IELTS guides

Every Task 2 prompt is one of five types. Identifying which one you have been given is the single highest-value thing you can do in the first minute.

The most common Task 2 type. A clear position, held consistently, beats a balanced one that never commits.

Both views need real development, and your own opinion still has to be stated. Covering one side properly caps Task Response.

Check whether the prompt asks you to list them or to weigh them. "Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages" is a judgement, not a list.

Each solution must answer a problem you actually raised. Unmatched pairs are the most common failure in this type.

Two separate questions, both compulsory. The most frequent error in this type is answering only the first one.

Four criteria, equally weighted. Knowing which one you are weakest on is worth more than another month of general practice.

Four criteria, and none of them is "how much you know". Fluency is not speed, and pronunciation is not accent.

There is no pass mark. What counts as a good score depends entirely on what you need it for, and the four skill scores matter as much as the overall.

The choice is made by whoever will read your result, not by you. Listening and Speaking are identical; Reading and Writing are not.

The greeting tells you the register, and the register tells you the closing. Getting that chain wrong is the cheapest mark to lose in the whole exam.

Sixty seconds, and most candidates spend them choosing a subject instead of planning one. Pick fast, plan the ending.