IELTS Writing Task 2: Advantages and Disadvantages

IELTS essays frequently focus on the advantages and disadvantages of an issue but the question types may vary.

Discuss advantages and disadvantages

One of the most common IELTS writing task 2 essay types is: Discuss advantages and disadvantages. many test-takers also find it one of the easier question types because what it asks for is very straightforward. Nonetheless, proper planning and organization must go into your essay to ensure the highest band score possible.

The task

Nowadays, a lot of buildings such as offices have open-space design instead of separate rooms. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend?

Plan – the prewriting stage

Analyze the question – make sure you totally understand what you are supposed to answer. Spend a couple of minutes reading and underlining the key words. 

Determine your position. 

In this essay type, stating your position is relatively simple. Since the question does not ask for your opinion, you can merely write that there are advantages and disadvantages to the issue.

Position:  While there are practical advantages to open-space interiors, there are also disadvantages worth mentioning.

Brainstorm for ideas

Aim for at least one well developed idea for each paragraph

Body paragraph 1 - advantages

• Open interiors allow companies flexibility as their staffing changes
• No walls means open communication among colleagues
• light, airy feeling

Body paragraph 2 - disadvantages

• No walls means no privacy
• too many distractions - difficult to focus
• not optimal for all types of businesses

Brainstorm for support for your advantages and disadvantages.  Support can be an example, further explanation, a definition, or any statement explaining why or how your main idea is true.

Support: If a company expands in terms of its personnel suddenly, open-space offices provide space for everyone without the need to search for offices.

Writing

Introduction

Start by rephrasing the prompt.   Make sure you include all the sides of the topic that the writing task 2 addresses.

State your position.  

Your introduction should be 3 or 4 sentences.   Do not waste time getting into details in the introduction – save these for your body paragraphs.

Example introduction:

Around the world it is a growing trend to see open-space offices rather than closed, individual spaces.  While there are practical advantages to open-plan interiors, like the flexibility they provide, there are also disadvantages worth mentioning including a lack of privacy.

Body

Structure

Start with a topic sentence that introduces the central idea of the paragraph.

Open-plan offices provide companies and their employees numerous advantages.

Introduce your first main advantage.

One such advantage is the flexibility that these spaces afford the company.

Follow this with support .

Should a company require room for more employees, whether temporary or permanent, these open interiors allow for various configurations that will accommodate all staff appropriately.

Add a second main idea for the advantages in communication and include support for this as well.

Another point worth mentioning is that open plan offices facilitate communication among colleagues. An employee does not have to wonder if a colleague is available to speak; he or she simply needs to look across the room. Furthermore, having people around to speak to fosters creativity and problem solving. Rather than searching for solutions alone, employees can convene with their office mates easily to brainstorm.

Create a summary statement that is essentially a rephrasing of your topic sentence.   Begin this with therefore, thus, or consequently.

Therefore, it is clear that open-space offices benefit both the employer and employee.

Task Response

An IELTS writing task 2 that scores well on task response answers the question directly and develops the topic fully. 

A band 9 answer leaves no further questions for the reader. The band descriptors state that a Band 9 essay:

... provides a fully developed position in answer to the question with relevant, fully extended and well supported ideas

In the example body paragraph 1, the advantages of open space offices on communication was fully developed; two aspects of this were included in the supporting sentences.

Coherence and Cohesion

Test takers are scored on their ability to appropriately organize their paragraphs and show a logical progresion of ideas. For this reason, both body paragraphs need to have:

1. clear topic sentence which introduces the central idea
2. main idea which explains the central idea
3. evidence or explanation which further develops the main idea and explains how or why it is true.

Sometimes, an IELTS writing task 2 may require a second main idea and piece of support, especially if the test taker is aiming for a higher band score.

Lexical Resource

Unless you have personal knowledge of architecture, it may be difficult to come up with synonyms for words and expressions like open space offices. For this reason, it is important to focus on showcasing your IELTS vocabulary in other ways.

• configurations
• afford
• accommodate
• foster
• facilitate

These are all high level words that, while not topic specific, show precision and high level lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Show flexibility with advanced grammar.

If- then statements

These are advanced grammatical structures that many IELTS test takers avoid but impress examiners when they see them. Their combination of tenses make them a bit overwhelming for some, but for higher level candidates, these should be used.

Even within these statements, called Conditionals, there are varying degrees of difficulty. You could write:

If a company requires room for more employees, these open interiors allow for various configurations that will accommodate all staff appropriately.

This is a standard conditional statement. However, you could use a conditional statement without if like this:

Should a company require room for more employees, these open interiors allow for various configurations that will accommodate all staff appropriately.

Make it even more complex but including a little extra information like this:

Should a company require room for more employees, whether temporary or permanent, these open interiors allow for various configurations that will accommodate all staff appropriately.

Conclusion

Keep it brief – 2 sentences should be enough. Start by restating your position. Leave your reader with a

general, thought-provoking statement.

Example: 

In conclusion, office interiors without walls are more than likely here to stay. They provide a flexible, economic solution at the cost of privacy and sometimes efficiency.

Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

This is another common IELTS essay type which is somewhat different than the above. Here, you must clearly state your opinion, as it is assumed that one side is stronger than the other. You will need to make your position clear throughout the essay.

The task

Nowadays tourists and scientists are allowed to travel to remote natural environments. Do you think the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include examples from your own experience.

