IELTS Academic Writing task 2: Essay types, samples with answers

The IELTS Academic Writing test has two tasks, Writing task 1 and Writing task 2. The questions in the Academic Writing test are different to those in the General Training Writing test.

IELTS Academic Writing task 2 requires you to write an essay of at least 250 words within a 40-minute time limit, focusing on presenting a well-structured argument on a given topic. To score your desired band score, you can consider practising with our sample questions and answers provided below.

Different types of IELTS Academic Writing task 2 questions

IELTS question types are varied, so it is important to focus on the question prompt. Read through the following table which shows some common essay question types.

IELTS Academic Writing task 2 question sample

Here is an example of an IELTS Academic Writing task 2 question for your reference:

Write about the following topic:

The average standard of people's health is likely to be lower in the future than it is now.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Writing task 2 – IELTS Academic sample answers

Here is an example of an IELTS Academic Writing task 2 answer for band 8 for your reference:

Recently, there have been a lot of discussions about health and whether it is going to improve or not. I think that people will become unhealthier in the future than they are now.

Many reasons support the idea of people becoming unhealthy in the future. Firstly, one reason is that of food. People tend to eat more fast food nowadays. They tend to treat themselves with sweets and chocolate whenever they want. This appears to be because people are busier now than they used to be. So, people don’t have a chance to cook or even learn the art of cookery. Also, having a lot of unhealthy food can lead to obesity and it could be a serious issue in the future. Another reason is that technology is developing every day. Young people enjoy buying new gadgets and the latest devices. This hurts their health, especially when they enjoy video games. Spending long hours looking at a screen can lead to bad eyesight and obesity as well. Yet another reason is that laziness is a big issue. Different forms of exercise might disappear in the future because people don’t like sports. Also, people prefer spending most of their time on the internet and the internet is growing every single day.

Other people might disagree and say that health will improve in the future. They believe that new sports and new ways to exercise will appear in the future. However, I don’t think it can happen since the majority of people spend less time outdoors. Moreover, other people believe that technology will try and help people improve their health. For example, there have been some games released on the Wii console that make people exercise but technology is developing more in a negative way. For instance, many phone industries are developing new applications every day and today’s generation likes to follow every trend. This prevents people from going outside to exercise. They like to spend more time on the internet downloading new programmes or reading gossip about celebrities. This affects people’s health badly.

In conclusion, I believe that people’s health is affected negatively by fast food, technology and sports and it will be a problem in the future.

IELTS Academic Writing task 2 sample with answers pdf

To score well, access our IDP IELTS Academic Writing practice test pdf.

Computer-based questions with answers

IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 practice test: View Task | Download answer key

Paper-based questions with answers

IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 practice test: View Task | Download answer key