IELTS Writing Task 2 Introduction
This post will help you write better introductions in your Task 2 IELTS essays and show the
specific sentences I advise all of my students to use when writing IELTS Writing Task 2
introductions.
The introduction is the first part of the essay the examiner will read, and it will give them a good
first impression of what to expect in the rest of the essay.
Just like in person, first impressions last.
I often tell my students that a bad introduction in IELTS writing part 2 is the same as going in to
the speaking exam and being rude to the examiner- no matter how good you are in the rest of it,
the examiner won’t be happy, and unhappy examiners are more likely to give you a lower mark.
Despite this warning, many good students go on to produce introductions with a few common
problems in them.
Common Problems
1. Talking too generally about the topic.
2. Most of these essays start off with ‘Nowadays……’ or ‘In modern life….’ followed by
general information about the topic. In my opinion, this is the worst start you can possibly
make. Remember that you are supposed to answer the question, not write generally about
the topic.
2. Not giving your opinion
This is the most important sentence in the essay. Not including this will lose you marks in several
different ways.
3. Not supporting your opinion with main ideas
If you don’t do this, the examiner doesn’t really know what you think about the question. This will
also lose you marks. I’ll show you how to write an outline sentence below.
4. Trying to write a ‘hook’ or be entertaining
5. Remember, this is an IELTS exam, not a university essay. There are no extra points for
being interesting; in fact, being boring will probably help you. This will help you avoid
‘flowery’ language.
5. Using an informal style
1
Good and Bad Examples
Question: There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use is contributing to global
warming and having other undesirable effects on people’s health and well-being.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Good Introduction
Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness issues are often viewed as being
caused by the expanding use of automobiles. This essay agrees that the increasing use of
motor vehicles contributes to rising global temperatures because of the production of
greenhouse gases by vehicles and certain health issues are caused by the release of toxic
chemicals by internal combustion engines.
Bad Introduction
Nowadays, cars are a very popular way of getting around. Day by day many more people drive
cars around but others feel that they cause global warming. Global warming is one of the most
serious issues in modern life. They also affect people’s health and well-being which is also a
serious issue.
As you can see, the bad example generally talks about the topic, copies words and phrases
from the question, and doesn’t include a thesis statement or outline statement.
If your introductions look something like this, don’t worry. Most of my students write introductions
a lot like this when they first start in my class and the structure below always helps them fix any
problems and write very effective introductions.
Structure of a Good Introduction
If you use this structure, you will not only score higher marks but also save time in the exam. If
you practice enough, introductions will become easy, and you will do them in just a few minutes.
This will leave you lots of time to focus on the main body paragraphs, where you can pick up lots
of marks.
An IELTS writing task 2 opinion essay should have three elements, and these should be:
1. Paraphrase question
2. Give opinion
3. Support opinion with 2 ideas
