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Sample Essays

IELTS Sample Essays

Here you will find IELTS Sample Essays for a variety of common topics that appear in the writing exam.

The model answers all have tips and strategies for how you may approach the question and comments on the sample answer.

You can also view sample essays with band scores on this page.

Looking at IELTS essay topics with answers is a great way to help you to prepare for the test.

These IELTS sample essays have been categorised in a way that makes it easy for you to see how certain essay question types require you to provide certain responses to ensure the question is fully answered.

Specifically these are:

Agree / Disagree
Discuss Two Opinions
Problems and Solutions
Advantages and Disadvantages
Other Types

Agree / Disagree Type Questions

In these types of question you are given one opinion and you then have to state the extent to which you agree or disagree with that opinion:

Advertising
Alternative Medicine
Spending on the Arts
Human Cloning
Social Interaction & the Internet
Airline Tax
Free University Education
Scientific Research
Banning Smoking
Employing Older People
Vegetarianism
Paying Taxes
Examinations or Formal Assessment
Multinational Organisations and Culture
Internet vs Newspapers
Technology Development
Dying of Languages
Animal Extinction
Truth in Relationships
Role of Schools
Return of Historical Artefacts

Discuss Two Opinions Type Questions

In this essay question type you are given two opinions, and you have to discuss both of these and then give your own view:

University Education
Reducing Crime
Animal Rights
Child Development
Diet & Health
Donating Money to Charity
Closing Zoos
Becoming Independent
Formal and Informal Education
Influence of Scientists and Politicians
Sources for Stories
Searching for Extraterrestrial Life

Cause Type Questions

There are a variety of 'cause type' essay questions. In these you first have to give the reasons why something has happened, in other words the causes, but then discuss a different aspect of it, such as the effects, solutions or the extent to whether it is a positive or negative development:

Causes & Effects:

Child Obesity
Skin Whitening Creams
Family Size
Having Children Later in Life
Time Away from Family

Causes and Solutions:

Youth Crime
Global Warming
Paying Attention in Class
International Travel & Prejudice
Museums & Historical Places
Disappearance of Traditions
Communication Between Generations

Causes, Pros & Cons:

Family Closeness
Living Alone
Rural to Urban Migration

Problems & Solutions Type Questions

In these type of questions, instead of discussing the causes of a problem, you need to discuss the problems related to a particular issue in society, and then suggest what can be to solve these problems:

Overpopulation
Competing for Jobs
Professionals Immigrating

Advantage & Disadvantages Type Questions

In these type of questions you are asked to discuss the positive and negative sides of a particular topic. You will usually be asked this in the context of giving an opinion ( e.g. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Is it a positive or negative development? ):

Traffic Problems
Food Additives
Computer Games
Age Discrimination at Work
Children using Tablets and Computers
Cell Phones, Internet, & Communication
Working from Home
Eating Locally grown Produce
Oil and Gas Essay
Peer Pressure on Young People
Online Fraud
Decreasing House Sizes

'Hybrid' Types of Essay Question

There are sometimes questions that don't fit easily into a particular category as above. I've called these 'hybrid', as they are of mixed character, are composed of different elements from other types of essay, or are perhaps just worded differently.

Protecting Old Buildings
Animal Testing
Fear of Crime
Communication Technology
Influence of Children's Friends

Sample Essays with Band Scores

You can also view some sample essays that have been written by candidates practising for the test and have band scores and comments by an experienced ex-IELTS Examiner based on the IELTS marking criteria.

IELTS Band 8 Essay Samples
IELTS Band 7 Essay Samples
IELTS Band 6 Essay Samples
IELTS Band 5 Essay Samples
IELTS Band 4 Essay Samples

Student Sample Essays

For more IELTS essay topics with answers you can also view essays that have been written by students. Some have feedback from other students or IELTS teachers:

Student Model Essays (with comments by other students)
Student Model Essays (with comments by IELTS buddy)

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IELTS Listening Essential 25 Tips

The essential IELTS listening tips and information for success in your test. Learn the right listening techniques with over 25 top tips to help you achieve a high score. Learn about the listening exam content, writing the answers correctly, types of questions, scoring, making notes and much more. This is A MUST WATCH video lesson for all IELTS students.

Capital letters in IELTS listening . You can write in capital letters or lower case – your choice. My recommendation is to use all capital letters as it is easier to read and avoids mistakes when writing by hand in the paper test. For the computer test, this isn’t an issue.

TEST CHANGES:

There have been only very minimal changes to the listening test since I made this video.

The paper test has 10 mins answer transfer time to move your answers from the question paper to the answer sheet after the recording has finished. However, the computer test has only 2 mins checking time. This is not a change to the test, it is just an adaptation of time because in the computer test your answers are already entering into the computer. Note that this is the same listening test regardless of whether you write your answer on paper or into a computer.
There used to be an example recording given before the real answer came in the recording. The example recording gave you time to adjust the volume and get used to the speaker’s voice. However, that example recording has now gone. From the moment the recording starts, the test starts and you must listen directly for answers.

