How to Plan & Write ielts opinion Essays

Idea 1 – High-salary jobs are generally more stressful and can lead to ill health.
Idea 2 – Job satisfaction gives a sense of fulfilment.

We’re almost ready to start writing our IELTS opinion essay but first, we have one other small task to do.

# 3 Vocabulary
In an IELTS essay, it’s important to be able to say the same things in different ways, either by paraphrasing and/or using synonyms. During the planning stage, quickly jot down a few synonyms of key words you could use to save you having to stop and think of the right language while you’re writing.
For example:
satisfaction – fulfilment, achievement, sense of accomplishment, content, sense of well-being
salary – income, wages, pay, earnings
important – significant, valued, has more meaning
job – work, employment, position

With that done, we can focus on the first paragraph of the essay – the introduction.

How To Write an Introduction
A good introduction has a simple 3 part structure:
1) Paraphrased question
2) Thesis statement
3) Outline statement

An introduction should:

• 
  Have 2-3 sentences
  

• 
  Be 40-60 words long
  

• 
  Take 5 minutes to write
  

1) Paraphrase the question
Start your introduction by paraphrasing the question.
Question: A big salary is much more important than job satisfaction.
Do you agree or disagree?
Paraphrased question: 
It is argued that earning lots of money has more significance to people than being content in their work.

Note that I’ve used some of the synonyms I listed, although it’s fine to repeat one or two words if you need to. Above all, your language must sound natural.