IELTS Writing Task 2 topics with practice questions and ideas

The short answer

In IELTS Writing Task 2 you write an essay of at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. It counts twice as much as Task 1, in both the Academic and General Training tests, so it deserves most of your preparation time. You cannot know the exact question in advance, so the most useful way to prepare is to practise across broad themes such as education, technology, the environment, health, work, society and government spending, and to build the habit of planning a clear position with developed, supported ideas.

Explanation, step by step

What the examiner is looking for

Task 2 is marked on four criteria: Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Knowing a topic well helps most with Task Response. At Band 7, the official descriptor says 'the main parts of the prompt are appropriately addressed' and 'a clear and developed position is presented', with main ideas 'extended and supported'. At Band 6, main ideas are relevant 'but some may be insufficiently developed or may lack clarity'. In other words, having ideas is not enough: you need to answer every part of the question and develop each idea.

A simple routine for any topic

1. Read the question twice and underline every part you must respond to. Many prompts contain more than one instruction.
2. Decide your position before you write. A clear position is part of what the Band 7 and Band 8 descriptors describe.
3. Choose two or three main ideas, not five or six. Fewer ideas leave room to extend and support each one.
4. For each idea, note a reason, an explanation and a specific example or consequence. This is how you avoid over-generalising.
5. Plan your paragraph order so each one moves the argument forward. The Band 7 descriptor for Coherence and Cohesion refers to 'a clear progression throughout the response'.
6. Write, leaving a few minutes to check grammar, punctuation and word choice.

Practice questions and ideas by topic area

Each topic area below has one or two Stride-written practice questions and some idea prompts for different sides. The ideas are starting points: practise turning each one into a reason, an explanation and an example, rather than copying them as they are.

Education

Stride practice question 1: Some people believe that schools should focus on practical skills such as managing money and cooking, while others think academic subjects should remain the priority. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Stride practice question 2: Many universities now offer entire degrees online. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

• For practical skills: prepares young people for independent adult life; may help students who struggle with abstract subjects; skills such as budgeting are used every day.
• For academic subjects: builds reasoning and analysis; is needed for further study; practical skills can be learnt at home or later in life.
• For online degrees: flexible for people who work or have families; no need to move or travel; study at your own pace.
• Against online degrees: less face-to-face contact with teachers and classmates; requires strong self-discipline; some subjects need laboratories or hands-on training.

Technology

Stride practice question: Some people think that children under the age of twelve should not be allowed to own a smartphone. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

• Agree: reduces distraction from schoolwork and sleep; limits exposure to unsuitable content; encourages outdoor play and face-to-face friendships.
• Disagree: allows parents to contact children and know where they are; digital skills are useful from an early age; banning may simply delay problems rather than teach responsible use.
• Middle ground: a basic phone for calls only; parental controls; agreed screen-time rules.

Environment

Stride practice question 1: Some people say that protecting the environment is the responsibility of governments and large companies, not individuals. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Stride practice question 2: In many cities, people throw away large amounts of food. What are the causes of this, and what can be done about it?

• Governments and companies: can pass laws and change production methods on a large scale; individual actions are small by comparison.
• Individuals: consumer choices influence what companies produce; daily habits such as recycling and travel add up; voters shape government priorities.
• Causes of food waste: buying more than needed; confusion about date labels; large portion sizes in restaurants.
• Solutions: clearer labelling; shops donating unsold food; education about planning meals.

Health

Stride practice question: Some people think the best way to improve public health is to build more sports facilities. Others believe this would have little effect and other measures are needed. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

• Sports facilities: make exercise easier and cheaper; give young people somewhere to go; can become community centres.
• Other measures: many people lack time or motivation rather than facilities; diet matters as much as exercise; health education, cheaper healthy food or better access to doctors may help more.
• Possible position: facilities help, but only alongside other measures.

Work

Stride practice question: More and more people are working from home for some or all of the week. Is this a positive or negative development?

• Positive: no commuting time or cost; more flexibility for family life; fewer cars on the road.
• Negative: feelings of isolation; harder to separate work and home life; new employees may learn less without colleagues nearby.
• Who benefits: consider employees, employers and city centres separately to add depth.

Society

Stride practice question: In some countries, more young adults are living with their parents for longer than in the past. Why is this happening, and is it a positive or negative trend?

• Causes: high housing costs; longer periods of study; difficulty finding stable jobs.
• Positive: saving money; family support; closer relationships between generations.
• Negative: slower development of independence; pressure on parents' space and finances; possible delay in starting their own families.

Government spending

Stride practice question 1: Some people think governments should spend money on space exploration, while others believe this money should be used to solve problems on Earth. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Stride practice question 2: Should public money be spent on museums and art galleries, or should these be funded by visitors and private donors?

