How to Read an IELTS Task 2 Statement Before You Plan

Most Task 2 advice starts at the plan. It should start one step earlier. An essay that is well organised, accurate and fluent still loses marks under Task Response if it answers a slightly different statement from the one on the paper, and that error is invisible to the writer, because the essay looks fine.

The statement is the sentence that carries the claim. The instruction is the sentence that tells you what to do with it. Reading them as one block is where the trouble begins. This page separates them, sets out the five misreadings that cost the most, and gives you a two minute check to run before you plan.

The three parts of a Task 2 prompt

Nearly every Task 2 prompt has the same construction.

Candidates read the topic, recognise it, and start planning. The scope words are where the marks go missing, because they are small and they look like padding. They are not padding. They are the difference between a claim you can defend and a claim nobody can defend.

Misreading 1: ignoring the scope word

All museums should be free to enter.

That word all is the whole question. Agreeing with it commits you to national galleries, small private collections and temporary exhibitions alike. Most candidates who write "I completely agree" then spend three paragraphs arguing something narrower, usually about large public museums, and the essay drifts away from the claim it opened with.

Two honest responses exist. Agree with the full scope and defend it, or state the limit in your introduction: "Free entry is justified for publicly funded museums, though not for private collections." The second is a position, and to what extent invites exactly that. It is not fence sitting, because the limit is specified.

Misreading 2: treating the second sentence as decoration

Some prompts carry two sentences, and both are compulsory.

More people are working from home than ever before. Some think this is a positive development, while others believe it damages working relationships. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

The first sentence is background and needs no argument. The second contains two views, and the instruction adds a third task, your own opinion. An answer that discusses both views and stops has completed two of three tasks, and Task Response is capped accordingly however good the language is. The reverse also happens: candidates give an opinion and treat one view in a single sentence.

Misreading 3: losing the reference word

More and more young people are moving to cities for work. Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?

This trend refers to one thing only: young people moving to cities for work. It does not mean urbanisation in general, and it does not mean city life. Essays that widen the reference end up describing traffic, pollution and housing costs, which are consequences of cities rather than of the trend named in the statement.

Circle the reference word, then write next to it, in three or four words, exactly what it points back to. Then check every body paragraph against those words.

Misreading 4: answering a comparison as though it were a single claim

Spending money on space exploration is a waste when there are problems on Earth that need solving.

This is a comparison. The claim is not that space exploration is useless. It is that it is less deserving than something else. An essay that only praises space research has not engaged with the comparison, because the other side of it was never mentioned. Comparative statements need both terms present in the same paragraph: what is spent here is not spent there, and here is the reason for the priority you choose.

Watch for rather than, instead of, more important than, better than, and is a waste when. Each one sets a comparison.

Misreading 5: confusing what is with what should be

Many people now get their news from social media rather than from newspapers.

That sentence describes a situation. It contains no should. If the instruction asks what problems this causes and how they could be solved, then arguing that people ought to read newspapers answers a question that was not asked. Look for should, ought to and must. When none are present, the statement describes a fact you are asked to explain or evaluate, not a proposal you are asked to judge.

A before and after introduction

The prompt: Some people think that governments should ban all advertising aimed at children. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Before, misread:

Advertising is everywhere in modern society and it affects everyone, especially young people. In my opinion, advertising has both advantages and disadvantages, and this essay will discuss both sides of this important issue.

Two failures in three lines. The scope word all is gone, and no position is taken, though the instruction asked for one.

After:

Children cannot easily tell persuasion from information, which is why some governments restrict advertising directed at them. I agree that a ban is justified for children under twelve, though a total ban across all age groups would be difficult to define and to enforce. This essay explains both parts of that position.

The second version keeps all in view, takes a position, and limits it openly. It also paraphrases the statement rather than repeating it, which paraphrasing the question covers in more detail.

The two minute check

Run this before you write your plan. It costs two minutes of the forty and it protects the criterion that carries the most weight for most candidates.

1. Underline the statement. Cross out background sentences that make no claim.
2. Circle every scope word: all, only, always, never, most, some.
3. Draw an arrow from each reference word, such as this trend or this development, to the exact words it points back to.
4. Count the tasks the instruction sets. Write the number at the top of your page. Two views plus an opinion is three.
5. Write your position in one clause, in your own words, before you plan any paragraphs.

If step five is hard, the statement is not yet clear to you, and planning paragraphs will not make it clearer. Reread it.

What to do today

Take five Task 2 prompts you already have. Do not write the essays. Instead run the five step check on each one, and write only the one clause position. Five prompts takes about fifteen minutes and trains the habit that matters most on exam day.

Then write one of the five in full and paste it into Bandly, which returns an estimated band for each of the four criteria along with the sentences behind the estimate, so you can see whether your answer stayed with the statement you were given.