IELTS Essay Format

Advantages & disadvantages essay- band 9 guide

In this lesson you will learn how to produce a band 9 answer for advantages
& disadvantages essay in IELTS Writing. As an example, we will use a
topic of tourism in modern world. Basically, in all advantages and
disadvantages essays your task is to describe positive and negative sides
of a given topic + give your opinion.

In this lesson you will:

 see a question sample

 learn effective ways to quickly produce ideas for your answer
 learn band 9 answer structure

for advantages and disadvantages essay in IELTS.

IELTS advantages & disadvantages question sample

For example, you can get this question for IELTS writing task 2:

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of income. Unfortunately,
tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not managed correctly.

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern world. Do you
think that benefits of tourism outweight its drawbacks?

This essay topic is related to tourism. Of course, topics for questions will
vary, but ideal answer structure is the same for all advantages &
disadvantages essays in IELTS.

Producing ideas for your answer

Before you start writing your essay, you should always spend 1-2 minutes
on producing ideas for your answer. This way, you’ll know what to write
about and your answer will be more coherent and well-structured. In case
of advantages & disadvantages essay, you need to think of 2-3
advantages and 2-3 disadvantages of the given issue.

Let’s think about advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern

world.

Advantages of tourism:

 boost in country’s economy due to increased spending

 new job opening for local people
 opportunities to discover new places for individual travellers
Disadvantages of tourism:

 destruction of popular tourist destinations by large numbers of tourists

 development of illegal economic activities
 local people can experience loss of privacy

Now, after we’ve collected some ideas, it’s time to use them in our essay.

Band 9 answer structure for advantages & disadvantages

essay

Though there are many ways to structure your IELTS essay, we’ll use this
time-tested band 9 essay structure:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph 1 – advantages
3. Body paragraph 2 – disadvantages
4. Conclusion

Tip: before starting to write your essay, decide what you think: does tourism
have more advantages or disadvantages? You’ll need to make accent on your
opinion in one of the body paragraphs.

We’ll use the opinion that tourism has more advantages.

Introduction Write the introduction in 2 sentences:

o Sentence 1 - paraphrase the question (restate the problem):

Nowadays tourism generates a significant portion of national income for

many countries, but it has certain drawbacks too.

o Sentence 2 - tell the examiner what you’re going to describe in your

essay:

This essay will examine the advantages and disadvantages of tourism

and provide a logical conclusion.

Body paragraph 1 - advantages

o Sentence 1 - state 2 main advantages:

The two main advantages of developed tourism industry are boost in

country’s economy and a large number of new job openings for the local
people.
 o Sentences 2-4 - explain the first advantage + give an example (if
possible):

Firstly, tourists spend money on a wide range of services, including

hotels, amusements, transportation, food and medical services. This way,
tourism yields an additional income, greatly supporting the countries’
economies.

o Sentences 5-7 - explain the second advantage + give an example (if

possible):

Secondly, tourism increases the level of employment by bringing new

jobs. For instance, the influx of tourists results in a larger demand in
restaurant workers, tour guides, hotel staff and employees of retail
services, exhorting business owners to hire more people for these
positions.

Body paragraph 2 - disadvantages

o Sentence 1 - state 2 main disadvantages:

However, tourism also has some major disadvantages like destruction of

popular tourist destinations and development of illegal economic
activities.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain the first disadvantage + give an example (if

possible):

Ancient buildings, temples and monuments struggle to cope with a vast

amount of visitor’s traffic and get damaged. Also, the large number of
tourists can cause environmental problems. For instance, when places of
interest are overcrowded, natural resources often become overexploited.

o Sentences 5-7 - explain the second disadvantage + give an example (if

possible):

What’s more, tourism can create more serious situations where criminal
issues are involved. The presence of a considerable number of tourists
with a lot of money to spend, and often carrying valuables such as
cameras and jewelry, increases the attraction for criminals and brings
with it activities like robbery and drug dealing.

o Sentences 8 - make an accent on your opinion (we’ll use the opinion

that tourism has more advantages):

However, proper hospitality management and correct usage of tourism

revenue by the local government can eliminate these disadvantages.
Conclusion

o Sentences 1-2 - briefly restate the advantages and disadvantages

To conclude, although tourism has certain disadvantages like destructive

effects and growth of crime rate, it has an extremely positive impact on
country’s economy and provides a large number of new jobs for the local
people.

o Sentence 2 - give your final opinion

I believe that these benefits of tourism outweigh its drawbacks.

