Young people are often influenced in their behaviors and situations by others in the same age. This is called “peer pressure”. Do the disadvantages outweigh the advantages? IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Question
Bhargavee Sisodia07 Oct 2024

The globally recognized language competency exam, the IELTS, is necessary to get admitted to certain institutions or to be considered for jobs abroad. For both the IELTS writing tests that are academic and general, there are 2 parts, that is task 1 and task 2. Writing task 2 is crucial because it provides you with an opportunity to reflect on your ideas, points of view, creativity, and capacity for critical and logical thought. Both versions follow the same pattern, and this section has a 40-minute total time limit. The essay must be written in a formal tone and no more than 250 words.
Criteria of IELTS Scoring System: Writing Task 2
The IELTS Writing Task 2 will be scored based on four separate variables. To achieve a 9 band score, you must thoroughly understand these topics, which will allow you to meticulously plan your answers.
- Task Achievement: This section is concerned with effectively answering the question. You should be able to accurately present data and respond to questions without veering from the topic. You must meet all of the requirements for constructing an answer based on the type of question and write at least 250 words.
- Coherence and cohesion: These are the criteria against which you will be judged for your ability to structure material. You will be scored based on how well you utilize the correct words, link the paragraphs together, avoid repeating material and vocabulary, and make your answer easy to read.
- Lexical Resource: You can do well in this area if you can employ a large and diversified vocabulary. Furthermore, utilizing plain language and avoiding spelling and word structure problems will improve your performance in this area of the evaluation.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: This criterion requires you to apply a variety of correct grammatical structures and tenses. You should also utilize correct punctuation and sentence structure, including subject-verb agreement.
Depending on the assigned topic, you will only write one of the six sorts of essays. The strategy and structure are designed to meet the requirements of the specific kind of essay question. Therefore, we need to first comprehend the different essay types.
- Opinion Essay: These articles can be used to discuss your thoughts or disagreements on a certain subject. It is up to you whether or not you agree with it, but you ought to take a stance.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
- To what extent do you agree or disagree?
- Discussion Essay: You should briefly address each side of the argument. On the other hand, you can be asked to indicate the points you agree or disagree with.
- Discuss both points of view and share your thoughts.
- Problem Solution Essays: In a cause-and-effect essay, you are required to pinpoint the root reasons for an issue or look into them and suggest practical solutions.
- What issues surround the subject? and how may they be resolved?
- Discuss the causes and effects of the subject and provide solutions.
- Advantage Disadvantages Essays: In this essay, you must address the benefits and drawbacks of a specific topic.
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of this subject?
- Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the subject.
- Balanced Opinion Essays: These articles require a fair-minded perspective. You have to demonstrate that you have a well-rounded stance and that you can agree with the other opinion without totally disagreeing with it.
- What do you think about this subject?
- Talk about your opinions on this.
- Direct Question Essay: In this case, you will be asked to directly answer a question with an essay-style response that includes relevant examples.
- For what reasons is this the case? How can it be made better?
- What are the repercussions of this case?
Generating ideas for IELTS Writing task 2:
For test-takers, coming up with ideas for IELTS writing assignment 2 can be challenging.
There's a worry that you might not know enough to respond to a question that comes up. To help you come up with ideas for your IELTS writing, you'll find below some insight into exactly what the examiner looks for when they grade your essay. Additionally, you'll receive some guidance on how to generate ideas for IELTS writing subjects.
Find Ideas On The Internet:
Try looking up ideas online. IELTS essay topics include commonly discussed topics, hence chances are likely that someone online has already published a fresh article or blog post on the same topic. You will not be able to do this in the exam, of course, but doing it will expose you to other people's thoughts and ideas when you're practicing coming up with concepts. This will assist you in honing your concept-creation abilities.
Reading around relevant topics:
By reading about the kinds of topics that are covered in the IELTS, you can increase your knowledge of possible IELTS topics.
Exam questions centered on any of the following areas are rather common:
Education
Health, Diet and Fitness
Globalization
Crime, the Law, and Criminal Justice
Work and Unemployment
Public Transport
Technological Development and Change
The Environment
Children and Families
Advertising
However, because these are quite wide-ranging subjects, the questions will focus on a specific facet of them. However, it will be beneficial to be informed about global events by reading foreign newspapers or periodicals.