Plan – the prewriting stage

Analyze the question – make sure you totally understand what you are supposed to answer. Spend a couple of minutes reading and underlining the key words.  There are multiple elements to write about so make sure you organize the task 2 essay in a way that covers all of them.

Determine your position. 

There are definitely important benefits to scientists traveling to remote regions and less important advantages for tourists. Despite this, the advantages outweigh any disadvantages.

Brainstorm for ideas

In this essay, the body paragraphs must address tourists and scientists and both the advantages and disadvantages of them traveling to remote areas.

Think of areas you believe are remote. Why would it be good for scientists to go there? What would they - and science - gain? What about tourists? How would tourists benefit? The region? Any people living there?

Ask yourself similar questions for disadvantages.

Paragraph 1 - advantages

• Scientists can research flora and fauna that might hold cures to deadly disease
• tourists can bring a boost to the economy of these regions, positively affecting local people

Paragraph 2 - disadvantages

• Scientists may cause harm to the region in their efforts to uncover its mysteries
• tourists may also destroy the environment as well as alter the surroundings for their comfort, negatively affecting local people

Brainstorm for support for your ideas.  For each of your ideas, find additional explanation, examples statistics or proof.

Support: Scientists would have new areas to study for cures to diseases or to answer other questions of nature.

Writing

Introduction

Start by rephrasing the task.   Make sure you include all the sides of the topic that the task addresses.

State your opinion.  

Your introduction should be 3 or 4 sentences. 

Example introduction:

Advances in travel technology have made it possible for people, including scientists and tourists, to travel to areas that were previously impossible to reach. While there are some clear disadvantages associated with this issue, on the whole the advantages are greater.

Body

Structure

Start your task 2 with a topic sentence that introduces the central idea of the paragraph.

Travel to remote areas carries with it numerous disadvantages.

Introduce your first main idea.

One such disadvantage is that tourists tend to taint natural areas, not only with waste they leave behind, but with all the infrastructure required to support tourism.

Follow this with support .

When a remote area requires restaurants, hotels and wifi cables, among other amenities, it ceases to be a virgin area. This may have a negative impact on the local people living there, affecting their livelihood or way of life.

Add a second main idea for the disadvantages of travel by scientists and include support for this as well.

Similarly, scientists may affect a pristine environment as well by setting up laboratories and tampering with the native flora and fauna. The development required to support scientific inquiry may compromise the environment, causing it to lose the very essence of what made it initially appealing.

Create a summary statement that is essentially a rephrasing of your topic sentence.   Begin this with therefore, thus, or consequently.

Thus, travel to remote areas may bring numerous drawbacks.

Task Response

Some candidates struggle with finding ideas that are relevant. There are a number of ways to develop this task. You could have advantages of tourists and scientists in one paragraph, with disadvantages of both groups in another.

Alternatively, you could describe disadvantages of tourists in one paragraph and advantages of scientists in another. Other combinations are possible as well. When you brainstorm, see which ideas are stronger and organize your essay around those.

Coherence and Cohesion

Part of the Coherence and Cohesion criteron examines if your paragraphing is accurate and if the order of ideas is appropriate.

Many IELTS examiners recommend leaving your strongest argument for last, closer to your conclusion. In this essay, that would mean that the first body paragraph would address disadvantages and the second advantages.

This gives the advantages paragraph more weight and it remains in the mind of the reader more strongly. It also links to the conclusion better.

Lexical Resource

The introduction and body paragraph 1 contain both general and topic specific vocabulary that is high level:

• taint
• infastructure
• amenities
• pristine
• tamper
• compromise
• essence

Sample Task 2 essay

The task:

Nowadays tourists and scientists are allowed to travel to remote natural environments. Do you think the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include examples from your own experience.

Advances in travel technology have made it possible for people, including scientists and tourists, to travel to areas that were previously impossible to reach. While there are some clear disadvantages associated with this issue, on the whole the advantages are greater.

Travel to remote areas carries with it numerous disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that tourists tend to taint natural areas, not only with waste they leave behind, but with all the infrastructure required to support tourism. When a remote area requires restaurants, hotels and wifi cables, among other amenities, it ceases to be a virgin area. This may have a negative impact on the local people living there, affecting their livelihood or way of life. Similarly, scientists may affect a pristine environment as well by setting up laboratories and tampering with the native flora and fauna. The development required to support scientific inquiry may compromise the environment, causing it to lose the very essence of what made it initially appealing. Thus, travel to remote areas may bring numerous drawbacks.

 Although there are clear disadvantages to remote travel, the advantages it provides cannot be overstated.  Areas far removed from urban centers frequently suffer from a weak economy, therefore interest from tourists in these regions could give a much needed economic boost.  Additionally, with the development of necessary infrastructure, new jobs would be created for people of the area.  More importantly, however, is what research in such regions could give to the world of science.   Opening an uncharted world to scientists could bring about new knowledge that would help mankind, or even perhaps cure heretofore untreatable diseases. A recent report from the New York Times indicated estimated that 22% of diseases with no cure could find treatments from plant life in areas such as deserts and rainforests. Therefore, the advantages to investigating these regions are innumerable. 

In conclusion, no gain is without costs.   Similarly, the advantages of travel to remote areas comes at a price.  However, all told, the benefits to humanity are too great to ignore. 

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Reduced relative clauses

Areas far removed from urban centers= areas THAT ARE far removed from urban centers

The development required to support scientific inquiry = the development THAT is required to support scientific inquiry.

Conclusion

The position is restated and a thought-provoking, dramatic statement leaves the examiner with a strong impression.

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