Band 9 answer sample

Nowadays tourism generates a significant portion of national income for

many countries, but it has certain drawbacks too. This essay will examine the
advantages and disadvantages of tourism and provide a logical conclusion.

The two main advantages of developed tourism industry are boost in

country’s economy and a large number of new job openings for the local
people. Firstly, tourists spend money on a wide range of services, including
hotels, amusements, transportation, food and medical services. This way,
tourism yields an additional income, greatly supporting the country’s
economy. Secondly, tourism increases the level of employment by bringing
new jobs. For instance, the influx of tourists results in a larger demand in
restaurant workers, tour guides, hotel staff and employees of retail services,
exhorting business owners to hire more people for these positions.

But tourism also has some major disadvantages like destruction of popular
tourist destinations and development of illegal economic activities. іAncient
buildings, temples and monuments struggle to cope with a vast amount of
visitor’s traffic and get damaged. Also, the large number of tourists can
cause environmental problems. For instance, when places of interest are
overcrowded, natural resources often become overexploited. What’s more,
the presence of a considerable number of tourists with a lot of money to
spend, and often carrying valuables such as cameras and jewelry, increases
the attraction for criminals and brings with it activities like robbery and drug
dealing. However, proper hospitality management and correct usage of
tourism revenue by the local government can eliminate these disadvantages.

To conclude, although tourism can have certain negative effects like

destructive impact and growth of crime rate, it has an extremely positive
influence on country’s economy and provides a large number of new jobs for
the local people. I believe that these benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks.
(299 words)

Agree or disagree essay - band 9 guide

IELTS agree/disagree question sample

Let’s look at an example of IELTS writing task 2:

Big salary is much more important than job satisfaction.

Do you agree or disagree?

Provide relevant examples if necessary.

Choose your opinion & generate ideas

Agree or disagree question asks you to clearly determine whether you
agree or disagree with the statement. Unlike questions that ask you to
what extent do you agree or disagree, this question asks you to have a
super-clear opinion. After you’ve decided your opinion, generate 2-3
supporting points for it.

For the task above you have two possible options:

1. You fully agree that big salary is more important than job satisfaction
2. You completely disagree that big salary is more important than job
satisfaction

Now let’s generate supporting points for each of the opinions:

 Big salary is more important

o Having a job with a high salary makes people feel satisfied no
matter what kind of job they do
o Money is essential for survival and good living
 Job satisfaction is more important
o Job satisfaction gives you a sense of fulfillment
o Doing what you like keeps you motivated and therefore leads to
a career growth
o Money can’t buy happiness and it’s more pleasant to pursue
what you’re interested in

For our essay, we’ll choose the second opinion.

Band 9 answer structure

After you’ve decided whether you agree or disagree and generated your
supporting points, it’s time to start writing your essay.
There are a lot of ways to structure your essay, but we’ll use a structure that
has been approved by many IELTS examiners to be high-scoring and
coherent.

Band-9 essay structure:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph 1 - the 1st reason you agree/disagree
3. Body paragraph 2 - the 2nd reason you agree/disagree
4. Conclusion

Let’s take a look at each of these sections in detail.

Introduction

Write your introduction in two sentences:

 Sentence 1 - paraphrase the statement (you can use ‘it is

argued/considered/thought that’ to start):

It is often argued that it is more advantageous to choose a job with high

wage, even if it doesn't appeal to you at all.

 Sentence 2 - say whether you agree or disagree with it and

extend your opinion:

I completely disagree with this opinion and think that job satisfaction is
much more important than salary.

Body paragraph 1 - the 1st reason you agree/disagree

 Sentence 1 - state the first reason you agree/disagree.

This sentence should contain the main idea of the whole 1st
paragraph. Use words firstly or first of all to introduce the first reason.
In our case we’ll use the reason that job satisfaction gives you a sense
of fulfillment:

First of all, I believe that job satisfaction gives people a sense of fulfillment
that no money can guarantee.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the reason.

To explain the reason effectively, you can imagine that your examiner
has no knowledge of this subject at all and you have to explain every
detail:

Even if someone is earning a high salary, but feels tensed and

compromises with his conscience, this person won’t enjoy his life. While
 pursuing one’s interests will always bring pleasure and feeling of
satisfaction.

 Sentence 4 - example.

