Sample IELTS Writing

(TESOL Worksheets--IELTS Writing)

I've been teaching IELTS over the past couple years, and during that time I have struggled with figuring out how best to improve the students' writing.  Eventually I've decided that the primary reason my students did so poorly with IELTS essays is simply because they haven't had enough exposure to the genre.  Since all writing ultimately springs out of reading, I decided the best way to improve my students' IELTS writing was simply to flood them with input of sample IELTS essays.

So...where to find sample IELTS essays?  I combed through all the books in the Teacher's Resource Center of our school, looking for a book that was simply a collection of sample IELTS essays.  I couldn't find anything.  (But if anyone out there has a book to recommend to me, please let me know in the comments.)

I searched the Internet for sample IELTS essays.  There's definitely plenty of stuff out there, but it was hard to find a website that had quality essays.  A lot of them looked just like student work, and in fact one of the senior IELTS teachers at my school specifically warned me to be careful about the IELTS essays on the web.  (Although again, if anyone has any good website recommendations for me, please let me know in the comments.)

However, a colleague alerted me to a big stash of sample IELTS essays on the computer server at our school.  Apparently a former teacher had created most of these back in 2009.

For my IELTS preparation class, I gave the students one of these sample essays every lesson at the beginning.
At its simplest, the idea was just to spend two minutes at the beginning of the lesson reading through the sample essay together.
However, in order to try to focus the students' attention on the content of the essay, I designed activities around each essay (fill in the blanks, running dictations, put the paragraphs in order, identify the topic sentences, et cetera).  The advantage of these activities is that they (hopefully) help the students to get more out of the essay.  The disadvantage is that they have a tendency to eat up a lot of time.  Doing the various activities designed around some of these essays can take sometimes take up as much as 20 minutes, which would then come at the expense of other material.

Since the class I was teaching was for 30 lessons, I designed activities around 30 sample essays--15 task 1 essays, and 15 task 2 essays.  (Update: I have since added more essays to this, based off of model essays from textbooks that I have designed interactive activities around.)

In all cases, the sample essay is not mine, but were designed by a former teacher at my school.  In most cases, the activities designed around the sample essay are mine.  (Although in one or two cases, the sample essay already came with activities attached.)  In just about all cases, I have edited the sample essay slightly--usually very slightly, for example editing punctuation or changing one word.  Small those these changes were, they were nevertheless changes I didn't have permission to make, so I have taken the name of the original writer off of the sample essays.  (The initials of the original writer are G.W.  Appropriate parties should contact me if they want their name put back on the sample essays.)

Below are the links to the Google Drive for the Microsoft word documents of the sample essays and activities designed around them.  In no particular order:

Task 1
1. The charts below show the age patterns of malaria sufferers and the health effects of malaria on people in Kenya.  Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.



2. How a Canal Lock Works



3. Write a short description of the carbon cycle using the diagram and notes below.




4. The chart and graph below give information about sales and share prices for Coca-Cola. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



5.  The diagram below shows how cocoa beans are prepared for export to countries that make chocolate.  Summarise the information by selecting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.




6.  The diagrams below show stages in the development of the camera since its invention in 1839.  Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



7.  The diagram shows how a dredging boat will be used to keep the canals in Venice clear of mud. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



8.  PERCENTAGE OF SAME SEX AND AGE GROUP AUSTRALIA, 1996 CENSUS



9.  The graphs below show the numbers of male and female workers in 1975 and 1995 in several employment sectors of the republic of Freedonia. Write a report for a university teacher describing the information shown.



10.  The chart below shows employment figures in different tourism-related industries between 1989 and 1999. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



11.  The diagrams below show the development of a small fishing village and its surrounding area into a large European tourist resort. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



12.  The diagram below shows the typical stages of consumer goods manufacturing, including the process by which information is fed back to earlier stages to enable adjustment. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the process shown.



13.  The charts below show the number of Japanese tourists travelling abroad between 1985 and 1995 and Australia’s share of the Japanese tourist market.  Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



14.  The table below shows social and economic indicators for four countries in 1994, according to  United Nations statistics. Describe the information shown below in your own words. What implications do the indicators have for the countries?



15.  The flowchart illustrates the production of coloured plastic paper clips in a small factory. Write a report for a university tutor describing the production process.



16.  The chart below shows the different types of goods and services purchased online in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom in one year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



17.  The graph below shows the figures for CFC emissions in four countries between 2005 and 2009. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.




18. The diagram shows how a transaction works at an automated teller machine in five steps, allowing us to withdraw money from any participating bank in the world.

19. IELTS Scores



Task 2

1. Advances in science and technology and other areas of society in the last 100 years have transformed the way we live as well as postponing the day we die. There is no better time to be alive than now.  To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?