• For space exploration: scientific discoveries can lead to new technology; inspires young people to study science; long-term benefits for humanity.
• Against: urgent needs such as healthcare, housing and poverty; benefits are uncertain and far in the future.
• For public arts funding: keeps culture accessible to everyone, not only those who can pay; preserves history for future generations.
• Against: other services may be more urgent; popular venues could cover costs through tickets and donations.

Worked example

Here is how you might plan the Stride-written working-from-home question above. This is a planning model written by Stride, not a model essay and not an examiner-marked answer.

1. Question parts: decide whether the trend is positive or negative, and explain why.
2. Position: mainly positive for employees, with some drawbacks that employers need to manage.
3. Body paragraph 1 (positive): commuting time is saved. Explanation: those hours can go on rest, family or exercise. Example: someone with a long daily journey gains back a significant part of their week.
4. Body paragraph 2 (drawback): isolation and weaker learning for new staff. Explanation: much is learnt by watching colleagues. Example: a new graduate may hesitate to message a manager with small questions.
5. Conclusion: restate the position and suggest that mixing home and office days reduces the drawbacks.

Compare a general idea with a developed one. Undeveloped: 'Working from home is good because it saves time.' Developed: 'Working from home removes the daily commute, which gives employees time they can spend resting or with their families, and this may leave them more focused during working hours.' The second version gives a reason and a consequence, which is what the descriptors mean by ideas being extended and supported.

Common mistakes

• Answering the topic, not the question. Writing generally about technology when the prompt asks specifically about children and smartphones means the main parts of the prompt are not addressed.
• Missing part of the question. If a prompt asks for causes and solutions, covering only causes leaves one part uncovered. The Band 6 descriptor notes that some parts may be 'more fully covered than others'.
• Listing too many ideas. Several undeveloped points are weaker than two well-explained ones.
• Over-generalising. The Band 7 descriptor warns of 'a tendency to over-generalise'. Use specific examples and limit claims with words such as 'many', 'often' or 'in some cases'.
• Mechanical linking. Starting every sentence with 'Firstly', 'Moreover' or 'In addition' can make cohesion feel 'faulty or mechanical', as the Band 6 descriptor puts it. Use reference words (this, these, such) and varied linking instead.
• Memorising whole essays. A memorised essay rarely fits the exact question, and forcing it in harms Task Response.
• Writing too little. Task 2 requires at least 250 words, so plan enough development to reach that comfortably.

How to practise this

1. Plan quickly, often. Take one question from each topic area and write a five-minute plan: position, two main ideas, a reason and an example for each.
2. Build topic vocabulary in phrases, not single words. For example, note collocations such as 'reduce food waste' or 'access to healthcare'. The Band 7 descriptor mentions 'an awareness of style and collocation'.
3. Write full essays under time. Practise at least 250 words in about 40 minutes so the real timing feels normal.
4. Review against the four criteria. After each essay, check: did I answer every part, is my position clear, does each paragraph progress, and are my sentences accurate?
5. Rewrite one paragraph. Choose your weakest body paragraph and redevelop it with a clearer reason and a more specific example.

If you want feedback on timed essays, Stride's Writing tests are marked by AI with an estimated band on each of the four criteria, plus feedback. The bands are estimates to guide your practice, not official IELTS scores.

Frequently asked questions

Are these real IELTS Writing Task 2 questions?

No. Every question on this page was written by Stride as a practice model. They are not official questions, past papers or predictions of what will appear in your test.

Can I predict the topic I will get?

No. That is why it is more useful to practise across a range of themes and build a planning routine that works for any question, rather than preparing for one specific topic.

Is Task 2 the same in Academic and General Training?

In both tests Task 2 is an essay of at least 250 words, written in about 40 minutes, and it counts twice as much as Task 1. The official General Training description calls it a discursive essay. Both are assessed on the same four criteria.

Should I memorise sample essays for each topic?

It is better not to. Memorised essays rarely match the exact question, which weakens Task Response. Learn ideas, examples and useful phrases instead, and practise adapting them.

How many ideas should each body paragraph have?

Usually one main idea per paragraph, developed with a reason, an explanation and an example. The band descriptors reward ideas that are extended and supported, not long lists of points.

How is my overall IELTS band worked out?

Each section receives a band from 1 to 9, and the overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. You can check the rounding with Stride's free band score calculator at /ielts-band-score-calculator.

Related guides

• IELTS Writing tips for Task 1 and Task 2
• IELTS vocabulary by topic
• IELTS grammar lessons for Writing and Speaking
• IELTS Writing sample answers: Task 1 and Task 2 model answers