A two-part question essay gives you a short statement and then asks two direct questions, for example Why is this happening? Is it a positive or a negative development? IELTS calls it a multi-part essay; teachers also say double or direct question essay. Your job: answer every part, fully and with roughly equal care.
The official Task 2 band descriptors allow for more than one question. At band 8, "a clear and well-developed position is presented in response to the question/s". Leaving out a question means the task is "incompletely addressed", a band 5 feature in Task Response, one of the four criteria used to assess your essay.
How to recognise a two-part question in 30 seconds
Start with the final questions to see what you must answer. Then read the statement carefully: it sets the topic, its limits and what words such as this refer to. Three checks:
- Count the questions. Usually there are two question marks. Sometimes one sentence holds both: Why is this happening, and is it a positive development?
- Look for a fixed instruction. Discuss both views, To what extent do you agree and Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages point to other essay types when they are the whole task. If another question follows, answer that too.
- Give each question a job: reasons (Why...?), a judgement (Is it positive or negative?), actions (What can be done?) or effects (How does it affect...?). That job is what your body paragraph must deliver.
| Task wording | Essay type | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Why is this happening? Is it a positive or a negative development? | Two-part | Body 1: the reasons. Body 2: your judgement. |
| Do you agree or disagree? What else could be done? | Two-part, with the opinion in question 1 | Body 1: your position and why. Body 2: the other measures. |
| What are the causes of this? What can be done about it? | Problem and solution (IELTS lists it as cause/solution) | See the problem and solution essay guide. |
| Discuss both views and give your own opinion. | Discussion | See the discussion essay guide. |
| Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? | Advantages and disadvantages | See the advantages and disadvantages guide. |
| To what extent do you agree or disagree? | Opinion | See the opinion essay guide. |
These are useful teaching categories, not a substitute for reading the task. IELTS also describes common essay types, but advises you to focus on the exact questions rather than force your answer into a template. All the types are compared in our Writing Task 2 overview.
When one question hides two jobs
Look for and inside a question:
More people now live alone than in the past. Why is this happening? How does it affect the people who live alone and their local communities?
Question 2 asks about two groups, so the task has three parts. Each needs a place in your thesis and its own support:
| Required part | In the thesis | Support in the body |
|---|---|---|
| Why (question 1) | mainly because young adults marry later and can afford a small flat of their own | Body 1: a graduate who rents a studio near work instead of sharing a family home |
| Effect on people who live alone (question 2a) | more independence, but a higher risk of loneliness | Body 2, first half: an older person living alone after the children leave |
| Effect on communities (question 2b) | weaker ties between neighbours | Body 2, second half: fewer shared meals and less everyday contact in a building of single flats |
Name both groups in the topic sentence of body 2, or give each its own paragraph if you have time. An essay that covers only the effect on individuals has answered two of the three parts.
Do you need to give your opinion?
Only if a question asks for it. Is it positive or negative? and Do you agree? do: give a clear view in that question's body paragraph and keep it to the end. Why is this happening? How does it affect local communities? doesn't: your answers are your position.
Where two-part essays lose points: GoPrep data
The GoPrep AI examiner splits Task Response into four sub-scores (its own breakdown, not official IELTS). In the first two-part essays below, developing ideas scored below addressing the question in 44%, above it in 2% and the same in 54%. This compares two AI sub-scores; it does not measure how often writers left out a question. The practical order: check that every part is answered, then put your effort into developing each answer.
| First essays | Two-part (444) | All Task 2 types (3,609) |
|---|---|---|
| Average band | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Under 250 words | 21% | 23% |
| Developing ideas below / same as / above addressing the question | 44% / 54% / 2% | 44% / 54% / 2% |
| Task Response the lowest criterion (or tied) | 42% | 42% |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy the lowest (or tied) | 75% | 76% |
All Task 2 types: 3,609 first scored attempts at each of the five types by 2,421 learners, two-part included; a learner counts once for each type they wrote. Words counted by spaces.
