How to write IELTS Task 2 Descriptive Essays

Much like IELTS Writing Task 1 essays, you can organise Task 2 essays into different types. 

In my experience, there are 2 main types of IELTS Writing Task 2 essays. 

1. Descriptive Tasks
2. Position Tasks

These are not official types and it will not say this on your exam paper, but being able to identify which type of essay (and therefore what exactly you need to write) can make an important difference to your score. 

There are 4 parts to the IELTS Writing Task 2 criteria. 

• Task Response
• Coherence and Cohesion
• Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)
• Grammatical Range & Accuracy

Adapting your essay structure and vocabulary to suit a Descriptive or Position task will affect one key part of the criteria: Task Response.

This is because you need to present an ‘appropriate format’ and ‘address all parts of the task’ to earn a good band for your Task 2 essay. Responding to all types of tasks in exactly the same way can negatively affect this score.

What are Descriptive Tasks?

The key difference in Descriptive Tasks is that they do not ask for your opinion. You only need to focus on explanations and examples that are logical and clear to any reader. 

All that is required (“to address all parts of the task” – Band 7.0) is to explain up to two of the following:

• Reasons for / causes of a trend, issue or behaviour
• Effects of a trend
• Solutions to a problem / a social issue
• Advantages / Disadvantages

Again, your position or opinion is not needed, so it won’t interfere with the order of body paragraphs, opinionated language choices, or the types of examples and explanations you choose.

This makes Descriptive Tasks a preferable choice to start practising IELTS Task 2 essays, mostly because they are the simplest tasks to practise two key IELTS Writing skills:

• Creating coherent, fully developed reasons
• Sharing logical, supportive examples

It can take longer than you think to get used to the IELTS ‘style’, which is typically 1 reason explained in only 2 to 4 sentences. 

Examples of Descriptive Tasks

Here is a list of examples of IELTS Descriptive Tasks. I have also added the explanations required for the task.  

It is often argued that it is difficult to get children to read. Why do you think this is? What measures could be taken to encourage children to read more? 

• Body Paragraph 1: Reasons for a social issue
• Body Paragraph 2: Solutions to the problem

 

Some young people like to copy the behaviour and clothes of famous people. Why might this be the case? What problems might it cause? 

• Body Paragraph 1: Reasons for a behaviour
• Body Paragraph 2: Effects of this behaviour

 

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for the environment. What damage does plastic do to the environment? What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem?

• Body Paragraph 1: Effects of an issue
• Body Paragraph 2: Solutions to the problem

 

Many working people get little to no exercise either during the working day or in their free time, and have health problems as a result. Why do many working people not get enough exercise? What can be done about this problem? 

• Body Paragraph 1: Effects of an issue
• Body Paragraph 2: Solutions to the problem

 

There is an increasing trend around the world of married couples deciding not to have children. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for couples who decide to do this.

• Body Paragraph 1: Advantages
• Body Paragraph 2: Disadvantages

As you can see, in the above questions, you are never asked to give your own opinion or take a position to support or argue against any of the viewpoints in the task.

If you do share your opinion or position in any part of the essay, you may harm your Task Response score by not presenting an ‘appropriate format’ – (Task Response – Band 5.0).

How to write Descriptive Tasks

Introductions

The introduction for a Descriptive Task is very straightforward. There are two sentences you need to write: 

1. Introduce the topic : describe the essay topic in your own words
2. Thesis Statement: : outline what two questions you are going to describe and explain in Body Paragraph 1 and Body Paragraph 2

The first sentence will obviously change depending on the topic, but the Thesis Statement can be extremely similar in many Descriptive Tasks.

For example: 

Some young people like to copy the behaviour and clothes of famous people. Why might this be the case? What problems might it cause? 

• Body Paragraph 1: Reasons for a behaviour
• Body Paragraph 2: Effects of this behaviour

1. Introduce the topic: “Younger fans of celebrities often try to imitate both the fashion and the behaviour of their favourite idols.”
2. Thesis Statement: “This essay will explore some of the reasons for this tendency, as well as some of the potential issues it can cause.”

 

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for the environment. What damage does plastic do to the environment? What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem?

• Body Paragraph 1: Effects of an issue 
• Body Paragraph 2: Solutions to the problem

1. Introduce the topic: “The harmful environmental impact of plastic waste is well-known.”
2. Thesis Statement: “This essay will explain the type of harm this material can cause, as well as some possible solutions that both the state and ordinary people can use to help.”

 

There is an increasing trend around the world of married couples deciding not to have children. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for couples who decide to do this.

• Body Paragraph 1: Advantages
• Body Paragraph 2: Disadvantages

1. Introduce the topic: “Nowadays, more and more couples are deciding against having children.”
2. Thesis Statement: “This essay will explore some of the benefits as well as the drawbacks for married couples who make this decision.”

Remember, your own opinions are not necessary. Compare the two introductions below: 

You try! – Write an introduction to the following Descriptive Task. The two parts of the topic have been identified for you.

It is often argued that it is difficult to get children to read. Why do you think this is? What measures could be taken to encourage children to read more? 

• Body Paragraph 1: Reasons for a social issue
• Body Paragraph 2: Solutions to the problem

Body Paragraphs

In all IELTS Task 2 essays, you will need to write at least 2 Body Paragraphs. 

One body paragraph should focus on only one of the questions in the task. 

To help the examiner understand which question you are going to address, write a Topic Sentence as the first sentence of the paragraph. 

It is a simple sentence that shows the point which your reasons and examples will ultimately prove. Again, in a Descriptive Task, your opinion is not required and therefore your topic sentence should not contain any opinionated language. 

Here are some examples of topic sentences depending on the questions in your Descriptive Task: 

Look at this list of IELTS Writing Task 2 Descriptive Task example essays. Notice how the first sentence of Body 1 and Body 2 is a topic sentence.

After your topic sentence, your body paragraph should present two or three main reasons that explain one of the questions in the topic.

Here is a table I use to organise and brainstorm reasons for my IELTS Task 2 essays:

Here is another example: 

You try! – Can you think of two or three reasons to explain the questions in Body 1 and Body 2?

In your full essay, you must explain and support each reason. I recommend choosing your favourite 2 from your brainstorming table. 

Reasons can be explained in a number of ways:

To explain an IELTS Task 2 reason, I always think:

• How do you know this is true?

But also answering the questions in the table above will help you think of supporting information that is logical, clear and coherent.

To see a list of full high-band IELTS Writing Task 2 Descriptive Task example essays with Body 1 and Body 2 paragraphs written using the same method, click here.

Conclusions

The conclusion is the final paragraph of your essay. Your conclusion you should only summarise the main reasons presented in Body 1 and Body 2 

Since Descriptive Tasks do not require your position or opinion at any point, this also includes in the conclusion. Likewise, you do not need to add predictions about the future, or any other details. 

Compare these conclusion sentences:

There you go! A basic introduction to IELTS Writing Descriptive Tasks.  

Why not take one of the Descriptive Task topics from this list and try to write your own descriptive essay? 

If you have just started practising for IELTS Writing Task 2, don’t worry about the 40-minute timer. Take as long as you need to complete your essay. 

Check your work and make sure your opinion is not mentioned anywhere, especially in the conclusion. 

In my experience, once students feel comfortable writing Descriptive Tasks and explaining ideas logically and coherently, it is much easier to add more opinionated phrases in the introduction, body and conclusion paragraphs afterwards. 

For more information about Position Tasks – that full-length blog post is coming very soon.

In addition, more IELTS Task 2 blog posts about writing skills, grammar and language will also be posted in the coming weeks. 

If you have any questions please leave a comment or email me at mark@markteacher.com