Students leave high school without learning the way how to manage their money. What are the reasons and solutions for this issue? IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Question

Bhargavee Sisodia

07 Oct 2024

Task 2 of the IELTS writing exam requires candidates to write an essay on a given topic in 40 minutes. The essay should be no less than 250 words. This blog will explain the different kinds of IELTS essay topics, their assessment criteria, the proper way to approach the topics, and offer some IELTS writing task 2 topics sample answers segregated by various IELTS writing band scores.  

IELTS Essay: Types

There are six main categories of IELTS essay topics, and each has a unique set of formats and patterns for responses. Before structuring your answer, you must assess the allotted topic thoroughly and understand each format; otherwise, your IELTS writing band score might be downgraded.

• Problem Solution: These essays require you to investigate the origins and effects of significant problems that have been mentioned in the essay topic. It is not recommended to include personal opinions and recommendations in these kinds of essays.
• Advantage & Disadvantage: For this type of essay, you must list the advantages and disadvantages of a particular topic. Your essay's main body should be balanced, with each paragraph discussing the benefits and drawbacks of the assigned topic separately with examples. Don't add your opinion if the issue doesn't ask for it.
• Discussion: You may address all sides of an issue while writing an essay in this format. Don't share your opinion if it doesn't ask for your it explicitly. Occasionally, these articles will ask you to provide your thoughts, at which point you will need to convey your perspective. 
• Balanced Opinion: You must adequately convey your ideas about the issue in this type of essay. You have to defend both positions without giving any preference to one over the other. At the beginning and conclusion of the essay, you should express your ideas and perspectives.
• Opinion: You are required to offer your perspective on the given issue in this essay, which is often agreement or disagreement. Give the examiner compelling evidence and reasons to support your position. Remember that you are not allowed to express partial agreement or disagreement with the topic at hand. Whatever your point of view, it needs to be firmly held.
• Direct Question/Double Question: This kind of essay poses one or more direct questions, to which your response should be formatted as an essay using a clear and concise style and examples. You should answer each question of the topic statement in separate paragraphs of the main body with proper linking means. 

Four main evaluation factors determine your IELTS writing band score; each one counts for 25% of your total score. You should pay attention to every assessment criteria mentioned below to score well in each of them. Your final score will depend on your score of these criteria of evaluation.

IELTS Writing: Assessment criteria 

IELTS writing test: List of Linking words

Linking words is employed to strengthen the logical appeal and flow of writing by creating connections between concepts, phrases, and paragraphs. The most frequent error made by applicants in their essay writing is to omit linking devices. For your reference, we have compiled a list of connecting words and arranged them according to use and categories. 

• Choice: Specify a choice within your essay
• Either … Or
• Whether ... Or
• Alternatively
• Or
• Rather
• Choose either
• Preferably … or 
• In either case

• Restatement: To restate an idea or opinion
• In short
• To rephrase
• In a nutshell
• In simple terms
• I mean
• Express simply
• That is to say
• Otherwise

• Generalization: To connect general statements and ideas
• In general
• In most cases
• Universally
• Overall
• Generally speaking
• By and large
• Bradley speaking
• Without exception\

• Emphasis: To emphasize or give importance to a particular idea
• In fact
• Importantly 
• Especially
• Above all
• Significantly 
• Without a doubt
• In particular
• Even

Lexical Resources: List of collocations and idioms

While writing your essay, you should use a wide range of collocations and idioms to showcase your lexical range. These elements enhance the quality of your essay and help you score better in the Lexical Resources criterion. 

Collocations: Collocation refers to the way words tend to occur together in a language. It is the natural way that some words are found in close proximity within the English language. Collocations make your essay fluent and natural to read.

Example of some collocations that can be used in your essay

• Financial Planning
• Academic structure’s curriculum
• High school graduates
• Finance management
• Budget control
• Savings management
• Stock investment
• Profligate spendings
• Capital planning
• Monetary Management

Idioms: An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the individual words. 

Example of some idioms  that can be used in your essay

• Start making their own way: to become financially independent 
• To kick things off: To begin with
• Make ends meet: To manage a person’s finances to cover expenses
• Break the bank: To spend excessively
• Hit a snag: Encounter a problem
• Strike a balance: To find a better balance/understanding
• Get a handle on: To understand something
• Nip it in the bud: Stop something before it starts

IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers  

Determining the category of your essay

One of the most important things you will need to do while organizing your essay is to choose which category your essay belongs in. Before you can draft the essay and ultimately put it in writing, you must have a clear understanding of the category it belongs to, otherwise, your score in the Task Achievement criterion will suffer. 

For example, if your topic is “Students leave high school without learning the way how to manage their money. What are the reasons and solutions for this issue?”

The keyword in the question is “reasons and solutions for this issue”. 

• This means the topic belongs to the “Problem Solution” essay category. 
• The topic does not ask for your opinion so you should refrain from giving any opinion in the essay and write it strictly from a third person perspective.

Problem Solution Essay: This type of essay urges you to elaborately discuss the problem of the given topic and then discuss the probable solutions. Make sure to discuss the problem and its origin in the first paragraph of the main body and the solution in the second paragraph of the main body. 

The Essay Structure

Introduction: Paraphrase the given information and answer the question asked in the topic statement. 

Main Body: The main body should consist of at least 2 paragraphs.