It’s always good to give examples in your body paragraphs, even if

you’re not asked to do it. In our case, the task asks you to provide
relevant examples:

For example, a lot of famous researchers made their career choices not
because of appealing wages, but because they were passionate about
science.

 Sentence 5 - a short summary of your ideas in this paragraph:

That’s why it’s more important to choose the kind of work that makes you
happy than to look only at a high salary.

Body paragraph 2 - the 2nd reason you agree/disagree

 Sentence 1 - state the second reason you agree/disagree.

This statement should contain the main idea of the whole 2nd
paragraph. Use words secondly or moreover to introduce the second
reason:

Secondly, doing what you like keeps you motivated and therefore leads to
a career growth.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the reason (assume that your examiner

doesn’t understand the topic at all):

In other words, there is a strong relation between job satisfaction and

productivity. People who love their jobs can easily excel in their fields of
work and achieve better results than those, who put salary on the first
place.

 Sentence 4 - support your idea with an example:

For instance, Henry Miller decided to leave his everyday job despite a
good wage and ventured to become a writer. And after enduring years of
ups and downs he became one of the most famous and well-paid authors
of the twentieth century.

 Sentence 5 - a short summary of your thoughts in the 2nd

paragraph.
 Thus, advantages of jobs that keep you satisfied outweigh the drawback
of a low salary in a long-term perspective.

Conclusion

You can write the conclusion in one sentence that summarizes your
opinion + 2 reasons for it:

To conclude, I strongly believe that job satisfaction is more beneficial than

high salary because it makes people happy and motivated.

DO NOT write new ideas in the conclusion!

IELTS agree/disagree model answer

This is a full band-9 answer for IELTS agree or disagree question above:

It is often argued that it is more advantageous to choose a job with high

wage, even if it doesn't appeal to you at all. I completely disagree with this
opinion and think that job satisfaction is much more important than salary.

First of all, I believe that job satisfaction gives people a sense of fulfillment
that no money can guarantee. Even if someone is earning a high salary, but
feels tensed and compromises with his conscience, this person won’t enjoy
his life. While pursuing one’s interests will always bring pleasure and feeling
of satisfaction. For example, a lot of famous researchers made their career
choices not because of appealing wages, but because they were passionate
about science. That’s why it’s more important to choose the kind of work that
makes you happy than to look only at a high salary.

Secondly, doing what you like keeps you motivated and therefore leads to a
career growth. In other words, there is a strong relation between job
satisfaction and productivity. People who love their jobs can easily excel in
their fields of work and achieve better results than those, who put salary on
the first place. For instance, Henry Miller decided to leave his everyday job
despite a good wage and ventured to become a writer. And after enduring
years of ups and downs he became one of the most famous and well-paid
authors of the twentieth century. Thus, advantages of jobs that keep you
satisfied outweigh the drawback of a low salary in a long-term perspective.

To conclude, I strongly believe that job satisfaction is more beneficial than

high salary because it makes people happy and motivated.

(277 words)
Cause and effect essay- band 9 guide

Cause and effect essay questions in IELTS Writing task 2 give you a
problem and ask you to state the main causes of this problem and discuss its
possible effects.

In this lesson you will see:

 how to generate ideas for causes and effects

 band 9 answer structure for causes/effects essay
 cause/effect model essay

This is an example of cause/effect IELTS writing task 2 question:

Today more people are overweight than ever before.

What in your opinion are the primary causes of this?

What are the main effects of this epidemic?

Generating ideas

After you’ve read the question, you can clearly determine the
problem: growing number of overweight people.

But before you start to write your essay, it’s a good idea to think of 2-3
causes and 2-3 possible effects of the problem.

Causes of obesity:

1. inactive lifestyle (relying on cars instead of walking, fewer physical

demands at work, inactive leisure activities)
2. unhealthy eating habits (eating fast-food, drinking high-calorie
beverages, consuming large portions of food, eating irregularly)

Effects of obesity:

1. physical health problems

2. loss of productivity
3. depressions and mental disorders

Now, after we’ve generated the main ideas for causes and effects, it’s time to
use these ideas in our essay.
Band 9 answer structure

As you know, there are many ways to structure your essay, but we’ll use
a structure that has been approved by many IELTS examiners to be high-
scoring and coherent.

Band-9 essay structure:

 Introduction
 Body paragraph 1 - causes
 Body paragraph 2 - effects
 Conclusion

Let’s take a look at each of these sections in detail.

