Below is a list of IELTS essay questions reported 2019 (Jan & Feb). These essay questions are not prediction. They are essay questions that IELTS candidates reported in their tests. Topics are often repeated with essay questions reworded and with a different focus.
You should use these essay questions to prepare ideas for topics. Your aim is NOT to memorise an essay. You cannot use memorised sentences or paragraphs in your essay.
IELTS Essay Questions Jan & Feb 2019
- People sleep less than before in many countries. Why do people sleep less? What effect does it have on an individually and on society?
- Some people think that government is wasting money on the arts, and that this money could be spent elsewhere. To what extent do you agree with this view?
- Many people try to look younger than their age. What are the reasons people do this. Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?
- Some countries spend a lot of money to make bicycle usage easier. Why is this? Is this the best solution to traffic congestion?
- Plastic shopping bags contribute to the pollution of land and sea. Some people think they should be banned. Do you agree or disagree?
- Some people think that watching sport is a waste of leisure time. Do you agree or disagree?
- If a product is sold and people buy it, then advertising is not necessary and can be considered a kind of entertainment. Do you agree or disagree with this?
- Economic growth is the only way to end world poverty. However, some people says it leads to environment damage and should be stopped. To what extent do you agree?
- Eating too much sugar is harmful for our health. Some people think that it is government responsibility to limit people’s sugar consumption, while others think that it is an individual’s responsibility to limit the amount of sugar they eat. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
- Nowadays, many people spend less and less time at home.
What are the causes of this? What are the effects of this on individuals and on society. - Some people believe that children should be given lessons on how to manage money in the school. Do you agree or disagree?
- Some people think that a good diet and exercise are not necessary for a health and long life. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
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Some people say that schools do not do enough to teach young people about health. Do you agree or disagree?
- Some people believe that in order for a hobby to be enjoyable, it needs to be difficult in some way. Do you agree or disagree?
- Some people say that holding sport competitions can cause problems for the host country. Others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
- Some people think that public libraries are no longer important, while others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
- The government should make people take responsibility for their actions to the environment. To what extent do you agree?
- Some people think watching movies is a waste of time. Do you agree or disagree?
- Recently, it is common for people not to know their neighbours. What is the cause of this problem? What can be done to solve this problem?
- Some people believe that the museums and historic sites should be open for free for children under 18. Do you agree or disagree?
- Some parents think that advertisements are misleading for children, while advertisers claim that they provide knowledge. Give your opinion.
- Films and games can be accessed at any time from mobile devices, like smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. Do the advantages of such developments outweigh the disadvantages?
- The gap between rich and poor is increasing. What problems does it cause? What solutions can you suggest?
- Some people prefer to buy local products, while others prefer international products. What is your opinion of this?
- Many people are choosing to find information online rather than in books. Is this development positive or negative?
- Some people say that children given pocket money every week will have fewer money problems when they become adults. Do you agree or disagree?
- Some people say that family is the most powerful influence in a child’s development. Other’s say that other factors such as ( television friends music etc. ) play a greater role today. Discuss both views and give your opinion
- Most people prefer ready to eat ready meals rather than homemade food these days. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
- For many people, the reason they work hard is to earn money. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
- Many people believe that advertising can have negative effects on customers. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
- Some young people are leaving the countryside to live in cities and towns, leaving only old people in countryside? What problems does this cause? What can be done to solve this problem?
- Some people think high-end technology can prevent and cut down the rate of committing crime. Do you agree or disagree?
- People should be responsible for the pollution problems caused by transportation, while others think the government should be held accountable. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
- People doing different jobs enjoy different amount of holiday time. Should people have the same amount of holiday time? Give your opinion.
- Some people say students of different age groups in school should be put in same class.What is your opinion?
- Some people feel that teacher training courses can make anyone a teacher, while others feel an excellent teacher cannot be made by pursuing a course. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
- Money should be spent on creating new public buildings, such as museums and town halls, rather than renovating existing ones. To what extend do you agree or disagree?
- Some people think the money spent in developing technology for space exploration is not justified. There are more beneficial ways to spend this money. To what extend do yo agree or disagree?
