The continued rise in the world's population is the greatest problem faced by humanity at the present time. good quality of life. What are the causes of this continued rise? Do you agree that it is the greatest problem faced by humanity? IELTS Writing Task 2

Bhargavee Sisodia

14 Oct 2024

For both the Academic and General Training categories, the shared assignment in the second part of the IELTS writing exam is writing an essay. In this section of the exam, candidates have forty minutes to write an essay that is at least 250 words long. IELTS essay topics may take many different shapes; this blog will discuss how to approach them effectively and offer a plethora of writing assignment 2 ideas and solutions.

IELTS essay segment: Categories of Essay

Six fundamental groupings may be used to classify IELTS essay topics, and each group has a unique response pattern. You must be fully familiar with each format in order to assess the given problem and provide a workable solution. If you cannot decide which category your themes fall in, you will receive a lower mark on the IELTS writing assignment 2.

• Problem Solution: You must research the causes and consequences of important problems related to your topic for these essays. Such writings ought not to include personal endorsements or opinions.
• Advantage & Disadvantage: This kind of essay requires you to enumerate the benefits and drawbacks of the chosen topic. The major body of your essay should be well-balanced, with distinct paragraphs addressing the advantages and disadvantages of the selected topic. If giving an opinion on the issue is not necessary, do not voice your views.
• Discussion: You can discuss conflicting perspectives by writing an essay in this way. If your opinion isn't specifically requested, don't share it. You will need to respond to these articles when they ask for your opinions, which will happen sometimes.  
• Balanced Opinion: You must express your opinions on the subject concisely and clearly in this kind of essay. It is not acceptable to favor one side of the argument over the other; you must stand up for both. Your essay should start and end with objective statements of your ideas.
• Opinion: Whether you agree with the essay's topic or not, you must express your opinion. Establish a compelling case for your position and provide supporting data. It is not acceptable to debate or support the subject at hand in part. 
• Direct Question/Double Question: One or more direct questions are posed in this type of essay, and your response should take the form of an essay with examples and succinct, understandable language.

Your IELTS writing band score is derived from four primary evaluation categories, each of which adds 25% to your final result. To do well on every evaluation, you should focus on each of the following areas. Your performance in meeting these assessment conditions will determine your final score. 

IELTS Writing: Assessment criteria 

The four key assessment criteria for IELTS writing task 2 topics are: 

• Task Achievement / Task Response: This criterion assesses how effectively you were able to use the topic from your IELTS writing task 2 to develop an answer. This assesses if you completed the required minimum of 250 words within the 40 minutes, correctly paraphrasing your writing, and included examples and supporting data to support your claims.
• Coherence and Cohesion: Coherence is the state in which ideas make sense and are consistent. The paragraph lacks coherence and has disjointed ideas. Cohesion is the capacity to produce writing that makes sense and flows naturally between sentences. 
• Lexical Resource: This criterion evaluates the applicant's flawless usage of a broad vocabulary set in the appropriate context. Using a wide vocabulary and pertinent examples increases your score in this testing area.
• Grammatical Accuracy and Range: This section evaluates your correctness, complexity, and precision in using the grammatical range. It takes into account things like using nouns, punctuating correctly, using the right tense, etc.

IELTS writing test: Strategies 

During preparation: Four steps approach

While many people are aware that their writing has to be improved, they are often unable to identify where to start. All individuals can utilize the four approaches we've described below to enhance their writing abilities and achieve a high score in the IELTS essay topics segment.

Step 1: Understand the purpose

You need to understand

• What the exam signifies
• What the examiner expects from your answers
• How to fulfill the expectations of the examiner

This is the first stage of IELTS writing preparation and also the step that is overlooked the most. There are a huge number of online resources with poor and conflicting samples. It is important to find a reliable and good partner with adequate resources during preparation.

Step 2: Identify the problem

In order to rectify an issue, the most important task is to identify it. That is exactly what you need to do while preparing for the IELTS writing task 2. You need to understand what the main issues with your writing are that are restricting you from getting a good score. Once you do that, your battle is partially won. For example, a few candidates lack in vocabulary, while some have problems grasping the grammatical nuances. 

Step 3: Fix the problem

Now that you have identified the issue, all that is left is to improve yourself in that segment. If your grammar is inconsistent, work on your grammatical accuracy with the help of books or online resources.  If your vocabulary range is subpar, read books and articles to improve yourself in that section.

Step 4: Practice and Feedback

Practicing alone is not enough to help you improve your skills in English essay writing. It is an essential part of your preparation, but you must also get constructive feedback on your work if you aim to improve yourself. Thus getting your essays checked by mentors or taking online sample examinations are an important part of your task 2 preparation phase. 

IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers  

Identifying your essay category

Finding the category your topic belongs in is the most important and first step after receiving the IELTS writing problem 2 themes. When writing the essay, it is important to adhere to the response syntax standards for each category of IELTS essay topics. 

For example, if your essay topic is  “The continued rise in the world's population is the greatest problem faced by humanity at the present time. good quality of life. What are the causes of this continued rise? Do you agree that it is the greatest problem faced by humanity?”, then identifying the instruction keywords or question statements is the key to identifying its category. Here the questions are:

• “What are the causes of this continued rise?”: Question Number 1
•  “Do you agree that it is the greatest problem faced by humanity?”: Question Number 2

Since the above topic has two distinct questions that are related to one another but are answerable separately, hence we can confidently conclude that it belongs to the “Direct Question” or “Double Question” category of essays.

The first paragraph of your main body must contain the causes of the problem stated in the topic and the second paragraph must elaborate your opinion on the second question.

Direct Question/Double Question Essay: Structure

Introduction: Paraphrase the given information and answer the questions asked in the topic statement as precisely as possible. 