Introduction

Write your introduction in two sentences:

 Sentence 1 - paraphrase the statement (you can use

‘nowadays/today/these days’ to start):

Nowadays the number of overweight people is constantly growing.

 Sentence 2 - say what you’ll write about in your essay:

This essay will discuss the main reasons of this epidemic and then
describe the possible effects of the problem.

Body paragraph 1 - causes

 Sentence 1 - state all the main causes of obesity:

In my opinion, the foremost causes of obesity are inactive lifestyle and

unhealthy eating habits.

 Sentences 2-3 - describe the first cause. Assume that your examiner
has no knowledge in this area and you have to explain all the details to
him.

Today more and more people rely on cars instead of walking, have less
physical demands at work and prefer inactive leisure activities. This
results in burning less calories and gaining weight.
  Sentences 4-5 - describe the second cause. Don’t forget that it’s useful
to give examples while describing causes!

Moreover, the problem is accentuated by the growing number of people,

who eat irregularly and consume large portions of high-calorie food. For
example, about 50% of the adult population in Europe with so-called
disordered eating suffer from obesity.

Body paragraph 2 - effects

 Sentence 1 - state all the possible effects:

The possible effects of this problem include physical health problems and
loss of productivity.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the first effect and give an example:

First of all, obesity results in incorrect functioning of the human body and
contributes to the risk of developing some chronic illnesses. For example,
as body fat percentage increases, the person’s metabolism worsens, which
in turn may result in diabetes or heart diseases.

 Sentences 4-6 - explain the second effect and support it with an

example:

Secondly, overweight people are very unhealthy and often suffer from
stress and tiredness. This lessens their work capacity and results in lower
productivity. For example, it has been proven that an obese person needs
to put more effort to complete some task than a person with normal
weight.

Conclusion

For the conclusion you need simply to restate the problem and sum up the
causes and effects that you described in your body paragraphs:

To sum up, obesity is a big problem that affects a lot of people nowadays. It’s
mainly caused by inactive lifestyle and eating disorders and results in severe
health problems and loss of productivity.
Model essay

Nowadays the number of overweight people is constantly increasing. This

essay will discuss the main reasons of this epidemic and then describe the
possible effects of the problem.

In my opinion, the foremost causes of obesity are inactive lifestyle and

unhealthy eating habits. Today more and more people rely on cars instead of
walking, have less physical demands at work and prefer inactive leisure
activities. This results in burning less calories and gaining weight. Moreover,
the problem is accentuated by the growing number of people, who eat
irregularly and consume large portions of high-calorie food. For example,
about 50% of the adult population in Europe with so-called disordered eating
suffer from obesity.

The possible effects of this problem include physical health problems and loss
of productivity. First of all, obesity results in incorrect functioning of the
human body and contributes to the risk of developing some chronic illnesses.
For example, as body fat percentage increases, the person’s metabolism
worsens, which in turn may result in diabetes or heart diseases. Secondly,
overweight people are very unhealthy and often suffer from stress and
tiredness. This lessens their work capacity and results in lower productivity.
For example, it has been proven that an obese person needs to put more
effort to complete some task than a person with normal weight.

To sum up, obesity is a big problem that affects a lot of people nowadays.
It’s mainly caused by inactive lifestyle and eating disorders and results in
severe health problems and loss of productivity.

(251 words)
IELTS causes and solutions essay - band 9 guide

In this lesson you will learn how to write a high-scoring causes & solutions
essay in IELTS Writing. As an example, the model essay will be about loss
of bio-diversity. Basically, causes & solutions essay is one of the most
common question types in IELTS writing task 2. This question asks you
to describe causes and propose solutions for a given problem.

In this lesson you will see:

 question sample + model answer

 band 9 answer structure for causes & solutions essay
 effective strategies to produce ideas for your answer

IELTS problems & solutions question sample

For example, this is the question you’ve got for IELTS writing task 2:

Influence of human beings on the world's ecosystem is leading to the extinction of

species and loss of bio-diversity.

What are the primary causes of loss of bio-diversity?

What solutions can you suggest?

Of course, the topics for causes & solutions essay may vary, but
the answering strategy is pretty much the same for all essays of
causes/solutions type.

Producing ideas

As you know, it’s recommended to spend about 40 minutes on IELTS Writing

task 2. But before starting to write your essay, it’s a good idea to dedicate 2-
4 minutes to producing some ideas for your essay. This way you’ll know what
to write about and your essay will be more structured.

