IELTS Writing sample answers, band by band
One question, three answers — around band 6.5, 7.5 and 9 — so you can see what actually moves a score rather than being told about it.
How to read these
Every prompt below carries three answers written to illustrate three different performance levels. The lower two are deliberately imperfect: the band 6.5 answers contain the repetition, bolted-on linking words and small grammar slips that a real answer at that level contains, and each one is annotated so you can see exactly which sentence gives it away. Under each answer there is commentary on all four assessment areas — how fully the task is answered, how the ideas are organised and connected, how precise the vocabulary is, and how varied and accurate the grammar is.
- Band 6.5
- The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.
- Band 7.5
- A clearly better answer. The position is consistent, paragraphs are properly built, vocabulary is more precise and errors are occasional rather than habitual — but development is uneven and some phrasing is still ordinary.
- Band 9
- Fully developed, effortlessly organised and precisely worded. Cohesion is invisible, the vocabulary choices are the natural ones a fluent writer would reach for, and grammar is varied and essentially accurate.
These are illustrative answers written for teaching, not official material. The prompts are original and written in the standard format; they are not reproduced from any past paper, and nothing here has been marked by a test provider. Band labels describe what the writing demonstrates — no sample, and no piece of practice, can guarantee anyone a score.
Browse 90 prompts
57 Task 2 essays and 33 Task 1 answers, covering the standard question shapes and topic families. Filter by task, question type or topic.
90 prompts available, each with three model answers.
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
A four-day standard working week
An outweigh question on the four-day week, where the band 9 answer refuses to average a hospital and an office into a single verdict.
Work268 / 306 / 325 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Automating routine office work
An outweigh question on office automation, where the band 9 answer refuses to net the gains against the losses because they land on different people.
Technology256 / 281 / 323 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
High-rise flats instead of family houses
An outweigh question on building upwards, where the band 9 answer argues that height matters less than what happens at the foot of the tower and who pays to keep it running.
Housing287 / 298 / 366 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Mass tourism in developing economies
An outweigh question on tourism-led development, where the band 9 answer makes the whole judgement turn on who owns the hotel.
Globalisation258 / 294 / 301 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Moving government offices out of the capital
An outweigh question on relocating public bodies to the regions, where the band 9 answer makes its verdict depend on whether decisions move with the desks.
Government279 / 304 / 339 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Online shopping and the high street
An outweigh question on the decline of physical retail, where the band 9 answer argues that the real loss is not shopping at all.
Consumer264 / 292 / 312 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Starting a family later
A both-sides question on delayed parenthood, where the band 9 answer notices that the benefits arrive immediately and the costs arrive a generation late.
Family273 / 287 / 335 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Streaming instead of schedules and cinemas
A both-sides question on streaming, where the band 9 answer looks past convenience to what disappears when nobody watches anything at the same time.
Media261 / 292 / 340 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Advantages and disadvantages
Taking a degree in another country
A discuss-both-sides question on studying abroad, where the band 9 answer separates what the student gains from what the student's country pays.
Education264 / 280 / 322 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
English as a world language
A discussion essay on global English, where the band 9 answer identifies which languages are actually at risk and from what.
Globalisation265 / 295 / 339 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Getting the news from social media
A discussion essay on social platforms as a primary news source, where the band 9 answer refuses to treat the two views as equally weighted.
Media261 / 287 / 312 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Grandparents or nurseries for young children
A childcare discussion essay in which the band 9 answer separates what a child needs from what a family can afford.
Family253 / 287 / 329 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Mixed-ability classes or setting by ability
A schooling discussion essay in which the band 9 answer distinguishes what streaming does from how schools actually use it.
Education259 / 295 / 336 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Nuclear power in a low-carbon energy mix
An energy discussion essay in which the band 9 answer reframes the choice as one about timing rather than about technology.
Environment261 / 296 / 322 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Reporting on the private lives of the famous
A discussion essay on press intrusion, where the band 9 answer replaces fame with a better test: does the private fact bear on a public role?
Media288 / 298 / 353 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Should museums return what they hold?
A cultural-property discussion essay where the band 9 answer separates the strongest argument for keeping objects from the weakest one.
Culture268 / 291 / 338 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Volunteers running local services
A discussion essay on volunteer-run libraries and community centres, where the band 9 answer asks which neighbourhoods can actually supply the volunteers.
Community299 / 318 / 348 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Discussion (both views)
Working from home: good for people, bad for teams?
A discussion essay on remote work, where the band 9 answer notices that the two views are about different groups of employees.
Work251 / 284 / 312 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Advertising aimed at young children
An agree-or-disagree essay on prohibiting adverts for under-twelves, where the band 9 answer locates the wrong in the absence of an informed party rather than in the desire adverts create.
