How to write IELTS Task 2 body paragraphs

Body paragraphs carry most of your Task Response score. The examiner is asking one question as they read each one: is this idea extended and supported, or just stated? Two well-developed body paragraphs are almost always enough for Task 2.

One paragraph, one idea

Each body paragraph should make one main point, and its first sentence should say what that point is. A reader who only read your first sentences should still understand your argument. That is what “clear central topic” means in the band descriptors.

Build it in four moves

1. Main idea: the point this paragraph proves.
2. Explain: why it is true, or how it works.
3. Example: something specific that proves it: a situation, a group of people, a likely result.
4. Link back: one short sentence saying what this means for your position.

Four to five sentences, roughly 90 to 110 words, is a comfortable length.

A worked example

Question: Some people think schools should teach practical skills such as cooking and managing money. To what extent do you agree?

The strongest argument for practical lessons is that many young people leave school unable to manage their own money. Teenagers are often given their first bank account and phone contract at sixteen, yet few have ever been taught how interest or a credit agreement works. A single unit on budgeting, using real examples such as a first month's wages, would show students how quickly small debts grow. Lessons like these would protect young adults from costly mistakes that no exam grade can prevent.

Notice what each sentence does. The first states the idea. The second explains the problem. The third gives a concrete example. The last links back to the position.

When you finish a sentence, ask “so what?” If the answer is not already in the paragraph, the next sentence should give it.

What “developed” really means

At band 6, ideas are relevant but “insufficiently developed”. At band 7 they are “extended and supported”. In practice the difference is often one sentence: the explanation that turns a claim into an argument.

• Band 6: “Free education is important for the future of the country.”
• Band 7: “Free education widens the pool of people who can train as doctors and engineers, which a country with an ageing population badly needs.”

Examples that convince

You do not need statistics, and invented numbers can hurt you if they look unbelievable. Strong examples in Task 2 are usually specific situations: a commuter who spends two hours a day in traffic, a family that cannot afford childcare, a small town that loses its only bank. They show the examiner you can apply an idea, not just name it.

Common mistakes

• Two or three ideas squeezed into one paragraph, none explained.
• An example about yourself that does not prove the point.
• A final sentence that starts a new idea.
• Starting every sentence with a linker: “Firstly… Moreover… Furthermore… Therefore…”.

Practise

Read the body paragraphs in the sample essays, then plan your own with the essay planner, which asks you for the reason and example step by step.