One question type, start to finish
The whole Task 2 path, filtered to this one question type: how to read the prompt, what each of the four paragraphs has to do, the connectors it leans on, and a finished essay at the end. Every step links to its full unit if you want to drill it.
The prompt
Everything below answers this. The highlighted words are the instruction — the part that decides the shape of the whole essay, and the part most people skim.
Many people now get news from social media. Why has this happened? How can users determine whether information is reliable?
How you recognise it
Instruction signal: A topic followed by two distinct questions, often beginning with why, what, how or do you think.
What it must answer: Identify every question and ensure that each receives a visible answer and adequate development.
Most common misread
Writing generally about the topic and overlooking one of the two questions.
Official format: IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 asks for an essay of at least 250 words in response to a question. The five question families are WeLearn teaching categories, not official IELTS names.
WeLearn strategy: This page collects the steps of the full course filtered to one question type, so that a student who only needs this one can follow the whole path in order.
Review focus: Writing a complete direct questions answer, from reading the prompt to the finished essay.
Explained answer: Compare your finished essay with the model at the end: same prompt, same four paragraphs, and each paragraph doing the job named above it.
Step 1
Six questions you put to the prompt, in this order. They are the same six for every Task 2 prompt you will ever see — that is what makes them worth learning. Answer each one before you open it.
1Topic — What situation is this prompt about?
Cover the highlighted instruction with your hand and read only what is left. That is the topic — and it is the part that matters least, which is why most people spend the most time on it.
news consumption
2Instruction — What am I being told to produce?
The highlighted words, and nothing else. Not the topic, not how many views appear before it. Every decision below follows from this one sentence.
A topic followed by two distinct questions, often beginning with why, what, how or do you think.
3Scope — How much room does that instruction leave me?
The exact wording. “To what extent” allows a degree — largely, partly. “Do you agree” does not. “Outweigh” forces a verdict; “advantages and disadvantages” forbids one. One word decides.
Answer a cause question and a practical-method question.
4Your answer — What do I actually think, in one sentence?
Nowhere in the prompt. This is the first row you supply, and if you skip it now you will discover halfway through Body 2 that you never decided.
Required whenever one question asks for an evaluation or opinion. Other questions may require explanation rather than stance.
5Body 1 — What is the strongest reason for that answer?
Also yours. The test is whether it supports the answer above — not whether it is true about the topic. A true statement that does not support your answer belongs in someone else's essay.
speed and convenience.
6Body 2 — What is the second reason, and is it genuinely different?
Yours as well. If you can rewrite Body 2 using Body 1's sentences, you have one reason written twice, and the examiner will read it as one.
source and evidence checks.
Rows 1 to 3 are in the prompt: two readers should get the same answer. Rows 4 to 6 are not — they are yours, and two good essays on this prompt can disagree completely.
Step 2
What this paragraph has to do, and how you get there from the prompt above.
Answer a cause question and a practical-method question.
Body 1: speed and convenience. Body 2: source and evidence checks.
The blocks below, in this order.
News now reaches people faster than the checks that used to travel with it.
Social platforms have become a primary news source for a large part of the public.
Their speed and convenience explain this change, while users can judge reliability by checking authorship, evidence and independent reporting.
Each half of the thesis maps to one question.
No personal opinion is added because the prompt does not request one.
Watch for: Writing generally about the topic and overlooking one of the two questions.
Step 3
What this paragraph has to do, and how you get there from the prompt above.
Body 1 carries the first reason you committed to when you read the prompt: speed and convenience.
Answer why: speed, convenience and integration into daily habits.
The blocks below, in this order.
Social media has become a major news source because it delivers information quickly within platforms people already use.
Users do not need to visit several publications when headlines, live updates and personal commentary appear in one feed.
Notifications also turn news exposure into a continuous habit rather than a deliberate separate activity.
For example, a commuter may learn about a developing event from an alert before choosing whether to open a full report.
Convenience and immediacy therefore explain much of the shift toward social news consumption.
Watch for: Explaining how to verify news before completing the answer to why social media became popular.
Step 4
What this paragraph has to do, and how you get there from the prompt above.
Body 2 carries the second reason you committed to when you read the prompt: source and evidence checks.
Answer how users can judge reliability on social media.
The blocks below, in this order.
Users can assess reliability by tracing claims to identifiable evidence and comparing them with independent sources.
A professional appearance or large audience does not demonstrate that a post is accurate.
Checking the original publisher, date and supporting documents makes manipulation easier to detect.
