Task 2 · Sample Essays
IELTS Task 2 Technology Essay: Band 6.5, 7.5 and 9.0
Three complete answers to the same remote-work question, written at three distinct band levels. Reading them in sequence shows you precisely where an examiner's score shifts — and why.
What separates Band 6.5 from Band 9.0
- 1.Band 9 identifies what the debate is really about; Band 6.5 lists advantages and disadvantages mechanically
- 2.Band 9 develops each point through a causal chain; Band 6.5 states a point and moves on without explanation
- 3.Band 9 vocabulary is precise and varied; Band 6.5 repeats basic words and uses generic collocations
Task 2 Question
Technology has made it possible for people to work from home rather than commuting to an office. Some believe this is a positive development, while others argue it has significant disadvantages. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Band 6.5 answer
Band 6.5 TR 6 · CC 6 · LR 6 · GRA 7 → Overall 6.5 · 268 words
In recent years, technology has allowed many people to do their job at home instead of going to their office every day. Some people think this is a positive development, but others believe there are many problems with it. In this essay, I will discuss both views and then give my opinion.
Firstly, working from home has many benefits for workers. People do not have to spend time and money on travelling to work, so they can save a lot of time. Moreover, many employees feel more comfortable when they work in their home environment, and they can be more productive. Parents with young children also benefit because they can spend more time with their family and they do not need to pay for childcare.
On the other hand, some people argue that working from home has many serious disadvantages. Firstly, workers who stay at home may feel lonely because they do not have contact with their colleagues every day. Communication between team members can also be very difficult when everyone works in a different place. In addition, some people find it is hard to concentrate at home because there are many distractions such as television and household tasks.
In my opinion, I think working from home can be a positive development if it is managed in a good way. Companies should use a hybrid approach where employees work some days at home and some days in the office. This will allow workers to enjoy the benefits of both environments. In conclusion, the best solution is a combination of home working and office working to ensure good communication and productivity.
Examiner commentary
Task Response is Band 6 because the essay addresses the question but development is consistently thin — each paragraph offers a point and a brief example without any causal explanation of why that point matters. The second body paragraph's "Firstly" is a structural error (there is no "Secondly" in that paragraph), and the position only becomes clear in the final two sentences rather than being integrated throughout. Coherence is Band 6: the transitions (Firstly, Moreover, On the other hand, In addition, In conclusion) are mechanical and formulaic. Lexical Resource is limited by repetition of "work," "home," and "employees," and collocations such as "do their job at home" and "managed in a good way" lack precision. GRA reaches 7 because the essay attempts a range of clause types, but most complex structures follow simple patterns without the variety or accuracy needed for a higher score.
Task Response is Band 6 because the essay addresses the question but development is consistently thin — each paragraph offers a point and a brief example without any causal explanation of why that point matters. The second body paragraph's "Firstly" is a structural error (there is no "Secondly" in that paragraph), and the position only becomes clear in the final two sentences rather than being integrated throughout. Coherence is Band 6: the transitions (Firstly, Moreover, On the other hand, In addition, In conclusion) are mechanical and formulaic. Lexical Resource is limited by repetition of "work," "home," and "employees," and collocations such as "do their job at home" and "managed in a good way" lack precision. GRA reaches 7 because the essay attempts a range of clause types, but most complex structures follow simple patterns without the variety or accuracy needed for a higher score.
Band 7.5 answer
Band 7.5 TR 7 · CC 8 · LR 7 · GRA 8 → Overall 7.5 · 280 words
The rapid expansion of remote working, accelerated by advances in connectivity software and the widespread disruption of recent years, has prompted legitimate disagreement about its long-term merits. While I recognise the substantial benefits that flexible working arrangements offer, I believe that an exclusively home-based model carries social and professional costs that a well-designed hybrid approach can avoid.
Advocates of remote working point, understandably, to the efficiency gains it delivers. The elimination of daily commutes — which, in many cities, consumes upwards of two hours per day — returns significant time and energy to workers. Additionally, research consistently shows that employees in self-managed environments report lower stress levels and, in many task types, higher output. For knowledge workers in particular, the ability to structure the working day around periods of peak concentration is a genuine productivity advantage.
Those who favour office-based work, however, identify losses that remote arrangements struggle to replicate. Spontaneous professional exchange — the corridor conversation that solves a problem, the informal mentoring that shapes a junior colleague's development — does not transfer easily to a scheduled video call. Furthermore, the boundary between professional and domestic life becomes genuinely difficult to maintain when both occupy the same physical space, a challenge that falls disproportionate on those with caring responsibilities.
