IELTS Writing Task 2

Generating Ideas & Arguments Under Pressure  ·  Module 1 · Lesson 4b

The blank mind is a method problem, not an intelligence problem.

Most students who "can't think of ideas" are waiting for a brilliant, original opinion to arrive. It rarely does — and the exam does not reward it anyway. What the exam rewards is two clear, ordinary reasons, each developed with an example. This lesson gives you a system for producing those reasons on demand, even for a topic you have never thought about before.

Three things that cause the freeze

1. Looking for the "right" answer

There is no right opinion in Task 2. The examiner does not agree or disagree with you — they assess how clearly you argue. The moment you stop searching for the correct view and start searching for a defensible view, ideas appear.

2. Trying to think and judge at the same time

If you reject each idea the instant it arrives ("too obvious", "not clever enough"), nothing survives. Separate the two jobs: first generate several rough ideas without judging, then choose the two with the clearest examples behind them.

3. Staring at the whole topic at once

"Should governments fund space exploration?" is too big to answer in one mental leap. Broken into angles — who benefits, what it costs, what we would lose by stopping — it becomes a series of small, answerable questions. That is what the next tab gives you.

The golden rule of idea generation

You are not choosing the opinion you believe. You are choosing the opinion you can support fastest. A weaker view you can back with a clear example will always score higher than a stronger view you cannot develop. Decide based on your evidence, not your beliefs.

Discuss:

When you freeze on a question, which of the three causes is usually yours? Do you hunt for the perfect idea, judge ideas too soon, or try to swallow the whole topic at once?

The angle toolkit

An angle is a fixed question you ask of any topic to pull a reason out of it. You do not need all of these — running through three or four will always give you more reasons than a 250-word essay can use. Flip each card for the angle and a worked example.

Who is affected? List every group the issue touches.
Remote work: employees (flexibility), employers (office costs), cities (empty centres), families (childcare).
Follow the money Costs, savings, jobs, growth — the economic lens.
Free public transport: cost to the taxpayer, but savings on roads, health and lost productivity from congestion.
The social lens Effects on relationships, community, equality, culture.
Social media: connects distant family, but can weaken face-to-face community and deepen loneliness.
Health & environment Physical wellbeing and the planet — often the strongest, least arguable reasons.
Cycling infrastructure: cleaner air, fitter population, lower emissions.
Short term vs long term What helps now may harm later, and the reverse.
Cheap fast fashion: affordable now, but environmental and labour costs build for decades.
Cause & consequence Why does it happen, and what follows from it?
Youth unemployment: caused by skills gaps and automation; leads to lost earnings and social unrest.
Look at other countries Somewhere has already tried this — borrow the case.
Plastic bag charges: countries that introduced them saw use fall by over 80%.
The opposite test Argue the other side for thirty seconds and steal its best point as your "trade-off".
Even if you support a sugar tax, naming its cost to low-income families makes your argument sound mature.

Try it

For the question below, pick any three angles from the cards and name a reason from each. Then reveal a model set.

Question: Some people think governments should spend money exploring space, while others believe it should be spent on solving problems on Earth. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
→ Pick three angles. Name a reason from each.
Follow the money: space programmes are extraordinarily expensive, and that money could fund hospitals or clean water now.
Cause & consequence: yet space research has produced spin-off technologies — GPS, weather forecasting, medical imaging — that solve earthly problems too.
Long term: understanding the climate and protecting Earth from asteroid impacts are long-term survival questions that only space science can answer.
Position: a balanced split — most funding to immediate needs, a protected minority to space science.

Discuss:

Which three angles feel most natural to you? Building a habit around your favourite three means you will never face a question with nothing to say.

Idea banks by theme

IELTS Task 2 questions cluster around a small number of themes. If you have a few reusable reasons and examples ready for each, you walk into the exam with raw material for almost any prompt. Reveal each bank and notice how the same ideas can be reshaped to fit many questions.

Education

For: education drives social mobility; skills raise national productivity; broad subjects build well-rounded citizens.
Against / costs: exam pressure harms wellbeing; expensive systems widen inequality; pure academic focus neglects practical skills.
Examples: Finland's low-pressure, high-outcome model; vocational training in Germany feeding skilled industry.

Environment

For action: protects health and future generations; renewable industries create jobs; inaction costs far more later.
Tensions: green policies can raise prices; developing nations argue rich countries caused the problem.
Examples: falling cost of solar power; congestion charges cutting city-centre pollution; plastic bag charges cutting waste.

Technology

Benefits: instant access to information; remote work and learning; medical advances.
Costs: job losses to automation; screen time and mental health; loss of privacy; digital divide.
Examples: online learning reaching rural students; automation reshaping manufacturing; smartphones changing how families interact.