2.  Advertising serves no useful purpose and can even have harmful effects. Therefore, all forms of advertising should be banned. To what extent do you agree or disagree?



3.  Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.  To what extent do you agree or disagree?



4.  Many children these days have an unhealthy lifestyle.  Both schools and parents are responsible for solving this problem.  To what extent do you agree with this statement.



5. The number of people living in cities around the world continues to grow. One consequence of this trend is that many historical buildings are torn down to make way for new constructions. Discuss possible ways for cities to preserve their historical buildings.



6.  Describe one major education issue in your country. What is the problem?  What solutions are there to this problem?



7.  ‘Going on strike’ is commonly used as a catalyst to resolve industrial disputes. Many conservative governments are strongly opposed to this mechanism for bringing about change. Discuss the pros and cons of this action in resolving disputes.



8.  Do young people today make good use of their leisure time? Or do they spend too much time watching television and playing video games, instead of taking part in more productive activities? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.



9.  Most of the world’s poor live in countries where tourism is a growing industry. The issue is that tourism does not benefit the poorest.  How can the income generated by tourism benefit the poor? And how can we ensure that tourism does not destroy traditional cultures and ways of life?



10.  The loss of rainforests due to illegal logging is a serious problem today.  What can be done to stop illegal logging?



11.  Popular events like the football world cup and other international sporting occasions are essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?



12.  What are the key problems facing the world’s cities in the 21st century and what can be done about them?



13.  In many countries schools have severe problems with student behaviour.  What do you think is the cause of this? What solutions can you suggest?



14.  In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.



15.  According to a recent study, the more time people use the Internet, the less time they spend with real human beings. Should we worry about the effect this is having on social interaction or should we see the Internet as a way of opening up new communication possibilities worldwide?





16. In order to reduce crime, we need to attack the causes of crime such as poverty and lack of educational opportunities. It is not enough to simply have more police on the street and put more people into prison. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?




17. Without capital punishment (the death penalty) our lives are less secure and crimes of violence increase. Capital punishment is essential to control violence in society. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

18. Throughout history, male leaders often made the society more violent and conflicting. If women governed the world, the world would be more peaceful. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

19. Happiness is considered very important in life. Why is it difficult to define? What factors are important in achieving happiness?

(Not being an IELTS examiner myself, I'm somewhat unsure of exactly how the scoring system works, but I'm taking it on faith that these are good model essays.  At any rate, they all look good to me.  If someone spots any problems with them, please let me know.)

Update: (June 16, 2015)
I'm at a new school now which makes a big deal of communicating to students the purpose of each activity, so I designed the hand-out below to talk about why I was starting each class out with Speaking Part 2 practice. Google: drive, docs, pub.

Reading sample essays

Why

                The best way to learn how to write is to read.  If you want to write romance novels, you need to read a lot of romance novels.  If you want to write adventure novels, you need to read a lot of adventure novels.  And if you want to learn how to write IELTS essays, the best practice is to read a lot of sample essays. 

                We will look at one sample IELTS essay at the beginning of every class (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday only).  We will alternate between task 1 essays and task 2 essays.  So for example one day we will look at a task 1 sample essay, and then the next day we will look at a task 2 sample essay.

                In task 1 of the Academic Writing module, you are asked to write a report for a university lecturer in which you describe information presented visually, for example in diagrams, bar charts, pie charts or tables.  Alternatively you may be asked to describe a process, how an object works or a map.

                Writing task 2 is always a discursive essay question where you are given a point of view, an argument or a problem and asked for your opinions on the question.

In Class

Step	Description	Purpose
1	Your teacher will give you a sample writing question.  With a partner, you’ll discuss what you think, and how you might answer this question on the test.	To practice generating ideas for IELTS writing, and to focus your attention on the question.
2	Your teacher will give you a model essay with some sort of task designed around it.  Sometimes you may be asked to put the sentences in order, sometimes fill in the blanks, or sometimes identify paragraphs and topic sentences.	To focus your attention on the essay, and help you to notice the structure and vocabulary of a typical IELTS essay.
3	Your teacher will give you a copy of the completed model essay, and will read it aloud while you follow along.	Listening to the essay read aloud will help to focus your attention on it, as well as to give you the correct pronunciation for any new vocabulary words in the essay.
4	You may ask any questions you have about new vocabulary, grammar, structure of the essay, or anything.	To clear up any questions you may have.
5	Review the essay a few times at home before the next class.  In particular, be sure to pay attention to the structure of the essay.  How are the paragraphs organized?  What information does the writer put into the essay, and what information does he leave out?	IELTS essays are highly structured.  One of the four criteria you will be marked on is your essay’s organization.  Pay attention to paragraphing, and topic sentences.