- Some people think that the best way to learn is from a newspaper. Others think that the best way to learn is through media.
Discuss each views and your opinion. - Some people said that with the help of parenting and child development courses parents can improve the life of children.
To what extent do you agree or disagree? - Today people are living longer so they should have to work longer. Do you agree or disagree?
- Many people think that we have to focus on the extinction of certain animal species, while others think that we should pay attention to the problem of human beings. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.
- Some people think that a high salary is important when choosing a company to work for, while others think that a good working atmosphere is more important. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
- Lots of people are throwing away food. What are the reasons for this and how can food wastage be reduced?
- Sometimes people think that young people should be encouraged to leave their family at certain age, while others think that it’s better for them to remain with their families. What is your view?
- Employers should focus on personal qualities over qualifications and experience when choosing someone for a job. To what extent do you agree with this?
- An increasing number of people are buying what they need online. What are the advantages and disadvantages.
Topics Review
Below you will find the list of topics relating to the questions above. You can see that some topics appear more than once in the IELTS writing task 2 test. This means topics can be repeated, but the essay question is phrased differently.
- People x 3
- Art
- Transport
- Buildings
- Environment x 3
- Sport x 2
- Advertising x 2
- World Issues & Society x 3
- Food x 3
- Society x 3
- Health x 2
- Money & Business x 3
- Leisure Time x 2
- Reading & Books
- Media x 3
- Tourism
- Technology x 2
- Work x 5
- Crime
- Education x 2
- Space
- Family x 2
- Animals
All the best
Liz
Hello, I am concerned about my accent, I mean my accent is a combination of Indian and American accents so will it affect my speaking score?
Pronunciation marking is based on a number of things: how easy it is to understand you, individual sounds, word pronunciation, linking sounds, sentence stress, intonation etc etc. Even a band score 9 candidate can have an accent. Just make sure your pronunciation is clear and easy to understand and you’ll be fine.
Hi Liz, thank you so much for your pieces of advice and tips. I’ve read a lot of your recommendations, but I’m still confused with the questions in essays like Why do people sleep less? What effect does it have…? Am I supposed to give my opinion in such cases?
Thank you once again and wishing you all the best!
This is not asking you to evaluate. Evaluation (presenting a position or choosing sides) is what opinion is all about. This essay question just asks for you to present information with evaluating it. So, you give the reasons and the effects. Whether you present it as your own opinion or not makes no difference.
Dear Liz,
I am your great since a long time. I am following all of your paid lectures and your Ideas book. I have one question plz answer it:
In your paid lectures, you told that Idioms and proverbs are informal and we should not use them in IELTS task 2 essays; however there are few which are allowed by Ielts. While reading you Ideas book, I have created a list of Idioms and provers that you use in your Ideas book (You wrote almost 100 of them. I have their list).
My question is are these Idioms and proverbs useable in IELTS task 2 essays? For example: Keep Abreast ; Keeping up with the joneses ; Suffer from nerves, etc.
Are all of these useable in IELTS task 2? If not, I can send you the list which I made from your book and you may publish an article on you website stating Idioms and proverbs acceptable for Ielts writing. It will definitely help huge comunity.
Pleaseeeeeeee reply me .
That is correct. There are some idioms that can be used. But your aim is not to pack your essay with then. They can only be used when appropriate – you can’t manipulate your topic to include them. The examiner is looking for idiomatic language as part of the higher band score for vocabulary – this doesn’t actually mean only idioms. This includes phrasal verbs which are much more likely to be used on your essay. Focusing on idioms to impress the examiner is not the way to go.
Many idioms are descriptive “Cool as a cucumber” – the meaning is obscure – you need to learn the meaning and the application – that is an idiom – it is not suitable for writing task 2. “to keep abreast of” is actually more similar to a phrasal verb which is suitable for writing task 2 and can be used in many topics because it is a verb (not a description). “Keeping up with the joneses” is an idiom which might be used but will rarely be needed because of the meaning implied (few topics will allow its use). “to suffer from nerves” is common to use in any situation which is about stress, but it is not obscure in meaning like a usual idiom – it is clear in meaning and common to use. On the other hand, “to get on someone’s nerves” is an obvious idiom which needs explaining because the meaning is not clear – it is descriptive.
