel natural rather than mechanical: a paragraph that needs however three times is usually two paragraphs. Vocabulary is scored on accuracy and flexibility, not rarity — five precise topic collocations used correctly beat a memorised rare word used wrongly.

    3. Grammatical Range & Accuracy rewards variety under control: simple and complex structures mixed, with errors rare enough not to impede. The fastest gains come from eliminating your two or three repeated errors — articles, plural nouns, sentence fragments — rather than attempting structures you cannot finish. SpeakMetry's marking corrects your own sentences and shows a Band 8 sample answer beside yours, so each essay teaches the next one; treat its band as a practice estimate, not an official result.

    Explore more ways to prepare

    Frequently asked questions

    How many words should IELTS Writing Task 2 be?
    At least 250 words — fewer caps your Task Response score regardless of quality. Aim for roughly 260–290 words: enough to develop two reasons fully, short enough to leave five minutes for review.
    Does Task 2 count more than Task 1?
    Yes. Task 2 carries twice the weight of Task 1 in your Writing band, which is why the recommended split of the 60 minutes is about 20 for Task 1 and 40 for Task 2.
    Is Task 2 the same in Academic and General Training?
    Yes. Both modules ask for an essay responding to a point of view, argument or problem. Only Task 1 differs: Academic candidates describe visual information, General Training candidates write a letter.
    Can I use examples from my own country or experience?
    Yes. The task explicitly invites relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. A specific, realistic example from familiar life proves a point better than a vague global claim.
    Should I memorise model essays?
    No. Study model answers to learn paragraph structure and how ideas develop, but memorising whole essays is risky: the real prompt will demand a different scope or position, and a memorised answer that misses the question loses Task Response marks. Plan each essay fresh.
    Is SpeakMetry's Writing band an official IELTS score?
    No. It is an AI-generated practice estimate anchored to the public band descriptors, useful for finding weaknesses and tracking progress. Only a real IELTS test produces an official band score.
    How can I practise Task 2 under real exam conditions?
    SpeakMetry's Writing Simulator runs both tasks on the same 60-minute clock with a live word count and no spellcheck, exactly as the computer-delivered test does. Your first sitting is free; an AI examiner then marks each task on the official criteria with corrections and a sample answer.

    Next step

    Write your first timed essay today

    Sixty minutes, both tasks, marked on the official criteria with corrections on your own sentences.

    Practise IELTS Writing