Consumer259 / 298 / 324 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Banning cars from city centres
An agree-or-disagree essay on car-free centres, where the band 9 answer recasts the question as one about how scarce urban land is allocated.
Transport269 / 280 / 338 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Community sentences instead of prison
An agree-or-disagree essay on non-custodial sentencing, where the band 9 answer accepts the reform and rejects the line the question draws.
Crime250 / 286 / 330 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Compulsory voting
An agree-or-disagree essay on mandatory turnout, where the band 9 answer disagrees with the policy as proposed and supports an amended version of it.
Government268 / 305 / 326 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Funding only the degrees that lead to jobs
An agree-or-disagree essay on directing public money towards employable degrees, where the band 9 answer wins by splitting the question in two.
Education279 / 262 / 321 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Individual action against climate regulation
An agree-or-disagree essay on whether personal green habits matter, where the band 9 answer separates what individual action achieves from what it is for.
Environment262 / 298 / 315 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Making corrections as prominent as the story
An agree-or-disagree essay on legally mandated corrections, where the band 9 answer notices that prominence and reach used to be the same thing and no longer are.
Media259 / 284 / 324 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Smartphones before secondary school
An agree-or-disagree essay on delaying smartphone ownership, where the band 9 answer questions the age threshold the prompt takes for granted.
Technology250 / 286 / 330 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Taxing sugar and fat
An agree-or-disagree essay on food taxes, where the band 9 answer argues the levy works on manufacturers rather than on shoppers.
Health266 / 292 / 337 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Whether employers should monitor everything staff do
An agree-or-disagree essay on workplace surveillance, where the band 9 answer argues that intrusive monitoring fails on its own terms rather than merely being unfair.
Technology254 / 282 / 309 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Whether hosting global sporting events wastes money
An agree-or-disagree essay on the cost of hosting major tournaments, where the band 9 answer separates the infrastructure that survives from the monuments that do not.
Globalisation257 / 286 / 303 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Whether parents or schools answer for bad behaviour
An agree-or-disagree essay on who is accountable for how children behave, where the band 9 answer separates who caused the problem from who can actually fix it.
Family265 / 284 / 300 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Whether prevention should always come before treatment
An agree-or-disagree essay on health budgets, where the band 9 answer explains why prevention keeps losing these arguments instead of assuming the public is simply mistaken.
Health262 / 288 / 313 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
A few streaming companies choosing what gets made
A positive-or-negative essay on commissioning power, where the band 9 answer separates how much gets made from how many people decide what gets made.
Culture254 / 284 / 306 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Cash disappearing in favour of digital payment
A positive-or-negative essay on the cashless economy, where the band 9 answer shows why a change can be positive on average and still be bad policy.
Community255 / 284 / 313 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Choosing holidays from social media photos
A positive-or-negative essay on travel chosen from social media, where the band 9 answer argues that the real loss is not the crowds but the surprise.
Travel282 / 290 / 360 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Making public transport free
A positive-or-negative essay on fare-free buses and trains, where the band 9 answer judges the policy by what the lost fare income could otherwise have bought.
Transport290 / 298 / 354 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Paying monthly instead of owning
A positive-or-negative essay on the subscription economy, where the band 9 answer separates paying for a service from paying rent on something already bought.
Consumer265 / 305 / 366 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Permanent jobs giving way to gig and contract work
A positive-or-negative essay on insecure work, where the band 9 answer argues that the change transfers risk rather than creating flexibility.
Work255 / 288 / 312 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Private companies running public services
A positive-or-negative essay on outsourcing, where the band 9 answer judges each service by whether its quality can be written into a contract.
Government266 / 299 / 354 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Positive or negative development
Recorded material replacing the live lecture
A positive-or-negative essay on online lectures, where the band 9 answer argues that recording removes something whose value had already gone.
Education254 / 280 / 304 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Food that is grown and never eaten
A problem-solution essay on food waste, where the band 9 answer shows that most of the damage is done before anything reaches the bin.
Environment279 / 300 / 344 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Loneliness among older people
A social isolation essay whose band 9 answer locates the cause in how neighbourhoods are built rather than in how families behave.
Community289 / 271 / 302 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Plastic waste reaching the oceans
A problem-solution essay on marine plastic, where the weaker answers reach for recycling and the strongest one explains why recycling was never going to be enough.
Environment263 / 281 / 302 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Traffic congestion in growing cities
A congestion essay whose band 9 answer explains why building more roads has never worked, and why every effective solution is politically painful.
Transport266 / 268 / 305 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Travel for people with disabilities
A problem-solution essay on disabled travellers, where the band 9 answer treats a journey as a chain that fails at its weakest link.