To produce ideas for causes and solutions essay, you have to determine 3
things:

 Problem
 Causes of this problem
 Solutions to this problem

The problem is already given: loss of bio-diversity (in other words, some
animals and plants are dying out).

Now let’s think about its causes and solutions. Don’t be afraid of simple
ideas! Remember: getting a high score means writing simple things well.
Here are some ideas that may come to your mind:
Causes:

 change of the natural habitats

When humans artificially transform the environment (build roads,

houses etc.), they destroy animals’ natural habitat.

 pollution

Pollution negatively changes the flow of energy, the chemical

constitution of the environment and the climate in general, so a lot of
species cannot live under such conditions and die out.

 overexploitation of resources

When the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a natural

resource are too intense in a particular area, the resource becomes
exhausted. Example: too intense farming exhausts the soil; too
frequent fishing, which doesn’t leave enough time for fish to
reproduce, makes fish disappear

After you’ve though of the possible causes, you can use them in your
writing. You can invent more reasons of this problem, but usually, it’s
enough to give 1-2 causes in your writing.

Possible solutions:

 protect areas

Protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding

overexploitation of resources are the best ways to save the
environment and prevent species from dying out.

 promote awareness

Informing the general population about the disadvantages of loss of

biodiversity will encourage people to be more conscious of the
environment.

1-2 solutions are enough for a good essay. Now, after we’ve collected
some ideas, it’s time to structure our thoughts into an essay.
Band 9 answer structure for causes & solutions essay

There may be many possible answering strategies, but we’ll use this good
and time-tested essay structure:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph 1 – causes
3. Body paragraph 2 – solutions
4. Conclusion

Introduction

Write the introduction in 2 sentences:

o Sentence 1 - paraphrase the question (restate the problem):

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human

activity has been causing massive extinctions of different species.

o Sentence 2 - tell the examiner what you’re going to describe in your

essay:

This essay will examine the main causes of loss of biodiversity and
possible solutions of this problem.

Body paragraph 1 - causes

o Sentence 1 - state 2 main causes:

The two main causes of species extinction are change of their habitats and
overexploitation of natural resources.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain the first cause + give an example:

When humans artificially transform the environment, they destroy

vegetation and animals’ natural habitat. For instance, to build new roads
people are cutting down the trees and cementing the soil, altering the
environment. Because of that, a lot of species are dying out.

o Sentences 5-7 - explain the second cause + give an example:

Also, when the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a

natural resource are too intense in a particular area, the resource
becomes exhausted. For example, too frequent fishing doesn’t leave
enough time for fish to reproduce and makes them disappear.
 o The last sentence - give a short summary (if needed)

In other words, human activities often deplete local flora and fauna and
cause loss of bio-diversity.

Body paragraph 2 - solutions

o Sentence 1 - give 1-2 possible solutions

Some possible solutions to this problem are protecting natural areas and
promoting awareness among people.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain how each of the solutions solves the problem
(you may give an example if you wish)

By protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding

overexploitation of its resources, we can save the untouched environment
and prevent species from dying out. Moreover, the next step in fighting
bio-diversity loss is informing the general population about the dangers
of this problem. This way, people will be more conscious of the
environment and won’t overuse or destroy its resources.

Conclusion

o Sentence 1 - restate the causes of the problem

To conclude, people’s activities that change the environment have

negative impact on the world's ecosystem.

o Sentence 2 - remind the reader of possible solutions

However, we can significantly lessen the extinction of species by

protecting natural areas and enlightening people as to this problem.

Model essay for IELTS Writing causes/solutions question

The model band-9 essay for this question will look as follows:

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human

activity has been causing massive extinctions of different species. This essay
will examine the main causes of loss of biodiversity and possible solutions of
this problem.

The two main causes of species extinction are change of their habitats and
overexploitation of natural resources. When humans artificially transform the
environment, they destroy vegetation and animals’ natural habitat. For
instance, to build new roads people are cutting down the trees and
cementing the soil, altering the environment. Because of that, a lot of
species are dying out. Also, when the activities connected with capturing and
harvesting a natural resource are too intense in a particular area, the
resource becomes exhausted. For example, too frequent fishing doesn’t leave
enough time for fish to reproduce and makes them disappear. In other
words, human activities often deplete local flora and fauna and cause loss of
bio-diversity.

