IELTS questions, by theme.
12 themes across 203 Task 1 and Task 2 questions. Pick a theme for its questions, model answers, and an examiner FAQ — or see every question.
Education
Schools, universities, language learning, online vs in-person teaching, exam pressure, vocational vs academic routes. Education is one of the densest IELTS Writing themes. Expect prompts asking whether children should specialise early, whether government should fund university for all, and the role of technology in classrooms. Strong essays here cite specific subjects, levels, and outcomes, not just "students" in general.
Browse educationEnvironment
Climate change, plastic waste, deforestation, renewable energy, animal extinction, individual vs government responsibility. Environment prompts test whether you can argue past the easy emotional response. Examiners reward essays that pick one concrete mechanism (a tax, a ban, a behaviour shift) and trace its effects, rather than listing every green idea you know.
Browse environmentFamily & Children
Parenting, working mothers, only children, elderly care, marriage age, family meals, generational change. Family & Children prompts often hide a values question inside a practical one. Best essays acknowledge that the "right" arrangement varies by culture and class, and ground their position in observable trade-offs rather than nostalgia.
Browse family & childrenGlobalisation
Free trade, multinational companies, migration, English as a lingua franca, cultural homogenisation, FDI. Globalisation prompts ask whether the gains outweigh the losses, or who captures the gains. Examiners look for essays that distinguish between economic, cultural, and political globalisation, collapsing them into one fuzzy concept caps you at Band 6 Task Response.
Browse globalisationGovernment & Law
Crime and punishment, voting, taxation, free speech, surveillance, government spending priorities. Government & Law prompts often hinge on the balance between individual freedom and collective security. The strongest essays name a specific policy lever (term limits, mandatory voting, a tax rate) and discuss its second-order effects, not just its intent.
Browse government & lawHealth
Public vs private healthcare, obesity, sleep deprivation, mental health, fast food, exercise, ageing populations. Health prompts reward specific causal chains: not "junk food is bad" but "subsidised corn makes processed food cheaper than vegetables, which raises obesity rates in low-income areas." Avoid hedging into "everything contributes" generalities.
Browse healthMedia
Television, social media, advertising, news bias, celebrity culture, regulation of online content. Media prompts test whether you can separate the medium from the message. Avoid the trap of arguing that "social media is bad", the band-7 move is to specify which behaviours on which platforms produce which outcomes for which users.
Browse mediaSociety & Culture
Tradition vs modernity, art and museums, public space, religion, multiculturalism, equality, generational values. Society & Culture prompts ask you to defend a value judgment with evidence rather than assertion. The best essays anchor abstract claims ("communities are weaker") in concrete observation (declining bowling-league membership, reduced neighbour interaction in dense apartments).
Browse society & cultureTechnology
Smartphones, AI, automation, online learning, screen time, digital privacy, remote work. Technology is the most-tested IELTS theme. Strong essays separate the technology itself from how people use it, and pick a single concrete effect to trace in depth rather than listing every concern. Examples beat alarm.
Browse technologyTravel & Tourism
Mass tourism, eco-tourism, cultural respect, language learning while travelling, holiday spending, working abroad. Travel & Tourism prompts often pit economic benefit against cultural or environmental cost. Best essays name a specific destination type (Venice, Bali, Iceland) and the specific mechanism (overtourism, water stress, housing displacement) rather than arguing in the abstract.
Browse travel & tourismUrban Life
Urban planning, car dependency, public transport, housing, green space, rural depopulation, smart cities. Urban Life prompts test your ability to think about a city as a system. Strong essays connect one intervention (congestion charge, cycle lanes, height limits) to changes in behaviour, land value, or quality of life.
Browse urban lifeWork & Career
Career choice, work-life balance, remote work, retirement age, automation, salary vs satisfaction, generational attitudes. Work & Career prompts usually probe a tension: money vs meaning, security vs growth, individual ambition vs collective good. The best essays acknowledge the tension exists, then defend a clear position with worked examples.
Browse work & career