IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics: The 10 Most Common Themes with Example Questions

The ten core themes

• Education — 'Some believe university should be free for all. To what extent do you agree?'
• Technology — 'Does social media do more harm than good?'
• Environment — 'Who should pay for pollution: governments or individuals?'
• Health — 'Should governments tax unhealthy food?'
• Work — 'Is remote working a positive development?'
• Crime — 'Do prisons work, or should we focus on rehabilitation?'
• Globalisation — 'Does international trade harm local cultures?'
• Cities and transport — 'Should cars be banned from city centres?'
• Family and society — 'Why are people marrying later, and is this positive?'
• Media and advertising — 'Should advertising aimed at children be banned?'

How to prepare each theme

• For each theme, prepare three arguments for and three against — you will reuse them across dozens of questions.
• Learn ten topic-specific collocations per theme (e.g. environment: 'curb emissions', 'carbon footprint', 'renewable sources').
• Read one Band 8 sample essay per theme and notice how ideas are developed, not just listed.
• Write at least one full timed essay per theme before your test.

Example: education theme, planned in 60 seconds

• Question: 'Some say students should study only subjects they enjoy. Discuss both views and give your opinion.'
• View A: motivation and engagement rise when students choose freely.
• View B: compulsory maths and science give every child essential skills.
• Your view: a core curriculum plus electives is the best compromise.

Practise with feedback

Our Writing Task 2 practice page has a question bank organised by topic, an AI question generator, and instant feedback that scores your essay on all four marking criteria — so you can work through all ten themes systematically.