Students often ask me what’s the best way to write an introduction if you’re aiming for a high band score.

I always tell them they should include their main ideas as well as their clear opinion (position) in their introduction.

This isn’t necessary for every IELTS student but it’s highly recommended for students who want to improve to get a band 7 or above.

It will make your position and therefore your essay much clearer. This will boost your Coherence and Cohesion score as well as your Task Achievement.

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Dave

 

Example Question

Governments should spend money on railways rather than roads.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Look at the following model introductions.

 

1. Without main reasons:

It is often suggested that governments should increase investment in railway infrastructure rather than on new roads. Personally, I agree that the benefits of rail outweigh the apparent benefits of new roads. I will explain my reasons in this essay.

 

2. With main reasons:

It is often suggested that governments should increase investment in railway infrastructure rather than on new roads. Personally, I agree that the benefits of rail, which include less traffic and pollution, outweigh the apparent benefits of new roads. I will explain my  reasons in this essay.

 Notice the main reasons (less traffic and pollution) tell the reader exactly what will be discussed later.

This is a huge help for your cohesion and coherence!

The standard IELTS Task 2 essay structure is four paragraphs – an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, with each body paragraph focussing on one main idea.

So for the introduction above the main idea for body paragraph 1 will be traffic, and the main idea for body paragraph 2 will be pollution.

If your essay follows this structure, then the position of your essay is extremely clear.

This will increase your ‘task response’ and ‘coherence and coherence’ scores.

 Now it’s your turn! Put your answers in the comments

Brainstorm your main ideas and position for the question above and write an introduction. Put it in comments.

In some countries, governments are making some criminals do voluntary community work rather than being put in prison.

To what extent do you agree with this?

 

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