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.
Some people believe museums should be free, while others think visitors should pay. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
How you recognise it
Instruction signal: Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
What it must answer: Represent both positions fairly and make the writer's own view clear.
Most common misread
Mentioning both views but postponing any identifiable opinion until the final sentence of the essay.
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 discussion 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.
museum funding
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.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
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.
Both views, and a judgement precise enough to defend.
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.
Each side is protecting something the other one needs, and my own view is a mixed one: permanent collections should stay free, while temporary exhibitions can reasonably carry a charge.
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.
what free entry buys.
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.
what fees pay for, and my mixed position.
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.
Both views, and a judgement precise enough to defend.
Body 1: what free entry buys. Body 2: what fees pay for, and my mixed position.
The blocks below, in this order.
Free entry decides who walks in; ticket revenue decides what is still there to look at in twenty years.
There is continuing disagreement over whether museums should admit visitors free of charge or ask them to pay for entry.
Each side is protecting something the other one needs, and my own view is a mixed one: permanent collections should stay free, while temporary exhibitions can reasonably carry a charge.
A mixed position is still a position, because it says exactly what is free and what is not.
The two halves of the judgement map onto the two body paragraphs.
Watch for: Mentioning both views but postponing any identifiable opinion until the final sentence of the essay.
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: what free entry buys.
Explain why free admission is attractive.
The blocks below, in this order.
The main argument for free museum admission is that cultural collections should be accessible regardless of income.
An entrance fee can discourage families or frequent learners even when the institution is publicly supported.
Removing that barrier allows residents to use museums as repeat educational spaces rather than occasional luxury attractions.
For example, a student can revisit one gallery for a school project without paying for the entire collection each time.
Free entry can consequently broaden the public value of cultural institutions.
Watch for: Claiming that museums have no operating costs. This paragraph develops access; funding can be evaluated elsewhere.
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: what fees pay for, and my mixed position.
Explain the case for entrance fees and state the writer's balanced position.
The blocks below, in this order.
Charging visitors can provide museums with a stable source of income for conservation and staffing.
Ticket revenue may protect collections when public budgets are uncertain or insufficient.
Admittedly, this income can be valuable when public funding is uncertain.
However, a mixed system can preserve revenue while preventing universal fees from excluding local residents.
I therefore support targeted charges rather than either entirely free or fully paid admission.
Watch for: Listing funding sources without evaluating the access trade-off.
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: Each side is protecting something the other one needs, and my own view is a mixed one: permanent collections should stay free, while temporary exhibitions can reasonably carry a charge.
Represent both views briefly, then make the writer's final judgement unmistakable.
The blocks below, in this order.
In conclusion, admission fees can support museum conservation, while free access broadens their educational value.
A mixed system of targeted charges and protected free entry is therefore more convincing than applying one universal rule to every visitor.
Watch for: Saying only that both views have merit and omitting the required opinion.
Step 6
Every family is useful somewhere. These are the ones this question type needs most.
Contrast
the next idea pushes against the one before it
Open this familyComparison
the next case behaves like 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.
Some people believe that children should begin learning a foreign language at primary school. Others think language learning should start later, when students are more mature. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Choose the structure the instruction asks for
Three shapes. Only one of them does everything the final sentence asks for.
Choose one.
Pick the planning decisions that keep the essay balanced
Three of these belong in the plan. Two of them would unbalance the essay.
Choose every decision you would keep.
The finished essay
257 words on the prompt below. Each paragraph is labelled with the job it does — the same jobs you just read, in the same order.
Some people believe museums should be free, while others think visitors should pay. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
A collection that nobody can afford to enter has been preserved for no one. There is longstanding disagreement over whether museums should admit visitors without charge or ask them to contribute at the door. Having weighed both arguments, I favour a mixed system rather than one universal rule, because blanket fees exclude precisely the visitors museums exist to serve, while ticket income does give institutions a dependable source for conservation and staffing.
Reframe the prompt, state the position, and preview what each body paragraph will argue.The main argument for free museum admission is that cultural collections should be accessible regardless of income. An entrance fee can discourage families or frequent learners even when the institution is publicly supported. Removing that barrier allows residents to use museums as repeat educational spaces rather than occasional luxury attractions. For example, a student can revisit one gallery for a school project without paying for the entire collection each time. Free entry can consequently broaden the public value of cultural institutions.
Explain why free admission is attractive.Charging visitors can provide museums with a stable source of income for conservation and staffing. Ticket revenue may protect collections when public budgets are uncertain or insufficient. Admittedly, this income can be valuable when public funding is uncertain. However, a mixed system can preserve revenue while preventing universal fees from excluding local residents. I therefore support targeted charges rather than either entirely free or fully paid admission.
Explain the case for entrance fees and state the writer's balanced position.In conclusion, admission fees can support museum conservation, while free access broadens their educational value. A mixed system of targeted charges and protected free entry is therefore more convincing than applying one universal rule to every visitor.
Represent both views briefly, then make the writer's final judgement unmistakable.Preguntas frecuentes
IELTS no lo organiza como una ruta oficial separada; oficialmente Task 2 pide escribir un ensayo en respuesta a una pregunta. WeLearn separa discussion essays como ruta de práctica porque prompts con “discuss both views and give your own opinion” requieren desarrollar dos posturas y expresar una opinión propia.
Debe aparecer al menos en la introducción o conclusión, y normalmente conviene dejarla clara en ambas. Los párrafos del cuerpo desarrollan las dos posturas, pero tu cierre debe indicar cuál te parece más convincente.
El error más común es discutir ambas posturas y olvidar la opinión propia, o desarrollar una postura con mucho más detalle que la otra sin justificación.
Discussion essay 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 discuss-both-views prompts: two views developed to comparable depth, an opinion that is stated rather than implied, and a checklist to run before writing the full essay.
Discussion
Some people think online university degrees should be considered equal to traditional degrees. Others believe face-to-face study is still superior. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Develop both views fairly and then make your own evaluation clear.
Although campus study offers richer interaction, I believe online degrees deserve equal recognition when their assessment standards are transparent.
Forgetting your own opinion after discussing both sides.
Discussion
Some people support installing more surveillance cameras in public places to reduce crime. Others believe this harms personal privacy. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Balance public safety and privacy, then state a defensible policy position.
I support cameras in clearly defined high-risk public areas, but only with strict limits on data use and independent oversight.
Turning the essay into a one-sided crime essay and ignoring privacy.