So, most idioms, generally, have an obscure meaning, are descriptive and are not usually suitable for formal essays. Other idiomatic language such as phrasal verbs are mostly fine to use. So, don’t get confused by trying to aim for descriptive, informal idioms. If you are trying to learn this as a way to boost your score, you are going the wrong way. Start aiming for accuracy and appropriacy instead.
Mam thanks a lot to reply me back.
What I can extract from your comment above is:
Examiners are most interested in Topic related vocabulary, which is natural with the flow of essay. Proverbs which flow through the essay ideas are suitable, but we should not overload our essays with them, even if there position is natural.
I suppose that if memorise and learn how to use all the proverbs u used in you Ideas book (almost 100 ), I would be able to write almost 2 provers in an essay, and that will be a fine number to boost vocabulary score.?
Proverbs should never be used. Idioms are only used if they are a) not informal b) not descriptive c) suitable for the topic. You should never have an aim to use an idiom – certainly not to use two. Your aim is to use appropriate vocabulary, suitable phrasal verbs or occasionally expressions (which are idiomatic, but not idioms) and collocations. You need to learn the difference between proverbs, idioms and idiomatic language – please referring to an online dictionary or an English language teacher.
Hey Liz,
Ur website is really a boon for IELTS aspirants. I bought one of d advanced writing task 2 video,,, wanna get the other ones too. Can u tell me is there any discount coming up on the videos…need to buy e-book also .
Kindly give some discount so that it is economical to have them.
Thanks
Hello Liz. How i render your e-book writing, i dont have your rendering functions, other ways?
I do not understand what you mean about “rendering your e-book”. Can you be more clear so I can understand? Do you need to buy it or do you want to know how to download it after purchase?
Hello Mam, can you please create an updated list of writing task 2 topics which could be helpful for the aspirants who are going to take the IELTS test in the month of june or july. I am a GT student and I’m going to take the test in june. It would be extremely helpful if you can.
Thank you !
I will summarise the recent essay questions for April, May & June either this coming week or the week after. It is not possible to predict topics in the future.
Thank you so much mam. It would be a great help to practice some trending topics.
Dear Liz
First of all, I would like to thank you for your lessons, they are extremely useful.
I had my exam today and want to share my task.
In part 1 I had to describe a map ( the type of question that I had had two years before)) and if you interested I can draw it for your site.
Task 2 question was:
People should look after their health as a duty for their society, rather than for personal benefit.
To want extent you agree or disagree?
Thanks for sharing 🙂
M’am nowadays i m very upset bcoz of lower band score i m going to give exam after one month plzzz can u tell me some idea about the four skills which will used to me in the exam . And acheive 7-8 score in the exam one thing more m’am are we prepaire exam till one month
Please use the RED MENU BAR to open the section of the test you want to learn. You will only get band 7 or 8 if your English is band 7 or 8. Make sure your English is good enough.
Hi Liz,
First of all, thank you for creating this knowledge base for us.
For discussion essays, I have generally noticed that there are 2 topic sentences in the question to discuss each side. But I have also come across some questions. For example, “Some people say that holding sports competitions can cause problems for the host country. Others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.” has only one topic sentence.
Does that mean that we have to default to the positive(advantage) and negative(disadvantage) aspects of this particular topic to discuss both sides?
Side 1 – explain why some people think holding sports competitions is a problem
Side 2 – explain why some people think holding sports competitions is not a problem
Topic: Today, more and more tourists are visiting places where conditions difficult, such as Sahara desert or Antarctic.
Discuss the Advantages and disadvantages
Nowadays, There are a lot of people traveling on holidays or on weekends and the main reason is to get the release from stressful routine life. People are choosing various locations based on their choices like hill stations, beaches, deserts or do mountaineering, etc. I believe mankind is traveling to difficult locations like deep deserts and top mountains because most of the commons places are explored. I believe by doing this there are many pros and cons of this kind of visits.