My own position is that neither extreme is optimal. A structured hybrid model, where teams meet in person two or three days per week and work remotely for the remainder, preserves the productivity benefits of flexible working while sustaining the social dimension of professional life. The technology that makes remote work possible also makes such coordination straightforward; the question is whether organisations are willing to design it deliberately.
Examiner commentary
This is a well-argued essay with a clear, consistent position and strong Coherence at Band 8 — the progression between and within paragraphs is logical and varied, with connectives such as "understandably," "in particular," and "however" used naturally rather than formulaically. The vocabulary range is good, with less common items including "spontaneous professional exchange," "disproportionate," and "self-managed environments." What prevents higher Task Response and Lexical Resource scores is the preposition error "falls disproportionate on" (should be "disproportionately") and the fact that the second body paragraph, while well-structured, would benefit from one more specific example to equal the development of the first. These are characteristic Band 7.5 slips — individually minor, collectively enough to separate this from Band 8+.
This is a well-argued essay with a clear, consistent position and strong Coherence at Band 8 — the progression between and within paragraphs is logical and varied, with connectives such as "understandably," "in particular," and "however" used naturally rather than formulaically. The vocabulary range is good, with less common items including "spontaneous professional exchange," "disproportionate," and "self-managed environments." What prevents higher Task Response and Lexical Resource scores is the preposition error "falls disproportionate on" (should be "disproportionately") and the fact that the second body paragraph, while well-structured, would benefit from one more specific example to equal the development of the first. These are characteristic Band 7.5 slips — individually minor, collectively enough to separate this from Band 8+.
Band 9.0 answer
Band 9.0 TR 9 · CC 9 · LR 9 · GRA 9 → Overall 9.0 · 302 words
The shift towards remote working, made viable by advances in connectivity and collaboration technologies, represents one of the more consequential changes in modern professional life. Whether it constitutes progress, however, depends on how the question is framed — and both sides of this debate are identifying something real.
The productivity argument for remote work is well-founded. Stripped of the commute and the structural interruptions of open-plan offices, many workers produce more, particularly those whose output depends on sustained concentration rather than real-time collaboration. Evidence from organisations that adopted flexible models before such arrangements became a necessity suggests that, for individual knowledge tasks, location matters far less than autonomy over one's own time.
What this framing misses, though, is that organisations are not simply collections of individuals completing tasks in parallel. They are communities in which meaning, trust, and professional identity are built through proximity and unscripted interaction. The junior employee who learns by observation, the team that solves an unexpected problem by converging on a whiteboard, the colleague who notices that something is wrong before any formal meeting is scheduled — these are not inefficiencies that remote working can be said to optimise away. They are the connective tissue of high-functioning teams, and they are genuinely difficult to replicate through a screen.
The most defensible position, I would argue, is neither blanket enthusiasm for remote work nor a nostalgic insistence on the pre-pandemic office. It is the deliberate design of a hybrid model that allocates in-person time to the collaborative and social functions where physical presence is irreplaceable, and remote time to the focused individual work where it demonstrably helps. The same technologies that enable remote work also make such intentional coordination entirely feasible. The question is whether leaders are willing to design for it, rather than defaulting to habit in either direction.
Examiner commentary
This essay earns Band 9 across all four criteria. The introduction reframes the question — positioning both views as "identifying something real" rather than simply presenting them as competing claims — which immediately signals the analytical sophistication that distinguishes Band 9 Task Response. Cohesion is seamless throughout: "What this framing misses, though" is a masterclass in mid-sentence transitioning, and the three-item parallel list in the second body paragraph builds argumentative momentum without a single formulaic connective. Lexical Resource is wide and precise ("connective tissue," "consequential," "structurally," "unscripted interaction") with natural variation and no awkward phrasing. Grammatical range is equally strong; passive constructions, complex nominalisations, and conditional structures are all deployed accurately and without strain.
This essay earns Band 9 across all four criteria. The introduction reframes the question — positioning both views as "identifying something real" rather than simply presenting them as competing claims — which immediately signals the analytical sophistication that distinguishes Band 9 Task Response. Cohesion is seamless throughout: "What this framing misses, though" is a masterclass in mid-sentence transitioning, and the three-item parallel list in the second body paragraph builds argumentative momentum without a single formulaic connective. Lexical Resource is wide and precise ("connective tissue," "consequential," "structurally," "unscripted interaction") with natural variation and no awkward phrasing. Grammatical range is equally strong; passive constructions, complex nominalisations, and conditional structures are all deployed accurately and without strain.
