To help you prepare for the IELTS Writing Task 2, I‘ve just analyzed and summarized two crucial elements: the frequently tested themes and the most common question types from the past decade. Themes such as Crime, Education, Environment, and Technology repeatedly appear, giving you a solid foundation for your daily accumulation of ideas and arguments. Meanwhile, the question types — like “Agree or Disagree,” “Discuss Both Views,” and “Advantages and Disadvantages” — require you to develop clear, structured responses tailored to the specific task requirements.
What Are The Frequently Tested Themes?
First, let’s take a look at the common thematic categories for Task 2 essays over the past ten years. After analyzing nearly 500 IELTS Writing Task 2 questions, I’ve grouped them into ten major categories. Each major category includes several subcategories. It’s beneficial to build up relevant material for these themes, especially in terms of arguments. This way, when you face a question from one of these areas in the exam, you’ll be able to quickly form strong viewpoints and provide supporting evidence.
| Topic Category | Subcategory | Sample IELTS Essay Question |
|---|---|---|
| Crime | Causes of Crime and Prevention | Some people believe that criminals commit crimes due to the influence of their environment, while others think it is because of their innate nature. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Crime | Effectiveness of Punishment Measures | Some people think all lawbreakers should be sent to prison, while others believe there are better alternatives (e.g., community work). Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Crime | Comparison of Crimes by Youth vs. Adults | Young people who commit serious crimes, such as robbery or violent attacks, should be punished in the same way as adults. To what extent do you agree or disagree? |
| Crime | Crime and Social Issues | Some people think that crime reporting should be reduced, including fewer details about the crimes. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this view? |
| Education | Purpose and Methods of Education | Some people believe that the purpose of education is to prepare people to be useful members of society. Others say the purpose of education is to achieve personal ambitions. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Education | Subjects Taught in Schools | Some people think learning history in school is important, while others think learning subjects more relevant to life is important. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Education | Comparison Between Home Education and School Education | In some countries, an increasing number of parents choose to educate their children at home rather than sending them to school. Do the advantages of home education outweigh the disadvantages? |
| Environment | Balancing Environmental Protection and Economic Development | Economic progress is often accompanied by environmental damage. Some believe economic growth should be slowed down to protect the environment, while others think environmental protection is not as important as economic growth. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Environment | Climate Change and Human Activity | Human activities have negative effects on plants and animal species. Some people think it is too late to do anything about this problem, while others believe effective measures can still be taken to improve the situation. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Environment | Conservation and Utilization of Natural Resources | Natural resources such as oil, forests, and freshwater are being consumed at an alarming rate. What problems does this cause? How can we solve these problems? |
| Environment | Urbanization and Environmental Issues | More and more people are moving from the countryside to big cities. Does this development bring more advantages or disadvantages to the environment? |
| Culture | Cultural Diversity and the Impact of Globalization | Some people believe that increasing business and cultural exchanges between countries is a positive development. Others argue that such interactions may have a negative impact on cultural identities. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Culture | Preservation of Traditional Culture vs. Modern Cultural Impact | In many countries, people wear Western-style clothing more often than their own traditional clothing. Why has this happened? Is this a positive or negative trend? |
| Culture | Conservation and Use of Cultural Heritage | Some people believe certain old buildings are more worth preserving than others. Which types of old buildings should be preserved? Do you think the advantages of preserving old buildings outweigh the disadvantages? |
| Technology | Impact of Technological Development on Society | The unlimited use of cars may cause many problems. What are those problems? To reduce these problems, should we discourage people from using cars? |
| Technology | Application of Information Technology in Education | As technology develops, an increasing number of people work from home and children study through the Internet instead of going to school. What are the reasons for this trend? Do you think it is a positive or negative development? |
| Technology | Social Media and Interpersonal Relationships | Social media allows individuals to keep in touch with each other. Is this a positive or negative development? |
| Health | Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle | Some people think that regular exercise is the best way to improve health, while others believe a balanced diet plays a more important role. Discuss both views and give your opinion. |
| Health | Improvement of Healthcare Systems | Governments could spend money on preventing diseases rather than waiting for people to get ill before providing treatment. To what extent do you agree with this statement? |
| Health | Healthy Diet and Exercise | Many people are becoming overweight. Some suggest that increasing the price of unhealthy food is a good way to solve this problem. To what extent do you agree or disagree? |
| Social Issues | Aging Society and Its Challenges | In many countries, the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. Does this have more positive or negative effects on society? |
| Social Issues | Gender Equality and Women's Rights | Some people believe that women should play an equal role as men in a country’s police or military force, while others think women are not suitable for these jobs. Discuss both views and give your opinion. |
| Economy | Economic Development and Social Welfare | Economic growth is the only way to end world poverty and hunger. Others say that economic growth is causing damage to the environment and should be stopped now. Discuss both views and give your opinion. |
| Economy | International Trade and the Impact of Globalization | The spread of multinational companies and the resulting increase in globalization produce positive effects for everyone. To what extent do you agree or disagree? |
| Government | Priorities for Government Spending | Some people want the government to spend more money looking for life on other planets, while others think it is a waste of public money and there are many problems on Earth. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. |
| Work and Employment | Working Hours and Economic Growth | Countries with longer average working hours are more economically successful than those with shorter working hours. To what extent do you agree or disagree? |
| Work and Employment | Career Development and Education | Some people think that young people should follow their career interests when choosing their future jobs, while others think they should consider job prospects and salary. Discuss both views and give your opinion. |
| Work and Employment | Unemployment Issues | Unemployment is a serious and growing problem in many countries. What are the main causes of unemployment? What solutions can you suggest? |
| Work and Employment | Work-Life Balance | Many people aim to achieve a balance between work and other parts of their lives, but few people achieve it. What are the problems in trying to achieve this, and how can these problems be overcome? |
How Are The Question Types Distributed?
In addition to identifying the categories of themes, it’s also important to understand the distribution of question types for IELTS Writing Task 2. As the pie chart shows below, “Agree or Disagree” questions account for the largest portion at 40%, followed by “Discuss both views and give your own opinion” at 35%. “Advantages and Disadvantages” questions make up 15%, while “Causes/Problems to Solutions” constitute 8%. The remaining 2% falls under various other question types. Being familiar with this breakdown helps in prioritizing your practice based on what you’re most likely to encounter in the exam.
Summary
Understanding the common themes and question types in IELTS Writing Task 2 is crucial because they are strongly linked to how you should approach task responses. Rather than focusing on memorizing past questions, it’s more effective to practice forming responses for each category, like crime, education, or health. This will assist you in gathering a range of viewpoints and arguments that you can modify to address various topics within the same field.
Furthermore, it’s critical to understand how to respond to different question types, such as “Agree or Disagree,” “Discuss both views,” and others. You must complete the subtasks that are often included in each question type in order to meet the Task Response criterion. You can prevent missing anything by making sure you can answer every aspect of the question.