Some possible solutions to this problem are protecting natural areas and
promoting awareness among people. By protecting areas where human
activity is limited and avoiding overexploitation of its resources, we can save
the untouched environment and prevent species from dying out. Moreover,
the next step in fighting bio-diversity loss is informing the general population
about the dangers of this problem. This way, people will be more conscious
of the environment and won’t overuse or destroy its resources.

To conclude, people’s activities that change the environment have negative

impact on the world's ecosystem. However, we can significantly lessen the
extinction of species by protecting natural areas and enlightening people as
to this problem.

(263 words)
Problem and solution essay - band 9 guide

In this lesson you’ll learn how to answer problems/solutions

questions in IELTS Writing. This type of questions gives you an issue and
asks you to describe some common problems associated with it and propose
some possible solutions.

In this lesson you will:

 See problem-solution question sample

 Learn how to generate ideas
 Learn band 9 answering strategies
 See full band 9 answer

Question sample

This is an example of problem-solution question in IELTS Writing:

Despite a large number of gyms, a sedentary lifestyle is gaining popularity in the

contemporary world.

What problems are associated with this?

What solutions can you suggest?

How to answer the question?

Before starting to write your answer, you should think of 1-2 problems and
1-2 solutions, so you know what to write about. In our case:

Problems associated with sedentary lifestyle:

 obesity
 problems with backbone (osteoporosis, scoliosis)

Solutions:

 promote walking and cycling as safe and attractive alternatives to

motorized transport
 promote visiting gyms and doing exercises

Now, after we’ve generated some ideas for our essay, it’s time to use them
in our writing.

Remember: it’s not enough to simply state these facts, you should also
extend the ideas in your writing.
Band 9 answer structure

Although there are many possible ways to structure your essay, we’ll use this
band 9 answer structure that has been approved by many IELTS examiners:

Band-9 essay structure:

 Introduction
 Body paragraph 1 - problems
 Body paragraph 2 - effects
 Conclusion

Let’s take a look at each of these sections in detail:

Introduction
Write your introduction in two sentences:

 Sentence 1 - paraphrase the statement (you can use

‘nowadays/today/these days’ to start):

These days a sedentary lifestyle is becoming more and more popular

despite a big number of sport facilities.

 Sentence 2 - say what you’ll write about in your essay:

This essay will discuss the main problems associated with this epidemic
and propose some possible solutions to avoid them.

Body paragraph 1- problems

 Sentence 1 - summarise the main problems of inactive lifestyle:

The main problems caused by inactive lifestyle are obesity and various
spine disorders.

 Sentences 2-3 - state and explain the first problem (you can also give
an example). It’s very important to expand your opinion! Imagine that
your examiner doesn’t know this subject at all and you have to explain
everything in detail:

A growing number of body research shows that long periods of physical

inactivity raise a risk of becoming overweight. This is because people
burn fewer calories and easily gain weight.

 Sentences 4-5 - describe the second problem (as usual, expand your
opinion). You can give an example and use linking words ‘moreover’,
’what’s more’ or ‘also’ to start:
 What’s more, a lot of studies show that so-called ‘sitting disease’ often
results in posture and backbone problems. Due to constant sitting, person
loses muscle tissue and curves spine, developing numerous spinal
diseases. For example, it has been proven that about 80% of people
experience backache at least once a week.

Body paragraph 2 - solutions

 Sentence 1 - briefly state the main solutions:

In my opinion, the best solution to this problem is promoting active

lifestyle.

 Sentences 2-3 - write the first solution and explain it:

Firstly, millions of people stay less active because they use cars instead of
walking. Therefore, an effective way to make people more active is to
advertise walking and cycling as safe and attractive alternatives to
motorized transport.

 Sentences 4-5 - describe the second solution (don’t forget to expand

your opinion!):

Moreover, inactive lifestyle is gaining popularity because nowadays a lot

of people prefer passive rest to workouts in the gym. And the best way to
avoid the hazards of unhealthy living is to obtain a regular dose of
physical activity. Thus, promoting gyms and regular exercising would
increase the level of activity.

Conclusion

Write your conclusion in 2 sentences by summing up the problems and

solutions you’ve written in your body paragraphs:

In conclusion, leading a sedentary lifestyle causes a lot of health problems,

including obesity and spinal diseases. The most effective solution is to
increase the level of fitness among the society by advertising physical
activity.