• Paragraph 1: Discuss the causes of the given issue. Explain at least two causes in detail.
• Paragraph 2: Discuss the solutions to the given issue. Explain at least two solutions in detail
• Paragraph 3 (optional): If the causes are too elaborate, then you can add 2 paragraphs of cause, and the solution paragraph can come in the 3rd place. If the solutions are too descriptive, then you can add two paragraphs of solution in 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of the main body.

Conclusion: Restate your answer.

Now let's have a look at the possible answers to the above topic from the “Problem Solution” category for the IELTS writing band scores 6, 7, and 9. 

IELTS writing band score 6

Students are not properly taught how to manage their money before leaving high school. This is the reason behind many finance-related problems they face after graduating from high school. This essay will discuss the causes and solutions of such issues.

Our school system fail to teach students the most important aspect of financial management. During the high school years, students are rarely think about financial management. However, once they begin to make money on their own, they grow confused about financial planning and eventually lose all their money and are left without savings. They lose their hard-earned money owing to a lack of understanding of fundamental financial planning instruments and banking advantages. Such challenges are frequent among today's kids for which a solution is needed.  

Luckily, there's a simple solution to all of these issues. High school students can better understand and adjust to the advantages of money management with the help of several great curricculum on financial planning. High school, for instance, include a few courses on financial planning that cover the useful uses of budgeting tools like savings, interests, tax management, etc. This will help students to understand the pros of financial planning and the problems which can be avoided with its help. Schools need to make sure students learn the basics of money management so that they can survive well in the real world after graduating.

To conclude, one of the most severe problems that every student face after graduating from high school is money mismanagement. Therefore, it's critical to include appropriate courses in the curricculum to avoid such problems.

Notes on the above answer: 

• The underlined words represent a lack of paraphrasing the topic statement, decreasing the score in Task Achievement.
• The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical faults that lower your Accuracy score. 
• The words in Italics indicate spelling mistakes coupled with a lack of vocabulary range are the key factors behind a lower score in Lexical Resources. 
• The number of linking words is extremely low, and words in bold like “student”, “financials”, and “ money” have been repeated, lowering the score of Cohesion and Coherence.

IELTS writing band score 7

Financial planning is one of the many crucial subjects that the current curriculum of education does not offer. This makes it difficult for recent high school graduates to comprehend its principles in real-world scenarios. This essay will dig deeper into the problems and solutions associated with this subject.

Our educational system fails to teach pupils the most fundamental concepts of financial management. During the schooling era, a student is hardly concerned about money and finance management. However, as they start earning money themselves, they become confused by financial planning and succumb to bankruptcy. Furthermore, they lose their hard-earned money due to a lack of knowledge of basic finance planning tools like savings, investments, and assets. Such issues are very common in today’s youth during the first few years of professional career.  

Fortunately, there is an easy answer to all of these problems, and it is quite simple to execute throughout the early stages of secondary education. The addition of certain intriguing curriculums on fiscal matters can assist high school students grasp its importance and become used to its benefits. For example, education institutes can add a few courses on financial planning for every student with practical applications of budgeting tools like savings, investments, and asset acquisitions. Through this mean, students can learn the distinction between necessity and luxury and choose their battles in finance planning accordingly.

To summarize, financial mismanagement is one of the most concerning issues faced by every individual after graduating from high school. Thus it is important to introduce proper courses in the curriculum to nip it in the bud.

Notes on the above answer: 

• The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical faults that lower your score in Accuracy.  
• The number of linking words below satisfaction, and words in bold like “financial”, and “school” have been repeated. The instances “savings, investments, and asset” have been repeated without alteration. These points have brought down the overall score in Cohesion and Coherence. 
• The essay could use some more examples, hence the score in Task Achievement has decreased.

IELTS writing band score 9

One of the many important courses missing from the present academic structure's curriculum is financial planning. Because of this, high school graduates are unable to understand its fundamentals, which presents several challenges in practical situations. This essay will thus go into detail on the issues and fixes related to this topic.

To kick things off, our education system fails to educate students about the most basic finance management ideas like investments, assets, and savings. While being protected by the safety net of their parents, students are hardly interested in monetary issues. But once they start making their own way, they get puzzled by several pecuniary administrations and fail to make ends meet. Additionally, they struggle with issues like tax filing, savings management, and stock investment and end up losing their hard-earned keep due to their profligate spending. To illustrate, a friend of mine who earns a high five-figure monthly salary is almost penniless by the end of every month, just because of her spendthrift behaviour and lack of budgeting skills.

Fortunately, such problems can be eradicated by simply informing them about the basics of monetary governance at the academic level. The inclusion of some interesting curriculums concerning fiscal affairs can help high schoolers get a handle on its necessity and strike a balance with its virtues. For example, education institutes can include capital planning in their syllabus along with some practical applications like savings account opening, monthly investments, and asset acquisitions to help the students get used to the concepts during their formative years.

To sum up, mismanagement of money is one of the concerning issues faced by today’s youth and it can be annihilated for future generations by introducing a few wealth-handling techniques within the syllabus. This would enable them to avoid hitting a snag while managing their budget without breaking the bank due to a lack of knowledge.

Conclusion

D-VIVID is a study partner, instructor, and advisor that can help you prepare for the IELTS writing test. Several candidates have benefited from our extensive database of commonly asked IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers, which has helped them get the desired IELTS writing band score. With our specially designed IELTS writing preparation guides, study resources on IELTS essay topics, and excellent mentoring from knowledgeable and reputable academics on IELTS writing task 2 topics, you can be confident that your IELTS preparation will be enjoyable and informative. So don't hesitate to get in touch with us right now for a hassle-free IELTS preparation experience.