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

• Paragraph 1: Answer the first question based on the topic statement in hand along with proper instances.
• Paragraph 2: Answer the second question based on the topic statement in hand along with examples.

Conclusion: Conclude by restating your answer to the double questions with ending pointers if any.

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

IELTS writing band score 6

The continued rise in the world’s population is one of the most significant problems of the world nowadays. I agree that it is one of the most pivotal problems on earth and would discuss the causes of it in the essay below, along with my opinion.

It is impossible to ignore the advances made in science and medicine in the last several decades while talking about the reasons. This is among the main reasons. Modern medical research has made it possible for millions of individuals to reproduce. Thanks to better treatment methods, more affordable Western medicine, and a decrease in mortality, medical innovations has singlehandedly managed to manifest an infinite population growth all over the world. As a result, although the number of fatalities is drastically decreasing, the rate of human reproduction is increasing. For example, new treatments have been introduced for cancer patients and terminaly ill patients which have decrease the death rate. 

From my opinion, this problem is extreamely severe. Population expansion increases the battle of survival for accuring resources such as food, water, energy, and land. Additionally, population expansion has a negative impact on the demand-supply chain. For instance, as the population grows, there is an increasing lack of land available for habitat. Other negative consequences of population increase that hurt everyone include pollution, environmental damage, and erosion. Fight for resources have affected the public wellbeing.

In conclusion, there are several reasons for the expansion in human population, which has resulted in a never-ending war for survival and altered the natural balance of life. As a result, this might be considered one of the world's most challenging tasks.  

Notes on the above answer: 

• The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical mistakes that reduce the score in this criterion. 
• The underlined words indicate a lack of paraphrasing which is why the score in Task Achievement has decreased. 
• Spelling errors have been marked in italics words reducing the Lexical Resources score.
• The number of linking words is very low, and words in bold like “world”, and “population” have been repeated a lot, reducing the score of Cohesion and Coherence.

IELTS writing band score 7

With the gradual rise in the world’s population, the quality of life amongst humans have been negatively impacted. This issue is thought of as the biggest issue on earth, which I agree. Hence I will discuss the causes of this rise and cite my opinion on the matter. 

While discussing the causes, one cannot overlook the improvement of science and medicine over the past few decades. This is one of the key causes. Millions of people have managed to reproduce due to modern techniques of medical science. Advances in medicine have effectively increased the population by decreasing death and increasing life expectancy with the help of new treatment techniques, and cheaper Western medicine. As a result, the number of deaths is significantly declining while the reproductivity of persons is rising. 

My perspective says this issue might be more alarming than its superficial appearance. The hardship of a scarcity of necessities like food, water, energy, and land is higher by population growth. Additionally, the demand-supply chain is adversely affected by population growth. For example, there is a significant shortage of land for habitat as the number of inhabitants rises. Pollution, environment degradation and inflasion are some other adverse effects of population growth due to which every human is suffering.

To summarise, there are numerous causes for the surge in the number of people on earth, which has given rise to a constant struggle for survival, hampering the harmony of life. Hence it is true to be termed as one of the most problematic issues of the world.  

Notes on the above answer: 

• The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical mistakes degrading the score in this criterion.  
• The amount of relevant linking words is less than expected, and words in bold like “causes”, “population growth”, and “medicine” have been repeated, reducing the score in Cohesion and Coherence. 
• The italicized word “cheaper” depicts the use of synonyms in the wrong prospect thus it lowers Lexical Resources’ score. It should be replaced with “affordable” or “cost-effective”.
• Spelling errors are indicated with italicized words reducing the Lexical Resources score.

IELTS writing band score 9

The number of inhabitants on earth has shown a gradual upward curve owing to which the quality of life among humans is compromised. This problem might be seen as one of the most significant issues of the world and I agree with the premise. Thus, I will elaborate on the root of population uptick and exemplify my perspective in the following essay.

First and foremost, considering the causes of such a boom in the human community, one cannot ignore the advancement of science and medicine. With the help of scientific methods, millions of individuals,  unable to conceive naturally, have managed to reproduce. On top of that, medical upheaval has successfully prolonged the lifespan of the general populous be it with their new techniques of curing terminal illness or with the increased effectiveness and affordability of Western medicine. As a result, procreation amongst people is increasing while the death rate has significantly decreased. To illustrate, spouses nowadays go through surrogacy or IVF treatment to give birth to their progeny. On the other hand, treatments like chemotherapy, radiation surgery, and other medical innovations have managed to cure fatal diseases like cancer and brain tumors. Lack of family planning and lenient progeniture government rules are the other reasons for this issue.

In my opinion, it is an alarming problem faced by the general public, capable of bringing grave crisis to humanity. With the demographic expansion, comes the burden of shortage of basic supplies like food, water, electricity, and land. Furthermore, an increase in population inversely affects the demand-supply chain as well. For instance, as there is a rise in residents, there is a substantial dearth of land for habitat. But it also causes a surplus of applicants for a single line of profession, which elevates unemployment. 

In summary, there are a multitude of reasons for the global explosion of the populace, which has disrupted the balance of life. Therefore, it is accurate to refer to this as one of the world's most difficult problems.  

Conclusion

As the best IELTS preparation partner, D-VIVID can help you get ready for the writing portion of the test. Thanks to our comprehensive list of typical writing task 2 topics with answers, we have effectively assisted a wide range of applicants in achieving their intended IELTS writing band score. Your IELTS preparation will be interesting and educational thanks to our carefully created IELTS writing guidelines, study materials on IELTS essay topics, and first-rate coaching from competent and respected authorities on IELTS writing task 2 topics. For an effective and thoughtful IELTS preparation experience, please get in contact with us right now.