Before sharing a health claim, for example, a reader could compare it with guidance from recognised medical institutions.
Deliberate verification is therefore essential when social platforms remove traditional editorial filters.
Watch for: Repeating why social media is popular instead of answering the second question.
Step 5
What this paragraph has to do, and how you get there from the prompt above.
The conclusion has to end on the answer you committed to when you read the prompt: Required whenever one question asks for an evaluation or opinion. Other questions may require explanation rather than stance.
Restate Answer 1 and Answer 2 so neither instruction disappears at the end.
The blocks below, in this order.
Overall, social media attracts users through speed, convenience and participation in shared networks.
Its information should nevertheless be trusted only after the original source, date and supporting evidence have been independently checked.
Watch for: Closing only the second question because it appeared in Body 2.
Step 6
Every family is useful somewhere. These are the ones this question type needs most.
Addition
the next idea goes the same way as the one before it
Open this familyContrast
the next idea pushes against the one before it
Open this familyNow you decide
Neither of these is about English. They are about answering the question you were actually asked.
In many countries, people are spending less time cooking at home and more time eating prepared food. Why is this happening, and do you think this is a positive or negative development?
Choose the structure the two questions ask for
Two questions were asked. Only one of these answers both.
Choose one.
Pick the answers worth developing
Three of these can carry a paragraph. Two of them cannot.
Choose every decision you would keep.
The finished essay
264 words on the prompt below. Each paragraph is labelled with the job it does — the same jobs you just read, in the same order.
Many people now get news from social media. Why has this happened? How can users determine whether information is reliable?
News now reaches people faster than the checks that used to travel with it. Social platforms have become a primary news source for a large part of the public. Their speed and convenience explain this change, while users can judge reliability by checking authorship, evidence and independent reporting. The first paragraph explains why trust in news has fallen, and the second sets out how a reader can test a claim before believing it.
Reframe the prompt, state the position, and preview what each body paragraph will argue.Social media has become a major news source because it delivers information quickly within platforms people already use. Users do not need to visit several publications when headlines, live updates and personal commentary appear in one feed. Notifications also turn news exposure into a continuous habit rather than a deliberate separate activity. For example, a commuter may learn about a developing event from an alert before choosing whether to open a full report. Convenience and immediacy therefore explain much of the shift toward social news consumption.
Answer why: speed, convenience and integration into daily habits.Users can assess reliability by tracing claims to identifiable evidence and comparing them with independent sources. A professional appearance or large audience does not demonstrate that a post is accurate. Checking the original publisher, date and supporting documents makes manipulation easier to detect. Before sharing a health claim, for example, a reader could compare it with guidance from recognised medical institutions. Deliberate verification is therefore essential when social platforms remove traditional editorial filters.
Answer how users can judge reliability on social media.Overall, social media attracts users through speed, convenience and participation in shared networks. Its information should nevertheless be trusted only after the original source, date and supporting evidence have been independently checked.
Restate Answer 1 and Answer 2 so neither instruction disappears at the end.Preguntas frecuentes
No como categoría oficial independiente. IELTS Writing Task 2 pide escribir un ensayo de al menos 250 palabras. WeLearn separa direct-question o two-part question como ruta de práctica porque estos prompts hacen dos preguntas explícitas que deben responderse de forma visible.
En opinion essay normalmente defiendes una postura frente a una afirmación. En direct-question debes contestar cada pregunta del prompt; a veces una pregunta pide causa y otra pide opinión, solución o predicción.
Responder solo una parte o mezclar ambas sin señalización clara. Una estructura segura es usar un párrafo para la primera pregunta y otro párrafo para la segunda.
Direct question prompt bank
Official format: IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 requires a response of at least 250 words to the given prompt. WeLearn strategy: this route trains two-part questions: each question needs a visible answer, a body paragraph of its own, and a conclusion that closes both — not the one you found easier.
Direct question
Why are some children reading fewer books than in the past? How can parents and schools encourage them to read more?
Answer both questions visibly: reasons first, then encouragement strategies.
Children often read less because digital entertainment is easier to access, so adults need to make books both routine and personally relevant.
Answering only the solution question and barely explaining the causes.
Direct question
More adults are changing careers several times during their working lives. Why is this happening? Is it a positive or negative development?
Answer the cause question and then evaluate the development clearly.
This trend is mostly positive when workers have access to retraining, because career changes can protect employability and improve job satisfaction.
Writing a generic advantages/disadvantages essay and forgetting the why question.