Band 9 answer sample

These days a sedentary lifestyle is becoming more and more popular despite
a big number of sport facilities. This essay will discuss the main problems
associated with this epidemic and propose some possible solutions to avoid
them.

The main problems caused by inactive lifestyle are obesity and various spine
disorders. A growing number of body research shows that long periods of
physical inactivity raise a risk of becoming overweight. This is because
people burn fewer calories and easily gain weight. What’s more, a lot of
studies show that so-called ‘sitting disease’ often results in posture and
backbone problems. Due to constant sitting, person loses muscle tissue and
curves spine, developing numerous spinal diseases. For example, it has been
proven that about 80% of people experience backache at least once a week.

In my opinion, the best solution to these problems is promoting active

lifestyle. Firstly, millions of people stay less active because they use cars
instead of walking. Therefore, an effective way to make people more active is
to advertise walking and cycling as safe and attractive alternatives to
motorized transport. Moreover, inactive lifestyle is gaining popularity because
nowadays a lot of people prefer passive rest to workouts in the gym. And the
best way to avoid the hazards of unhealthy living is to obtain a regular dose
of physical activity. Thus, promoting gyms and regular exercising would
increase the level of activity.

In conclusion, leading a sedentary lifestyle causes a lot of health problems,

including obesity and spinal diseases. The most effective solution is to
increase the level of fitness among the society by advertising physical
activity.

(268 words)
To what extent you agree or disagree essay - band 9
guide

This lesson will guide you how to write essays in IELTS Writing that ask
you to what extent you agree/disagree. Such questions are very
common for IELTS Writing task 2. In such essays your task is to say
whether you:

 completely agree with a given statement

 completely disagree with a given statement
 partly agree / disagree

and justify your opinion.

In this lesson you will see IELTS writing task 2 sample question + model
answer. Also, you will learn the following points:

 how to decide on your opinion

 how to generate ideas to justify your opinion
 how to give a band 9 answer for agree/disagree question

To what extent you agree/disagree question sample

Let’s look at an example of IELTS writing task 2:

The government's investment in arts, music and theatre is a waste of money.

Governments should invest these funds in public services instead.

To what extent do you agree with this statement?

This is a classic example of an IELTS Writing question that asks you to what
extent you agree or disagree.

Choose your opinion & generate ideas

Unlike classic agree/disagree questions, to what extent you agree or

disagree questions do NOT ask you to clearly determine whether you agree
or disagree with the given statement.

In fact, you have 3 major options for your opinion:

AA: You completely agree (provide 2 ideas that strengthen the

statement)
DD: You completely disagree (provide 2 ideas that weaken the
statement)
AD: You agree or disagree partly (provide 1 idea that strengthens the
statement and 1 idea that weakens it)
After you’ve decided your opinion, generate 2-3 supporting points for it.

Now let’s generate supporting points for each of the opinions:

AA: Investment in arts, music and theatre is a waste of money

o Art, music and theatre don’t help to solve urgent problems of the
society
o Art and music can develop as hobbies, and saved money can be
directed towards urgent needs of the society
o If artists and musicians were employed at more traditional jobs,
there would be a great benefit for science and industry

DD: Investment in arts, music and theatre is NOT a waste of money

 The arts and music preserve unique culture and heritage, passing
nation’s cultural character and traditions to future generations
 Arts, music and theatre are an integral part of the society’s cultural
and intellectual development and amusement
 A strong art, music and theatre sector is an economic asset that
creates new jobs and attracts tourism revenue

AD: Investment in arts is important, but public services should be

financed in the first place

For this opinion, just combine ideas from the previous points.

For our essay, we’ll choose the last opinion - partially agree / disagree (AD).

Band 9 answer structure

There are a lot of ways to structure your essay, but we’ll use a structure that
has been approved by many IELTS examiners to be high-scoring and
coherent.
Band-9 essay structure:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph 1 - the 1st supporting point
3. Body paragraph 2 - the 2nd supporting point
4. Conclusion

As you already know, you can write the supporting points of your body
paragraphs in the following ways: agree + agree, disagree + disagree, agree
+ disagree. We’ll use the last option as our opinion is partially agree /
disagree.

Let’s take a look at each of these sections in detail.

Introduction
Write your introduction in two sentences:

 Sentence 1 - paraphrase the statement (you can use ‘it is

argued/considered/thought that’ to start):

It is often argued that the government should finance public services instead
of spending its budget on arts, music and theatre.

