Plan a Task 2 essay in five minutes
A five-minute planning routine that keeps your essay on topic, fully answers the question and saves time later.
By IELTSora teaching team · Updated · 2 min read
Why planning saves time
Learners often skip planning to save time and then lose it later, rewriting paragraphs or drifting off topic. Five minutes of planning makes the next thirty faster.
The five-minute routine
Do this on the question paper before you write a word of the essay:
- Minute 1: underline the topic and every instruction (agree?, discuss both?, causes and solutions?).
- Minute 2: decide your position in one sentence.
- Minutes 3–4: write two main ideas, each with one reason and one example, in note form.
- Minute 5: check that the plan answers every instruction you underlined.
A plan in note form
Notes are enough. Don't write full sentences in the plan.
Question: Should governments make public transport free?
Position: partly agree: free for students and older people, not for everyone.
Idea 1: fewer cars → less congestion; e.g. city that removed fares and saw fewer car trips.
Idea 2: cost: lost fares must come from taxes; better to target people who need help.
Conclusion: targeted free travel balances benefits and cost.
Common planning mistakes
Planning only helps if the plan answers the question. Check yours for these problems before you start writing:
- Three or four ideas with no reasons: choose the best two and develop them.
- Ideas that answer a different question, such as writing about the causes when the question asks about solutions.
- No clear position in an opinion or discussion essay.
- Examples that are too general, like "many countries"; name a type of person or place instead.