There are certain challenges behind traveling to unorthodox places are many, One of the main challenges is basic amenities are hard to get when a person is visiting such places. It will be also difficult to provide facilities to travelers in remote areas because of the lake of transportation facilities. Another main disadvantage is the risk of life. For example, If a person is on mountaineering or tracking then it would require a lot of skills but still, there are lof chances of risk of life.
Despite all these corns, there are a lot of benefits behind visits to unorthodox locations like one can enjoy excitement and thrills adventures places. A person can enjoy various adventures things like water sports, sky diving, river rafting, etc. By doing this kind of activities, One can gain a lot of confidence in their routine life as well as many fears can be eliminated like fear of death, phobia of water, hight and deep.
Mostly, People are aware of these kind benefits and disadvantages of travel too difficult places but I think those people think about the disadvantages over advantages never takes risks.
Please review it and let me know your comments and bands
Hey Liz, there’s this new form of opinion question I’m seeing recently, where all the question asks is one’s opinion e. g artificially intelligent robot will eventually take up people’s work. What do you think?
Can you possibly help with structure to this kind of essay pls.
That is an opinion essay. It is not a new form. IELTS like to paraphrase instructions: do you agree / Do you agree or disagree / to what extent to you agree / what do you think / what is your opinion
They are all the same – they are Opinion Essays and are dealt with in exactly (100%) the same way.
Hi Liz,
I have gone through your videos and all links about Writing task-2 and came to know the importance of it.To get a good band score in writing, we should write Writing task-2 very well. I have exam in next few weeks. Please review my writing and let me know, whether i need to add more information in it. I am expecting 8 in Writing. Please help me,what all i need to improve.
Writing Task-2: Should young people follow older peoples example or it’s good for them to challenge older peoples opinions and thoughts.Discuss both the views and give your own opinion?
Some teenagers get their inspiration from elders.On the other hand, few teenagers are challenging elders on their ideas and opinions.In my opinion we should respect our elders and learn from them to be successful.
Firstly, Most of the young people respect the ideas and opinions of their elders,because they learn from them.From the time a child is born and till his teenage, he learns a lot from his family,parents,grand parents and elders.His personality,character,ethics,values are developed over a period.For example,most of the doctor’s children tend to become doctors.It is because they have taken their parents as an example or as a inspiration.
Secondly,Some of the teenager think that the elders opinions and ideas are obsolete,so they challenge them and want to prove them wrong.Teenagers not listening to advise of elders might be due to his/her adolescent age.It may be correct in some situations like technology etc.For example, A teenager says that we can pay a power bill in mobile.But his father might ask him to pay it in Electricity office.In this situation, the teenager challenges his father that his opinion is wrong.
To conclude,I believe we should respect our elders as they are our teachers in our initial phase of our life and also try to educate them about the new things happening in the world,so that they are not outdated.Especially we need to educate them on health,fitness,medical,technology and etc.As the world is changing we need to upgrade our skills and learn new things but we need to have the same values and principles of our elders.
Please suggest,whether i need to remove any lines or i have written anythg inappropriate. I am aiming for Writing score-8.So that i can refine my writing skills.Thanks a lot.
Hello Liz..is it true that every individual is getting different set of question papers of LRW in the same examination centre..earlier it would be same for all asian countries
It shouldn’t make any difference to you who gets what exam paper. The only paper you should think about is the one in front of you on the exam day.
Hey Liz,
I bought one advanced video about writing task 2 from your website, and plan to buy the rest two videos, but I missed the discount deadline, could you give me discount code for it if possible. Thanks very much for all the help I got from your website!
Is there anyone who is planning to sit for IELTS in the mid or end of May? I would like to have a study partner with whom I can practice speaking as well as writing tasks?
Yes Ani how can I contact you?
Hi Mam Liz, I need a speaking partner , can you please help me ?
Hi Liz, recently I had the writing exam and it was a subject about supervising children, so I have used words like pedophiles and etc would that have a negative impact on my results was just curios
I’m not sure I understand your point. What is the problem? If this is part of your ideas, it would be normal to use that word.
What I wanted to say was whether that kind of words were too serious for an ielts essay or not, and you already answered it thanks
“Plastic shopping bags contribute to the pollution of land and sea. Some people think they should be banned. Do you agree or disagree?”