IELTS Video: Listening Tips

Summary List of Tips Given Below Video.

IELTS Listening Test Summary

All students take the same test. Both academic and GT students take the same listening test. It is marked in the same way.
All candidates take the same test whether writing their answer on paper or into a computer. Only the answer transfer/checking time is different. See point number 6 below.
There are 40 questions
Section 1 = two speakers. This is often a telephone conversation between two people, for example organising a place on a course, booking a table at a restaurant or renting an apartment. You must listen for specific information, such as names (tips on listening for names ), dates, times (tips on listening for time ), places and numbers.
Section 2 = one speaker. This is often a talk from a guide. You might hear information about a building, a resort, a company, a charity etc.
Section 3 = three or four speakers. This is an academic discussion. It could either be two students talking with a professor or a student presenting their resource to their colleagues.
Section 4 = one speaker. This is an academic lecture.
The sections get more difficult as the test progresses. This means section 1 is the easiest and section 4 is the most difficult.
30 minutes to listen to the recording and write down your answer on the question paper
paper test = 10 minutes given after recording has ended to transfer your answers from the question paper to the answer sheet
computer test = 2 mins given after recording has ended checking time for the computer test
IELTS is an international test. There will be a range of accents but the main accents will probably be British and Australian.
IELTS accept either British English or American English spelling.

IELTS Listening Tips

Below is a list of IELTS listening tips that have been given in the video above. Read these tips carefully.

You must practice completing a full listening test by listening only once before your test. You should do this a number of times.
When you are developing skills and vocabulary, you might want to practice listening more than once. This is fine when you are in training.
You will need to multitask. This means you must be able to read the questions, listen for the answer and write down words all at the same time. You should practice doing this.
Practice transferring your answers to the answer sheet at home before your test. Here is a link to download the IELTS listening answer sheet .
You should write your answers on the answer sheet using pencil not a pen. This is the same as the IELTS reading test.
Scores are calculated by the number of points you got correct. Here is a link to learn all about the IELTS band scores: IELTS Band Scores Explained. You don’t lose a mark if your answer is wrong. Your score will not change due to incorrect answers.
If you don’t know an answer, guess. Always write something in the box on your answer sheet. Who knows, maybe you guess right !!
You can write your answer using capital or lower case letters. However, I recommend using all capital letters.
Check the number of words you can have for your answer. Each time the question type changes, the number of words for the answer might change too. Here is an example of instructions: “No more than two words and/or a number”. To learn exactly what these instructions mean, please watch the video lesson above.
Check the instructions to see if you can have a number (which means only one) or number s (plural which means more than one number).
A date “1950” is considered one number.
A large number “1,000,500” is considered one word.
A hyphenated word “part-time” is considered one word.
A compound noun which is not hyphenated “tennis shoe” is considered two words.
The best place to meet is ………. = the answer must be grammatically correct so you need “at the hospital”.
If the question is a note or form completion, such each 1) PLACE: …… = the answer can be just one word (with or without the article) “hospital” or “the hospital” (if two words are possible.
Don’t worry about spelling while you are listening because you don’t have time to concentrate on spelling. You need to concentrate on listening to the recording and following the questions.
Check your spelling when you transfer your answers to the answer sheet. That is the time to check and make sure everything is correct.
If the answer is b, you must write “b” on your answer sheet not “summer”. The word “summer” would be marked wrong because the instructions ask you to write a letter not a word.
form completion
note completion
summary completion
sentence completion
multiple choice
diagram labelling
map labelling
table completion
If you want practice with these types of question, go to my IELTS listening page.
Don’t try to understand everything. IELTS will add lots of extra information but you only need to listen for answers. Keep yourself focused on listening for answers to questions.
Answers may come quickly. You might get three answers in a very short time. Get ready to write your answers down quickly. Answers may come slowly. There may be a gap between answers. Don’t panic. This is common in section 4.
Look out for answers which are plural. IELTS know that students have difficulty hearing the plural “s”. So, these answers will certainly be given to test your listening ability.
Giving the answer and then changing it. Here is an example: “Is it ok to meet at 7pm?” / “Yes, 7pm works fine for me” / “Oh I’ve just remembered I have a late meeting, could we make it half past instead?” The answer was 7pm but then the speaker changed it to 7.30pm. Always keep listening and be ready for the speaker to change the answer.
Similar words might not be the right answer. Watch this video about IELTS listening multiple choice to understand this tip.
If you miss an answer, just move on to the next question. Don’t waste time. Don’t lose your place in the recording.
CONCENTRATE!!! 30 minutes is a long time to actively listen for answers. If you lose focus, you will miss answers. Don’t let that happen to you. Practice full tests at home to build up your ability to concentrate.

For more tips and explanations – please watch the video above.

Do you have a question about IELTS listening or about the IELTS test? This page has over 100 answers to your questions: IELTS Test FAQ

Improve your IELTS listening for free with this practice lessons: IELTS Listening Lessons

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