How the bands compare, criterion by criterion
Each cell describes the key differentiator at that band level for this question.
| Criterion | Band 6.5 | Band 7.5 | Band 9.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task Response | Both views are covered but each is stated rather than developed; the position only appears clearly at the end rather than being integrated throughout. | Clear position stated in introduction and sustained throughout; the first body paragraph is more fully developed than the second, creating slight imbalance. | The question is reframed in the introduction; every claim is developed with a causal chain; the position is sophisticated and consistently held from first sentence to last. |
| Coherence & Cohesion | Mechanical, paragraph-level connectives (Firstly, Moreover, On the other hand, In conclusion); structural error where "Firstly" introduces the only point in a paragraph. | Logical progression with naturally embedded connectives; an adjective-adverb error ("disproportionate" for "disproportionately") creates a minor cohesion slip. | Cohesion is seamless; mid-sentence transitioning ("What this framing misses, though") and parallel list structure replace formulaic connectives entirely. |
| Lexical Resource | Repetition of "work," "home," and "employees" throughout; imprecise collocations (managed in a good way, do their job at home) reveal limited range. | Good range with less common items (spontaneous professional exchange, self-managed, disproportionate); one word form error prevents a Band 8 LR score. | Wide, precise vocabulary throughout (connective tissue, consequential, unscripted interaction); natural lexical variation with no repetition or awkward phrasing. |
| Grammatical Range & Accuracy | Complex structures attempted but many follow simple templates; errors do not impede communication but they are frequent enough to prevent a Band 7+ score. | Good control of a range of complex structures including non-defining relative clauses and nominalisations; one adjective-adverb error is the main limitation. | Full range of structures — passives, parallel constructions, complex conditionals — used flexibly and accurately throughout; virtually no errors. |
What pushes your score up
Band 6.5 to Band 7.5
- 1. State your position in the introduction, not the conclusion — examiners read for a consistent argued position throughout, not a late reveal in the final paragraph.
- 2. Replace formulaic openers (Firstly, On the other hand) with embedded connectives — "Advocates of remote work point, understandably, to..." reads at a fundamentally different level.
- 3. Develop each point through cause and effect: "workers save commute time" becomes "the elimination of the daily commute returns two hours per day to workers, which research links to lower stress and higher output."
- 4. Audit word form before finishing: "disproportionate" as an adjective modifying a verb is a Band 6 error; "disproportionately" is the adverb form required in that position.
Band 7.5 to Band 9.0
- 1. Reframe the question in your introduction — "both sides are identifying something real" signals that you understand the debate at a deeper level than the question surface implies.
- 2. Move transitions inside sentences rather than between them — "What this framing misses, though, is that..." replaces a paragraph-break "However" and produces seamlessly integrated cohesion.
- 3. Use structural variety to build argumentative momentum: the three-item parallel list in the Band 9 second body paragraph achieves emotional and logical weight that a single example cannot.
- 4. Ensure your conclusion synthesises what the debate reveals rather than restating your position — "the question is whether leaders are willing to design for it" closes with analytical weight, not summary.
Frequently asked questions
How recent should my technology examples be in IELTS Task 2?+
There is no requirement for cutting-edge examples. Examiners mark writing quality, not technology knowledge. References to widely understood concepts such as remote work software, social media, or email are entirely sufficient and often safer than attempting to explain a recent development the examiner may not recognise.
Can I argue that technology is always positive or always negative?+
You can, but a nuanced position — 'while remote work offers genuine benefits, the social costs outweigh them in certain contexts' — tends to score higher on Task Response than an absolute claim. Absolute positions are harder to sustain across 250 words without becoming repetitive or unconvincing.
How do I avoid writing a list of advantages and disadvantages in a technology essay?+
Develop each point with a reason and a consequence, not just a label. Instead of 'One advantage is flexibility,' write 'The elimination of the daily commute returns significant time and energy to workers, which evidence consistently links to reduced stress and higher output.' One well-developed point scores higher than three shallow ones.
Does my opinion need to go in the introduction?+
Yes. State your position clearly in the introduction, reinforce it in the body paragraphs, and restate it in the conclusion. Saving your opinion for the final sentence is a Band 5 pattern — examiners read for a consistent, argued position throughout, not a late reveal.
Is 'technology' countable or uncountable in IELTS writing?+
'Technology' used as a concept (digital technology, communication technology) is uncountable and takes no article. 'Technologies' refers to specific types or examples and is countable. Using both forms accurately in one essay — 'technology has transformed... new technologies such as...' — demonstrates the lexical range that Band 7+ requires.
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