Hi Liz,
In the above essay, can I discuss the contribution of plastic bags to the pollution of land in one body paragraph and pollution in the sea in the other body paragraph separately?
The first sentence is s statement of fact. It describes the situation as it exists today. You don’t need a body paragraph to repeat this. Just use it for the background statement in the introduction. Your whole essay must be about whether you think they should be banned or not.
Clear. Thank you Liza.
Hi Liz,
Could you please tell me what will be the estimate score for this task 2 writing below? I will be sitting for IELTS in a couple of days
“News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence these decisions? Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news was reported?”
Journalism and news reporting has evolved with time, as now news is more focused upon commercialism rather than to create an impact. There are certain reasons behind this.
Firstly, with the matter of time, more news channels and newspapers have appeared, thus creating an irrationally competitive environment. Owing to this, news editors now amend news in such ways that it creates more suspense and drama to lure larger audience, ensuring higher rating and hence, more profit. Secondly, the professionals, after various researches, have concluded that news content should be manufactured to attract attention of those who watch TV or read newspapers more frequently, for instance, homemakers, young adults and elderly. Therefore, it has been noticed recently that most of the news content revolves around political gossips, sports scandals and tabloids about famous celebrities.
Having had experienced innumerous breathtaking and shocking events, for example, Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, 9/11 terrorist attacks and ongoing wars in many countries around the globe; we have, with time, become immune to the horrible news we now see. Nowadays, it is notable that people can forget, and even ignore, a horrifying event few days after it has happened. This is due to global terrorism that we are bombarded with terrifying news almost every other day. Thus, people now are psychologically adapted to this kind of news.
When debating about relevance of more good news reporting, I personally believe that the true gist of journalism should always be kept in mind. Instead of preferring good news over bad news, the correct and accurate reporting of an event should be emphasized upon. As doing so will aid in creating a medium where words are spoken, and matters are discussed, to bring a change individually, and eventually globally.
To conclude, the changes in news reporting has occurred due to competitive and monetary reasons. However, struggles should be made to emphasize more on the genuineness and impact factor of a news, instead of focusing on making it more appealing for the audience.
(332 words)
Sorry, I don’t comment on writing. However, do make sure your essay is no longer than 290 words or 300 at most. See this page for free tips: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/
I appreciate your reply. Thank you 🙂
Hi Liz,
I really like your IELTS vedios,I need your for support .
Hello Liz, please i would like to know if i were given the essay question below, would it be ok if i give my reasons in the same paragraph for meant for the conclusion?
“Recently,it is common for people not to know there neighbors. What is the cause of the problem. What can be done to solve the problem”
You have two tasks – one to give the causes and the other to give the solutions. One body paragraph for each.
My favorite teacher is Liz in my life
Hello Mam,
Here is the essay question on 23rd March 2019
These days it is becoming common for people to have computers and telephone which makes it possible for them to work from home.
What do you think are there more advantages than disadvantages of working from home ?
Please share your inputs on how to answer this perfectly. Thanks in advance.
Hi Liz,
Your website is wonderful and helped me alot. Just wanted to check what would be my score if I speak fluently but rate of speech is high.
Thanks in advance
Rhett
Do you mean you speak fast? There are no rules about the speed you should speak at. If you speak so slow that the examiner struggles to understand what you mean, it will result in a low score for fluency. If you speak so fast that the examiner can’t understand, it will also result in a low score for fluency. It is about being understood. Make sure that the person you are speaking to is able to follow what you say.
As per what I see , examiner was able to comprehend what ever I say. I was a little nervous during the test but still managed to speak fluently with few natural fillers. Hope to get good grades then.
Another question, I heard lot of people complaint that idp do not let you pass in first attempt. How far do you agree?
Thanks in advance
I recommend you never listen to gossip. The examiner has no idea about your past test results when they grade. It is complete nonsense.
Hi Liz!!
If writing task 2 is, “are there more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house compared with living in an apartment ?” Does it requires my opinion or not?
Waiting for your valuable reply
If it requires you to choose, then it is a personal choice – it is your opinion.
Thanks Liz, God bless you.