 Sentence 2 - give your opinion:

Although I agree that government’s investments in public services play a

very important role, I think that proper funding of arts sector is also crucial
for the society.

Body paragraph 1 - the 1st supporting point

 Sentence 1 - state the first reason you agree/disagree.

This sentence should contain the main idea of the whole 1st paragraph. In
our case we’ll use the reason A: why it is important to finance public
services. As we’ll be considering opposite opinions, it is a good idea to use a
collocation on the one hand to introduce the first reason:

On the one hand, the government should definitely allocate a large part of its
budget on public services.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the reason.

To explain the reason effectively, you can imagine that your examiner didn’t
understand what you were talking about and you have to explain every
detail:

This economic sector determines the overall quality of life, ensuring that
some basic services, like schools, hospitals and roads, are available to all
citizens irrespective of their income or social status. Public services satisfy
the primary needs of the society and thus need a proper funding, while
artists and musicians are not curing diseases or building houses, so their role
is secondary.
  Sentence 4 - example.

It’s always good to give examples in your body paragraphs, even if you’re
not asked to do it (like in our case):

For example, any country can live without music concerts, but absence of
medicine will create significant problems.

 Sentence 5 - a short summary of your ideas in this paragraph:

That’s why the government should adequately finance public services in the
first place.

Body paragraph 2 - the 2nd reason you agree/disagree

 Sentence 1 - state the second reason you agree/disagree.

This statement should contain the main idea of the whole 2nd paragraph.
This time we’ll use the reason D: why it is important to finance public
services. As we are considering opposite opinions, it is a good idea to use a
phrase on the other hand to introduce the second reason:

On the other hand, arts, music and theatre are not a waste of money, since
they are an integral part of the society’s cultural and intellectual
development and amusement.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the reason (assume that your examiner

doesn’t understand the topic at all):

Firstly, art and music draw people’s attention to diverse phenomena and
represent the inward significance of things. Quite often a single drawing,
piece or song can exhort myriads of people to reconsider their attitude
towards some situation. This way, art serves as a major source of nation’s
personal and intellectual development. Moreover, visiting museums,
watching movies and listening to music are common ways of relaxation and
entertainment.

 Sentence 4 - support your idea with an example:

The question doesn’t ask us to give examples, plus we’ve already written a
lot in this paragraph, so we’ll skip this point.

 Sentence 5 - a short summary of your thoughts in the 2nd

paragraph.

Thus, art sector is also important for the society and should not be neglected.
Conclusion

You can write the conclusion in one sentence that summarizes your
opinion + 2 reasons for it:

To conclude, though I agree that the government should allocate a large part
of its budget on such urgent needs of the society like public services, I think
that arts, music and theatre should also be financed since they play an
important role in people’s development and entertainment.

DO NOT write new ideas in the conclusion!

Model answer

This is a full band-9 answer for to what extent you agree or disagree IELTS
Writing question above:

It is often argued that the government should finance public services instead
of spending its budget on arts, music and theatre. Although I agree that
government’s investments in public services play a very important role, I
think that proper funding of arts sector is also crucial for the society.

On the one hand, the government should definitely allocate a large part of its
budget on public services. This economic sector determines the overall
quality of life, ensuring that some basic services, like schools, hospitals and
roads, are available to all citizens irrespective of their income or social
status. Public services satisfy the primary needs of the society and thus need
a proper funding, while artists and musicians are not curing diseases or
building houses, so their role is secondary. For example, any country can live
without music concerts, but absence of medicine will create significant
problems. That’s why the government should adequately finance public
services in the first place.

On the other hand, arts, music and theatre are not a waste of money, since
they are an integral part of the society’s cultural and intellectual
development and amusement. Firstly, art and music draw people’s attention
to diverse phenomena and represent the inward significance of things. Quite
often a single drawing, piece or song can exhort myriads of people to
reconsider their attitude towards some situation. This way, art serves as a
major source of nation’s personal and intellectual development. Moreover,
visiting museums, watching movies and listening to music are common ways
of relaxation and entertainment. Thus, art sector is also important for the
society and should not be neglected.

To conclude, though I agree that the government should allocate a large part
of its budget on such urgent needs of the society like public services, I think
that arts, music and theatre should also be financed since they play an
important role in people’s development and entertainment. (317 words)