How to paraphrase the question in IELTS Task 2

Paraphrasing means saying the question's idea in your own words. It shows the examiner you understood the topic, and it matters because words copied from the question do not count toward your 250-word minimum.

Keep the topic, change the frame

You do not need to replace every word. Topic words such as “university”, “pollution” or “social media” often have no natural synonym, and repeating them is fine. Change the words around them.

Three safe techniques

1. Synonyms that really mean the same thing.

Many people → A growing number of people. Free → free of charge. Children → young people.

2. Change the word form.

Pollution is increasing → There has been an increase in pollution.

3. Change the sentence structure.

Some people think governments should fund the arts → Funding for the arts, some argue, should come from the government.

Combining two of these is usually enough for one sentence.

Over-paraphrasing is a real risk

The band descriptors reward vocabulary that is precise and natural, not rare. Forcing an unusual word into the wrong place lowers your Lexical Resource score.

• Natural: “Some people believe university should be free for everyone.” → “Some argue that higher education should be provided free of charge.”
• Forced: “Certain individuals opine that tertiary academia ought to be gratis.”

If you would not say it to a teacher, do not write it in the exam. Precise beats impressive.

Practise

Take five questions from the question bank and paraphrase only the first sentence of each, using a different technique each time. Then check whether your version still means exactly the same thing.