Thank you so much Liz. I have purchased all your three videos and are extremely helpful. Thanks alot for the tips. May God bless you 🙂
I’m really pleased. So glad they helped you 🙂
Mam when will we get E-book, hopefully this month.
Eagerly waiting for.
Unlikely this month. But hopefully at the start of April – hopefully.
The essay i subscribed and paid for last week is the one that she gave 50% discount on it ,its still on ,i subscribed for the one hour video on how to agree or disagree essay
It is a shame you missed the discount.
Many thanks Ms Liz.
Writing task 2 is my biggest fear.
Gob bless you.
Thank you so much Liz. They are going to be extremely useful, because I’m planning to take the IELTS test very soon, and I’m pretty sure that I will be able to get the band score that I’m looking for. Thanks for this important information. God bless you!
Thanks a lot Liz
This questions are indeed helpful as i prepare to write my exams in April
Hi liz,you are God sent from above. Thank you for essay questions month of Jan & feb2019. I pray the Lord continue granting you more wisdom to continue your work.
Thank you so much teacher Liz . I am so lucky to come across your Youtube channel. Your way of explaining the lessons is attractive and helpful. You have a heart of GOLD.
Best regards
Question 10 says “nowadays people spend less and less time at home” the causes and effects on individuals and society. Just wish to understand something here at the level of “spend less” and “less time” are these two things to tackle or it’s one
“less and less” = less. It is repeated in order to stress “less”. We use the same “more and more” = more.
Many thanks Liz. Pretty much appreciated!!
Thanks mam to share these latest topics
I’am learning IELTS from your website.It’s really helpful lessons to me .I am sittingfor my IELTS exam in the next june . thank you very much for helping me………
Goodmorning Ma’am, thank for uploading this topics. I have been following you for long now. i will be testing next month. Wish me luck
Good luck!
Thanks a lot LIZ…
Took test on 23rd February
Speaking part 2 question was on any party you attended
Fav movie star and related questions were also there.
Writing section : lack of sleep is a major issue these days .explain the reasons for it and it’s impact on society
Thank you so much Liz, I really appreciate what you have done
Thank you for uploading as the speaking questions you put up was very useful. I went through them and my part 2 question today was no.31 on your list.
I will try to practise these ones as well.
Thank you for the good work.
Thank you Liz for compiling the questions.
Here an essay that appeared in january 2019
Some people think that animal testing should be done on drugs meant for human consumption, and others think it should not be. Discu
ss both views and give your opinion.
I’m learning IELTS from your website … It’s really helpful to me . Your advanced writing is perfect. Thanks a lot … I’m going to sit the exam on May … wish me …
Good luck! 🙂
Some people think that government is wasting money on art that could be spent elsewhere. To what extent do you agree with this view?
What does art mean here?thanks Liz
In this case, it means “the arts”. The arts refers to all forms of artistic work: painters, dancers, singers, galleries etc.
Thanks a lot, for being such a nice person.
Thank you Liz for your help!
I am taking Ielts this Saturday,please wish me luck,as i really need it🙏
All the best! 🙂
Lots of luck!! 🙂
My exam also coming Saturday Mar 2
Hello Mam ! Is this list for general training applicants or only for academic ?
Both. You should all prepare all topics. Although GT do not need to worry about space exploration topics.
Thank you so much !
Thank you for helping us. These questions will be my next peacticing topics to know better current trends.
Thank you so much Liz for your effort. Your website is really beneficial.
Thanks for the update Liz
Dear Ms. Liz,
Thanks a lot from your efforts and we will never forget it.
I understand this is the consolidated list for the months of Jan and Feb. Is there any trend new questions will be released for the month of March? What is the probability?
You cannot predict writing task 2 questions or topics. You can only prepare recent trends and common topics – that is the most you can do to prepare.
Thanks Liz for your help , I wish you best of luck in all your life endeavors
Sameer
Thank you Liz for your help , I appreciate this and I wish you best of luck in all your life endeavors . Am sitting for my IELTS in the next two months wish me well pls
Good luck!! 🙂
Thank you so much for ur kindness
Thanks Liz! Much appreciated!