For: Independent learners who can write paragraphs but need help developing both sides of an argument while maintaining a clear opinion.
Test type: Academic and General Training Writing Task 2. The planning method applies to both. Use an academic or semi-formal style for Academic; General Training Task 2 uses a semi-formal or neutral style. The neutral model below supports practice for either.
Study time: 45 minutes for the lesson and planning practice; allow an additional 40 minutes if you write the optional complete essay.
Practice scope: A planning lesson with a complete model. The independent planning exercise is shorter than a full exam task.
What you will learn
- Identify the two views and the opinion requirement in a prompt.
- Create an outline containing a reason and example for each view.
- Write a position statement and conclusion that express the same judgement.
What the task requires
Read the instruction closely: Discuss both views and give your own opinion requires all three elements. Explaining a view does not mean you must agree with it.
Task 2 requires at least 250 words, with about 40 minutes recommended. Write connected prose rather than an outline in the test. See the official Writing guidance and General Training Writing format.
The four assessment areas are task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. In practical terms: answer the question, develop a clear argument, choose precise language and control your sentences. The criteria have equal weight within the task. See official scoring guidance.
Strategy: turn each view into a reasoned paragraph
Allow about five minutes for planning within your 40-minute practice. This is a suggested routine, not an exam rule.
- Underline the exact disagreement. Avoid expanding the topic into an unrelated debate.
- Write your own judgement in one sentence. A qualified opinion is fine if the reader can understand it.
- Give each view a reason, explain the consequence and add a realistic example.
- Decide how your reasons support your final judgement.
- Check that your conclusion can answer the original question without adding a new argument.
Four paragraphs work well for the example below, but IELTS does not require this specific structure. Give both views meaningful development; an identical word count is unnecessary.
Original practice prompt
Some people think employers should allow staff to choose their own working hours. Others believe all staff should follow a fixed daily schedule.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. For a complete Task 2 response, write at least 250 words and allow about 40 minutes.
Worked example: an annotated outline
Introduction: define the choice and state a position
Plan: Flexible hours suit some tasks; fixed hours help coordination. Prefer flexibility within agreed shared hours where the job allows it.
Why this helps: The position answers the disagreement directly. It also introduces the condition that the body will explain.
Body paragraph 1: explain the case for flexible hours
- Main reason: staff have different periods of concentration and personal commitments.
- Development: choosing when to do independent work can reduce interruptions and help staff manage responsibilities.
- Example: an employee preparing reports starts early and finishes before collecting a child.
- Link to judgement: choice is useful when output matters more than continuous availability.
Why this helps: The example illustrates the reason; it does not replace the explanation.
Body paragraph 2: explain fixed hours and weigh the views
- Main reason: shared schedules make teamwork and customer contact easier.
- Development: colleagues can solve problems without waiting for someone to begin work.
- Example: a support team needs reliable cover while customers are calling.
- Judgement: use shared hours for coordination and flexibility for suitable independent work; some roles require fixed cover.
Why this helps: The opposing view receives a serious explanation, and the paragraph shows why the opinion has limits.
Conclusion: give the final judgement
Plan: Both arrangements have practical benefits. Prefer limited flexibility, with fixed attendance when the work requires it.
Why this helps: The conclusion follows the reasoning already given.
Model response
This original model illustrates one way to develop the plan. It has not been assigned an IELTS band score.
Employers differ in how much control they give staff over their working hours. Some favour individual choice, while others require everyone to work to the same timetable. In my view, flexible hours are preferable for suitable roles, provided that employees are available during agreed periods for essential teamwork.
Allowing people to choose their hours can make independent work easier to manage. Employees do not all concentrate best at the same time, and some have responsibilities outside work that affect their daily routines. For example, a person who prepares financial reports could start early, complete the most demanding calculations before the office becomes busy, and leave in time to collect a child from school. If the reports are accurate and delivered on time, there may be little benefit in insisting that this person works later. Such flexibility can help an employer retain experienced staff who would otherwise struggle to manage the job.
However, supporters of fixed schedules have a strong practical argument: many jobs depend on people being available together. A customer support team, for instance, must answer calls throughout its advertised opening hours. If every employee independently chose an early start, customers might receive no help in the late afternoon. Shared hours also allow colleagues to discuss problems and make decisions without long delays. Nevertheless, these needs do not always justify an identical timetable for the entire working day. An employer could require everyone to attend meetings during a shared period while allowing report writers or designers to choose the rest of their hours. Roles requiring continuous customer contact would need a more carefully arranged rota.
Overall, fixed schedules provide reliable coordination, whereas flexible hours can support concentration and personal responsibilities. I would favour a combination: give employees control where possible, but set clear periods of availability wherever colleagues or customers depend on them.
Notice how the model works
- “Provided that” introduces the condition attached to the opinion.
- The first body paragraph develops individual choice through concentration, responsibilities and a concrete example.
- The second explains a genuine need for fixed schedules before evaluating a possible compromise.
- The conclusion keeps the same qualified preference as the introduction.
Useful vocabulary in context
- Retain staff: keep employees in the organisation.
- Coordination: organising people’s work so their activities fit together.
- Rota: a schedule showing who works at particular times.
- Whereas: a linking word used to contrast two facts or ideas.
Independent practice
Use this new prompt:
Some people believe public libraries should spend most of their budget on printed books. Others think they should spend most of it on digital resources.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
- In five minutes, write one reason and one realistic example for each view.
- Write your opinion as a single sentence. Specify which spending priority you prefer and why.
- Arrange your ideas into an outline. Add a conclusion that matches your position.
- Optional full practice: start a fresh 40-minute session and write at least 250 words, including planning and checking time. Give reasons and relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.
Possible planning directions
There is no single correct opinion. Printed books can support readers who lack suitable devices; a lending collection lets them read without buying books. Digital resources can support remote access; someone working late may use an online resource when the building is closed. Consider who the library serves before deciding which deserves most of the budget. Explain why that priority outweighs the other benefit.
These are starting points, not facts about every library. Avoid claiming digital access is always free or that all readers own devices.
Common mistakes and corrections
- Only discussing your preferred view: add a developed reason and example explaining the other view.
- “Both are good” as your whole opinion: make a judgement, such as prioritising one approach under a stated condition, and justify it.
- Inventing a survey to sound persuasive: use a clearly hypothetical situation or relevant experience. No fabricated research is needed.
- Adding “Furthermore” to every sentence: show the relationship between ideas; use a linking word only when it serves that relationship.
- “Staffs can chooses their time”: write “Staff can choose their working hours.” Here, staff refers collectively to employees; a modal such as can takes the base verb.
Self-review checklist
- ☐ I explained both views, including a reason for each.
- ☐ My own preference is clear and justified.
- ☐ Each example supports the paragraph’s main point.
- ☐ My conclusion agrees with the position developed in the essay.
- ☐ I used paragraphs and connected sentences, not bullet points, in a complete response.
- ☐ My complete essay has at least 250 words.
- ☐ I checked subject–verb agreement, articles and sentence boundaries.
- ☐ I used topic vocabulary accurately rather than adding unfamiliar words for effect.
This checklist supports revision; it does not produce an IELTS score.
Helpful ESS practice
Use Disagreeing Politely in a Discussion to practise recognising and responding to another view. Its conversational phrases are general English support: adapt your essay to a neutral written style.
Your next step
Write the independent-practice essay in one 40-minute session, then use the checklist to revise your weakest paragraph. Choose official Academic or General Training tasks for later practice.
Independent ESS learning material. Prompts and model are original practice, not official IELTS questions. Official format and assessment references checked on 30 October 2026; linked above.