Health

Prevention vs treatment: spending on prevention (diet, exercise, vaccination) saves far more than treating illness later.
Responsibility: individual choice vs government's role (sugar taxes, smoking bans, public campaigns).
Examples: smoking bans cutting heart disease; sugar taxes reducing consumption; cycling cities with healthier populations.

Crime & society

Causes: poverty, unemployment, poor education — crime as a symptom, not just a choice.
Responses: punishment vs rehabilitation; prevention through opportunity.
Examples: countries with strong rehabilitation and low reoffending; youth programmes reducing local crime.

Work & globalisation

Work: work–life balance; remote work; job security vs flexibility; automation.
Globalisation: cheaper goods and shared culture vs loss of local industries and identity.
Examples: four-day-week trials raising productivity; global brands replacing local businesses; multinational supply chains.

How to use a bank

You are not memorising essays. You are stocking a shelf. When a question arrives, you take two items off the relevant shelf, reshape them to fit the exact wording, and develop them with the example you already know. Preparation removes the panic; reshaping to the question keeps it honest.

Discuss:

Which theme do you feel least prepared for? Building even three reusable reasons and one example for that theme would close your biggest gap.

From idea to argument

An idea is not yet an argument. "Technology helps education" is a reason, but on its own it scores little — it is just an assertion. An argument develops the idea through four moves until the examiner can see exactly why it is true.

The four moves: Idea → Because → Example → So what

Idea: state the reason. Because: explain the mechanism — why is it true? Example: make it concrete. So what: connect it back to your position. Most weak paragraphs stop after the idea; strong ones complete all four.

Watch a bare idea grow into a paragraph

Idea: Technology has made education more accessible. + Because: ...because it removes the barriers of distance and cost that once kept learning out of reach. + Example: ...for example, a student in a remote village can now follow university lectures online for free, something impossible a generation ago. + So what: ...which means talent is no longer wasted simply because of where a person happens to be born.

Read together, those four lines are a complete, high-scoring body paragraph — built from one ordinary idea.

Your turn — complete the chain

Each bare idea below needs the three missing moves. Draft them, then reveal a model.

Idea: Working from home improves productivity.
→ Add: Because… Example… So what…
Because employees avoid long, draining commutes and can work during their most focused hours. For example, several companies that trialled remote work reported that staff completed the same tasks in fewer hours. So what: this suggests that flexibility, rather than constant supervision, is what actually drives output.
Idea: Tourism can damage local cultures.
→ Add: Because… Example… So what…
Because when traditions are repackaged for visitors, they can lose their original meaning and become a performance. For example, in some heavily touristed towns, local festivals are now staged for cameras rather than for the community itself. So what: this shows that the economic benefit of tourism can come at a cultural cost that money cannot replace.

The mistake to avoid

The most common weak paragraph repeats the idea in different words instead of developing it: "Technology helps education. It is very useful for students. Education is much better with technology." That is one move repeated three times, not four moves. The examiner sees padding, not development. If you find yourself restating, switch to the next move: because, then example, then so what.

Discuss:

Of the four moves, which do you tend to skip? Many writers jump straight from idea to example and never explain the "because" — the move that proves they understand why their reason is true.

Beat the clock

This is the drill that makes everything above automatic. Choose one question. In four minutes, generate two strong reasons, each with one example — using two different angles from the toolkit. You are not writing the essay; you are filling the shelf fast. Start the timer when you are ready.

Choose one question:

▸ Some people believe that children should start formal education as early as possible. Others think they should not start until they are at least seven. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

▸ In many cities, private cars are being discouraged in favour of public transport. Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?

▸ Some people argue that famous athletes and entertainers are paid far too much. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

04:00

By the time it ends, you should have:

Now test the strength of what you wrote

For each reason, ask: could I add a "because" and a "so what" to it? If yes, it is strong enough to become a paragraph. Reveal a model set for the third question (athletes' pay) to compare.

Position: mostly agree that pay is excessive, with one qualification.
The qualification (Follow the money): these salaries reflect huge revenues from broadcasting and sponsorship — the market, not injustice, sets them. Example: a single global tournament generates billions in advertising. So what: the pay is a symptom of the industry's scale, not simply greed.
The main reason (The social lens): yet such sums look indefensible beside the modest pay of nurses or teachers whose work is more essential. Example: a footballer can earn in a week what a teacher earns in a year. So what: this reveals a society that rewards entertainment far above public service.

Reflect after the timer:

Did four minutes produce enough to build an essay on? Which angle gave you your strongest reason? Run this drill on three new questions this week and the freeze will stop happening.