I nte r nati o nal e n g LI s h lan g uag e testi n g syste m

ums of the future are arranged primarily for this purpose.

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IELTS Academic Task 2: How to write at a band 9 level

62

3.1

A

dvantage

 

and

 

disadvantage

 

questions

A common IELTS Task 2 question requires a look at the advantages and disadvan-

tages of a topic. A fitting response structure requires accurate interpretation of the 

action words of the question. To illustrate, here are some example action words that 

commonly accompany advantage and disadvantage type questions:

1. Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of this and form an opinion.

or

2. In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this topic?

or

3. Do you feel this topic has more advantages than disadvantages?

All three of the above samples state that an examination of the advantages and dis-

advantages needs to take place in the candidate’s essay. However, they qualify this 

examination differently.

In the first example, the word order instructs the candidate to analyse both the 

advantages and disadvantages of a topic before sharing an opinion. Naturally, this 

would call for a discussion style of essay. The candidate would use one of their sup-

porting paragraphs to analyse the advantages and the other supporting paragraph 

to analyse the disadvantages. A final opinion would be declared in the conclusion 

paragraph.

The second and third versions are very similar to the first in that both support-

ing paragraphs would look at the advantages and disadvantages in turn, but here 

the candidate could comfortably share their opinion as a thesis at the beginning of 

the essay or as a statement of position at the end of the essay. Thus, these question 

structures allow for either essay style.

To illustrate how to respond to these sorts of questions, look at this mock IELTS 

question and answer:

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IELTS Academic Task 2: How to write at a band 9 level

63