Travel289 / 330 / 366 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
When ordinary workers cannot afford the city
A housing affordability essay in which the band 9 answer refuses the easy villain and traces the shortage back to who is allowed to build what, and where.
Housing279 / 275 / 311 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
When trained graduates leave the country that educated them
A brain-drain essay whose band 9 answer stops treating emigration as disloyalty and starts treating it as information about domestic conditions.
Work265 / 272 / 312 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Why young offenders return to crime
A reoffending essay in which the band 9 answer treats release, not sentencing, as the moment where the policy actually fails.
Crime279 / 259 / 304 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Problem and solution
Why young people are becoming heavier
A causes-and-solutions essay on childhood obesity, where the band 9 answer wins by treating cheap calories as an economic fact rather than a failure of willpower.
Health257 / 289 / 301 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why fewer school leavers study science and maths
A causes-and-solutions essay where the band 9 answer refuses the usual remedies because its diagnosis rules them out.
Education258 / 296 / 320 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why local charities struggle to find volunteers
A two-part essay on the shortage of volunteers, where the band 9 answer argues that people have not stopped helping, only stopped promising the same evening every week.
Community274 / 287 / 365 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why online fraud keeps growing
Three answers give much the same security advice. Only the band 9 derives it from the economics of the crime, which is why its measures are chosen rather than remembered.
Crime254 / 312 / 335 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why patients ignore their doctors
A causes-and-consequences essay whose band 9 version traces the consequences outwards until they arrive back at the cause.
Health253 / 298 / 333 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why people keep flying despite the climate cost
Awareness has not reduced air travel. The band 9 answer explains why moral persuasion has to fail here, and lets the policy follow from that.
Environment263 / 293 / 308 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why people no longer trust politicians
A causes-and-remedies essay in which only the band 9 answer explains why an honest candidate cannot survive the incentive.
Government256 / 289 / 306 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why people now change careers several times
The second question asks for a verdict. The 6.5 refuses to give one — the single most costly thing an otherwise competent answer can do.
Work263 / 292 / 309 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why smartphones became impossible to give up
A causes-and-effects essay in which the 6.5 promises to discuss society and then only discusses individuals — the commonest way this question shape is half-answered.
Technology252 / 293 / 303 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 2 · Two-part question
Why traditional crafts are dying out
A two-part essay on disappearing handicrafts, where the band 9 answer separates keeping a craft on display from keeping it alive.
Culture270 / 286 / 368 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Bar chart
Electricity sources in three countries
A bar chart in which three countries lean on three different sources, showing how the band 9 answer finds the pattern the 6.5 answer reads straight off the page.
Environment157 / 195 / 214 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Bar chart
Household recycling rates in four cities
A two-year bar chart in which the worst performer becomes the best, and three answers that differ in whether they measure that reversal against everything else on the chart.
Environment163 / 180 / 204 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Bar chart
Physical activity among men and women by age
A grouped bar chart where men lead among the young and women lead among the old, and the real story is how differently the two sets of bars slope.
Health174 / 191 / 234 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Bar chart
Why international visitors came to one country
Twelve bars across three years, in which one category grows most, one is overtaken and one falls — and the answers differ in whether they add the bars up.
Travel164 / 181 / 210 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Line graph
How shoppers paid over twenty years
Four payment methods over twenty years: cash collapses, debit cards rise and then turn, and mobile phones arrive from nowhere — a graph where the interesting line is the one that changes direction.
Consumer186 / 203 / 234 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Line graph
Music sales by format over twenty-five years
Four lines, three changes of leader and a total that shrinks by a fifth before recovering — a graph where the market's shape changed far more than its size.
Culture181 / 184 / 228 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Line graph
Regional unemployment before and after a shock
Three regions take an almost identical hit and recover at three different speeds — a graph where the interesting movement is the widening gap, not the lines themselves.
Work180 / 196 / 220 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Line graph
Visits to libraries, museums and cinemas
A line graph with a genuine reversal in it, showing how a strong overview does more for the score than any amount of extra data.
Culture187 / 199 / 209 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Map
A college campus now and as planned
A present-day campus and the plan for its future, where the weakest answer lists new buildings and the strongest sees that the whole site is being turned round.
Education194 / 192 / 226 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Map
A fishing village that became a resort
Two maps of a small bay thirty years apart, in which every change points towards tourism — and the best answer notices that nothing old was knocked down to get there.
Travel190 / 192 / 230 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Map
A town centre before and after redevelopment
Two maps of the same town centre, where the weakest answer describes each map in turn and the strongest describes only what moved.