To do this, check out our IELTS sample essays at D-Vivid Consultant.
Writing down any ideas that immediately come to mind on a specific subject or topic is known as brainstorming. Initially, you just write down them, no matter how good or bad they seem to be; you do not dismiss any. After that, you decide which are the best among them. Since an IELTS essay is simple and quick, two perspectives should usually be ample to support a point in a single body paragraph. You will typically only need about four ideas to respond to a topic.
It's crucial to keep in mind that your presentation of the concepts—including their coherence, cohesiveness, and grammar—will determine your grade rather than the ideas themselves, provided they address the topic.
Ask yourself questions about the topic:
Asking questions using the focus words—who, what, where, when, and how—is another easy way to generate ideas.
For example, “Countries with long working days are more successful economically, but there are some negative social consequences. To what extent do you agree or disagree?”
After reading an inquiry like this, let's examine some questions you might want to ask yourself.
What's this topic about? Community.
Which element of society? Work.
What specific aspects of labor are we thinking about? Working hours
How does society relate to working hours? In terms of financial prosperity.
Thinking in this way will help you generate ideas and turn them into paragraphs. Asking yourself these types of questions will help you start to create and expand on thoughts the next time you consider a question.
IELTS writing task 2 topics:
Young people are often influenced in their behaviors and situations by others in the same age. This is called “peer pressure”. Do the disadvantages outweigh the advantages?
Understanding the question:
“Do the disadvantages outweigh the advantages?”
The question will focus on the benefits and drawbacks of the statement. There will be a statement in the opening sentence of every question. It will say something like, "Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?" in the next sentence. If the question includes the phrase "Do you think," you can be positive that you are being asked to express your opinion. your implies that you must express your viewpoint in your advantage-disadvantage essay. You don't need to provide your viewpoint, though if no question specifically states such a thing. Sometimes, it will say something like "Discuss the advantages and disadvantages." Then, you don't have to give your opinion.
Brief compositions of three examples with responses that satisfy the standards of bands 6, 7, and 9 have been made. Take a look at that. However, before examining the answers, take into structure of this type of essay.
Structure of the essay:
- Introduction: Paraphrase the question given.
- Body 1: Introduce your topic by stating whether you are discussing advantages or disadvantages in the opening sentence. In the sentences that follow, list the advantages or disadvantages.
- Body 2: If you listed the benefits in the paragraph before, list the drawbacks here, and vice versa.
- Body 3 (Optional): This paragraph is optional for you. The third body paragraph should only be used to break up the earlier paragraphs when essential.
- Conclusion: Rephrase the question once more and wrap up the essay.
IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers:
Band 6:
Peer pressure is the word used to describe how much young adult are influenced by their friends regarding conduct and everyday happening. In today's world, the majority of people are concerned about this issue. Even so, I think that there are certain benefits to this occurrence. I really think that it has a lot of disadvantages.
I agree that the main advantage is that peer pressure push young people to believe that they should make more of an attempt to do better. Peer pressure, for case, help young people know they need to work more in school and put in more effort to keep up with their classmates when it comes to academic satisfaction. It can be challenging to provide credit to the most intelligent and hardworking kids in a class if there isn't any competition. A second obvious benefit is that kind-hearted and cheerful peers might inspire others to develop such traits in themselves. Positive action like contributing and maintaining healthy habits can be done through peer pressure
On the other hand, I truly think peer pressure has greater negative effects. Peer pressure cause people to feel alone if they are useless and not as good as their friends, which is the main drawback of being affected by others. In particular, if this happens in a classroom, affected children may have unstable minds, stress, autism, and struggle to interact with others. Also, when they feel dissatisfied with life, young people get drawn to inappropriate behaviors like smoking and drinking alcohol, dropping out of school, and even using bad substances.
In conclusion, I believe that peer pressure has more negative impacts than positive ones, despite the fact that it occasionally helps an individual's growth as a whole.
Highlights: Bold highlights indicate potential cohesive devices or connecting words that were not appropriate. Word repetition and poor word choice and construction are indicated by italics and underlined highlights. Grammatical errors and missing articles are indicated by words in italics. Note that the essay structure is haphazard and suitable examples with a logical flow are missing.
IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers:
Band 7:
Many believe that youths are easily influenced by other people who mostly belong in the same age group, in terms of their behaviors and circumstances. This is known as peer pressure. While there may be some benefits to children's mental and emotional growth, but negative aspects outweigh the positive aspects and I will be discussing them in this essay.
Peer pressure supporters frequently claim that friends are a major factor in their children's increased academic achievement. Individuals who regularly get along with peers and excel academically are more likely to put in more effort to outperform their friends on test by gaining high exam scores. Furthermore, students exposure to peer pressure might help them develop their social skills, such as their communication and interpersonal skills. Being with other kids their age fosters the development of values like tolerance, honesty, and manners in the young, increasing the chances that they will make meaningful relationships as adults.
Despite the benefits of peer pressure, negative aspects have become stronger as social challenges in recent years. Adolescents frequently engage in illicit activities and anti-social behaviors with their peers to prevent feeling left out of their group. A key instance of this would be the frequent incidents we see in social media where students are physically abusing and bullying their classmates and making videos of it to make fun of later on. Despite knowing that such behavior is inappropriate in society, other students who saw these videos simply began to act in the same way. In this way, teens often commit small-time offenses like hitting innocent classmates or drinking and smoking, which may ease the way for later, more serious offenses.
In conclusion, the negative effects of peer pressure outweigh the possible benefits, even though it can occasionally encourage positive behaviors and social ties.
Highlights: Bold highlights denote potential cohesive devices or connecting words that were not appropriate. Italicized words denote incorrect word choice, word construction, and word repetition. Grammar errors and missing articles are indicated in italics with highlighted highlights. Note that this essay has a better flow than the last one with suitable examples.
IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers:
Band 9:
Peer pressure is a ubiquitous occurrence that profoundly impacts the conduct of adolescents. Some claim that peer pressure is essential in helping to shape young people's lives positively, while others maintain that peer pressure has highly negative effects. In my opinion, peer pressure has more negative effects than positive ones and I discuss them in detail in this essay.
When employed correctly, peer pressure can provide several benefits. First of all, it can promote a feeling of companionship and belonging among people of the same age. Teenagers frequently go to their friends for approval and validation, which can support their mental health and self-worth as adults Positive peer pressure also has the added benefit of fostering healthy behaviors like engaging and abstaining from harmful situations. Adolescents may be inspired to give up tobacco use, for example, if their friends advocate maintaining a nonsmoking lifestyle.
Meanwhile, peer pressure can cause teenagers to succumb to the temptation of pursuing dangerous conduct like driving without a safety seat, drug abuse, or criminal activity. For example, it may lead to teenagers experimenting with drugs or alcohol, which can lead to addiction, legal issues, and cognitive impairment. These actions can have long-term negative effects and jeopardize their future.
Furthermore, young people who experience severe peer pressure may become less creative and distinctive as they decide to comply with the standards of their social group rather than pursue their own goals and objectives. Their capacity for independent thinking may be impaired and their personal growth could be hindered by this adherence.
In conclusion, I would contend that peer pressure has more negative effects than positive ones because, while it might help young people feel like they belong and encourage healthy behaviours, it also runs the risk of misguiding them and stifling their uniqueness. To help young people make educated decisions and navigate the complexity of peer influence, educators, parents, and society in general need to speak up and offer guidance.
Highlights: This essay is well-written and organized in terms of flow, fluency, grammar, large vocabulary, connecting words, and sentence structure.
Conclusion:
With our experienced instructors and trainers, D-Vivid Consultant is the best site for you to take the IELTS writing test because we will help you achieve your objective of receiving good exam scores. Our team's goal is to help you explore a variety of IELTS essay topics and identify subjects for IELTS writing task 2 topics that have accompanying answers. The IELTS writing band score criterion is used to categorize the replies, so you will have the chance to look at different writing styles for the same IELTS writing task 2 topics. With the guidance of a D-Vivid Consultant, you may prepare for the IELTS exam using specific programs and techniques, and you'll be confident that you'll get the best possible score.