Mastering Task Response in IELTS Writing Task 2

When you're writing an essay for IELTS Writing Task 2, your performance is assessed based on four key criteria:

1. ✅ Task Response

2. 🧠 Coherence and Cohesion

3. 💬 Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)

4. ✍️ Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Each of these criteria contributes 25% to your final band score. That means Task Response alone makes up one-quarter of your total marks—you cannot afford to ignore it.

🎯 What is Task Response?

Task Response checks how well you understand the question and answer all parts of it. Check out band descriptors for Task Response in IELTS writing task 2.

Task Response covers:

• Addressing every part of the prompt clearly

• Expressing a clear position (if asked for an opinion)

• Giving relevant ideas, explanations, and examples

• Developing each idea logically and fully

Many students lose valuable marks simply because they misunderstand the question or only respond to part of it. Even with good grammar and vocabulary, if your essay goes off-topic or feels incomplete, your score will suffer.

🔑 In this guide, we’ll explore how to master Task Response step by step, avoid common mistakes, and boost your overall Writing Task 2 band score.

📌 Let’s dive into the four key aspects of Task Response now...

Task Response: Band Descriptors

1. Address all parts of the task

📝 Sample Prompt:
Some people say the main way to be happy in life is to have a lot of money.
How might having a lot of money make people happy?
What other things in life can make people happy?

👉 This is a two-question IELTS essay. In order to do well in task response, you need to address each part and answer each question clearly.

💡 At first glance, it is clear that this question pertains to money influencing happiness.
It does not ask whether you agree that having money makes you happy or not. You have to come up with reasons to support the idea of money positively influencing people’s happiness.

🚫 Also, the key word is happiness—not success, or travel, or any other things that might generally be linked to happiness.
✅ You need to create a strong association between money and happiness.

✈️ You cannot just say “well, you can travel the world” and leave the happiness part up to the assumption of the examiner.
Do not assume anything. Make it clear.

Let’s get to the second question.
It asks: What other things in life can make people happy?
✅ You can come up with anything here, but make sure to include at least two.

🟡 The question says "things", not "a thing".
🔴 Some students make similar mistakes in advantage-disadvantage essays where the prompt asks for multiple advantages and disadvantages.
If you only write one, it will reduce your Task Response score.

2. Present a clear position throughout the essay

🧠 Most of the time, you will be asked for an opinion, either explicitly or implicitly.
Let’s look at a few prompts:

Prompt 1:
❝Many people say that social media negatively affects real-life communication. To what extent do you agree or disagree?❞
✅ This prompt explicitly asks for your opinion.
Use phrases like:

• In my opinion...

• I strongly believe/agree...
  🔑 Your entire essay should back up this opinion.

Prompt 2:
❝In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?❞
✅ Though it doesn't explicitly ask for an opinion, choosing “positive” or “negative” is an opinion itself.
👉 Use the same strategy as Prompt 1.

Prompt 3:
❝Online education is rapidly increasing in popularity. Do the advantages of studying online outweigh the disadvantages?❞
✅ This asks for your opinion implicitly.
❗Do not use phrases like “In my opinion.”
Simply argue which side outweighs the other.

📌 Simple trick:
If the question contains "you", you can use "I".

Prompt 4:
❝Nowadays, a large number of children play video games.
What are the negative impacts of playing video games?
What can be done to minimize these effects?❞
❌ You are not asked for your opinion.
✅ Just discuss both sides with a balanced view. No need for “I believe...” statements.

📣 Whatever position you decide to take, stick to it.
If you state your opinion in the introduction, do not contradict yourself in the body paragraphs.
Even if you come up with better ideas mid-way, do not switch sides.

💬 Remember: the truth of your opinion doesn’t matter, your English does.
Back your claim with solid arguments and examples.

3. Support your ideas with relevant examples and explanations

🛠 To do well in IELTS Writing Task 2, you need to:

• Explain your arguments in detail

• Give examples whenever possible

🔹 Note: You do not have to give an example for every argument.
🔹 You can also explain an argument through the example itself.

📌 Example from a Band 9 essay:

“Furthermore, studies have shown that students learn interpersonal skills by showing up to physical classrooms and engaging with teachers and classmates. The lack of this exposure to the outside world may prevent them from developing essential social skills. This can ultimately result in students becoming employees who struggle with teamwork and fail in collaborative assignments.”

✅ See how explanation and example are blended naturally.

💡 Another trick:
Use negative scenarios as examples too.

Instead of:

“Canada has a proper public transport system, making sure that people do not use automobiles for commute.”

Try:

“Canada suffers from extreme environmental disasters each year; if it had invested in public transport, it would have reaped the benefits.”

This is a conditional sentence, which also boosts your grammatical range and accuracy.

4. Develop your argument logically and fully

🧩 What does “logically” mean? It refers to your organization.

👉 If the prompt asks to discuss both views:

• Write one paragraph for each view.

👉 If you have two reasons for supporting an idea:

• Argue one in the first body paragraph

• Argue the second in the second paragraph

🚫 Don’t overcomplicate things.
✅ Keep it simple and clear for both yourself and the examiner.

🕵️‍♂️ What about “fully”?
It means giving each argument enough time—by explaining and supporting it with examples.

🎯 Getting the hang of it?
Take on a challenge and write an essay on a topic of your choice.
📝 Submit for free expert assessment!