Community179 / 197 / 217 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Map
Two possible sites for a new hospital
One town, two candidate sites and an almost perfect trade-off between them — a map task that rewards comparison rather than description.
Health194 / 190 / 217 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Mixed charts
House prices, earnings and who owns their home
A line graph of prices and earnings beside a bar chart of housing tenure, and three answers that differ in whether — and how carefully — they connect the two.
Housing163 / 174 / 214 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Mixed charts
How people commute, and why they say they do
Two datasets in one task — modal share over twenty years and the reasons commuters give — and three answers that differ in whether they ever connect the two.
Transport185 / 199 / 220 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Pie chart
Energy use in an older and a newly built house
Two pie charts with very different totals, where a slice that doubles can stand for the same energy — and only the band 9 answer converts shares into kilowatt-hours consistently.
Housing183 / 204 / 233 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Pie chart
How household spending changed over thirty years
Two pie charts thirty years apart, where the gains and the losses cancel out exactly — a pattern only one of the three answers notices.
Consumer178 / 182 / 211 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Pie chart
Office, hybrid and remote working at one company
Three pie charts in which a dramatic middle year turns out to be the least lasting change — the answers differ in whether they see that the real winner grew only afterwards.
Work167 / 187 / 216 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Pie chart
Where a city's household waste ended up
Two pie charts in which landfill loses its lead to recycling, and in which the quiet growth of incineration is the detail only one answer weighs.
Environment168 / 176 / 204 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Process diagram
How coffee is produced
A strictly linear process that also splits geographically, and three answers that differ in whether they notice the split at all.
Consumer175 / 191 / 215 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Process diagram
How glass bottles are recycled
A ten-stage recycling process, and a lesson in why a process answer is scored on grouping and passive voice rather than on retelling the arrows.
Environment175 / 190 / 217 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Process diagram
How potato crisps are manufactured
A twelve-stage factory process in which half the work happens before any oil is used — and only the strongest answer explains why the order matters.
Consumer176 / 176 / 203 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Process diagram
The life cycle of the dragonfly
A nine-stage natural cycle drawn as an even circle, where the time spent in each stage is anything but even.
Environment178 / 200 / 225 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Table
Home ownership and renting by age group
Twenty years of housing tenure across five age groups, where renters overtake owners in one group and the oldest overtake everyone — two ranking changes the weakest answer reads past.
Housing187 / 202 / 235 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Table
Household waste and recycling in five cities
Five cities, two measures and two years: every recycling rate rose, but only two cities really moved, and the early leader ended up third.
Environment183 / 198 / 227 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Table
International enrolment across five subject areas
A table of enrolment figures in which one subject supplies over half the total growth and another is the only one falling — the answers differ entirely in whether they spot that.
Education170 / 184 / 200 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 Academic · Table
Island visitors by origin and what they spend
A table where the biggest market is also the cheapest and the only one shrinking — and where the answers differ in whether they set numbers against spending at all.
Travel181 / 198 / 222 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Formal letter
Complaint to a delivery company about a damaged item
A formal complaint where the band 6.5 letter keeps slipping into the tone of a text message, and the band 9 letter gets angry without ever sounding it.
Consumer165 / 196 / 212 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Formal letter
Objecting to a development on public land
A formal objection to a local council, where the difference between bands is the difference between saying you are unhappy and giving an official something they can act on.
Community177 / 199 / 216 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Formal letter
Speculative application to a company with no advertised vacancy
A formal letter with no job advertisement to reply to, where the band 9 answer solves the real problem — giving a stranger a reason to keep reading.
Work176 / 190 / 214 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Informal letter
Apologising for missing a friend's family event
An apology to a close friend, where the band 9 letter takes responsibility instead of explaining itself — a distinction the lower bands miss entirely.
Family170 / 198 / 217 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Informal letter
Inviting a friend who moved abroad to visit
An informal letter where the band 6.5 answer's problem is the opposite of the usual one — it is far too stiff for the person it is addressed to.
Travel176 / 200 / 217 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Semi-formal letter
Asking a tutor for an assignment extension
A request rather than a complaint, where the band 9 letter wins by making the extension easy to grant instead of hard to refuse.
Education180 / 194 / 214 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
- Task 1 General · Semi-formal letter
Repairs a landlord has not carried out
A semi-formal letter to a named landlord — the register that trips candidates up most, because it is neither a complaint to a stranger nor a note to a friend.
Housing168 / 196 / 220 words across bands 6.5, 7.5 and 9
Reading is the easy half
Comparing answers tells you what a higher band looks like. Producing one under timed conditions is a separate skill, and the gap between the two closes only by writing. Pick a prompt above, give yourself forty minutes, and compare what you produced against all three versions before you read the commentary.