In this sample, two-part essays and the combined Task 2 sample have similar averages (both 6.0 after rounding), and the fixes the examiner picks are similar too. Among Task 2 answers with a Band Contract (the AI examiner's up to three priority fixes), 28 July to 26 September 2026, the most frequent fixes in 710 two-part essays compared with all 8,010 Task 2 essays:
- Word choice and collocation: 54% vs 50%
- Cohesion and reference: 51% vs 47%
- Subject-verb agreement: 39% vs 39%
These percentages show how often an issue was selected among up to three priority fixes, not how often it occurred overall. To work on the most frequent one, word choice, see Task 2 vocabulary by meaning.
The 4-paragraph plan
One body paragraph per question gives the standard four paragraphs:
- Introduction (40 to 55 words). Paraphrase the statement, then answer both questions in one sentence. That sentence is your map.
- Body 1 (about 90 to 100 words). Answers question 1.
- Body 2 (about 90 to 100 words). Answers question 2.
- Conclusion (30 to 40 words). Both answers again, in new words, with no new ideas.
These ranges total 250 to 295 words. Aim for around 260 to 290 overall to leave a small margin above the 250-word minimum; you don't need a separate word count for each paragraph. Keep the two bodies close in length: at band 6, the main parts of the prompt are addressed "though some may be more fully covered than others".
The 5-minute plan on one task
The task used in the rest of this guide:
In many countries, people now change careers several times during their working lives rather than staying in one profession. Why is this happening? Is this a positive or a negative development?
- Minute 1: mark the jobs. Question 1: reasons. Question 2: a judgement, so your view goes in body 2.
- Minute 2: write the two short answers. Technology keeps changing the skills employers need. Positive overall, if retraining is affordable. Together they become the last sentence of your introduction.
- Minute 3: body 1, one main reason. Point: technology reshapes jobs. Support: software partly takes over bookkeeping and translation. Additional factor: a longer working life means more exposure to these changes.
- Minute 4: body 2, one verdict. Point: mostly positive. Explain: people can leave work that no longer suits them. Support: a nurse turned data analyst. Limit: the cost of retraining.
- Minute 5: check the fit. Does each body answer only its own question?
That leaves about 30 minutes to write and 5 to check.
Model two-part essay (287 words)
Written by the GoPrep team as a practice example. It is not an officially marked script, so we don't give it a band.
In many countries, it is now common for people to move between several professions during their working lives instead of keeping one career until retirement. The main reason is that technology keeps changing the skills employers need, and in my view this is a positive development overall, provided that retraining is affordable.
The chief cause of this shift is the speed at which technology reshapes the job market. Tasks that once required a trained specialist, such as bookkeeping or translating documents, can now be done partly by software, so some jobs shrink while new ones appear in areas like data analysis and online marketing. A worker whose skills are no longer in demand in middle age has little choice but to retrain. Longer working lives add to this: someone who works for over 40 years will probably see their industry change more than once.
On balance, I believe this trend is more positive than negative. A second career lets people leave work that no longer suits them instead of staying in it only because they chose it at 18. For example, a nurse who retrains as a health data analyst can use her medical knowledge in a less physically demanding role, which may keep her in work for longer. However, the benefit depends on access to training. For workers who cannot afford a course or time off, a forced career change can mean lower pay and insecurity, so employers and governments should make retraining cheaper and more flexible.
In conclusion, people change careers more often mainly because technology keeps redrawing the job market. This is largely a positive development, as it lets workers find roles that suit them better, but only if retraining is within everyone's reach.
| Paragraph | Job | How it does it |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Paraphrase + both answers | Change careers several times becomes move between several professions; the last sentence answers question 1 and question 2. |
| Body 1 | Question 1: reasons | One main cause (technology), explained with examples, plus a second factor. |
| Body 2 | Question 2: judgement | Verdict first, one example, then a limit (the cost of retraining) that shapes the verdict. |
| Conclusion | Both answers again | Same answers in new words; no new ideas. |
From band 6 towards band 8: edit one paragraph
Three versions of body 2 on the careers task, written by the GoPrep team as practice examples. Each step makes one kind of change: listed ideas → a developed argument → a more precise qualification. The examiner scores the whole essay, so these are directions, not paragraphs with fixed bands.
Step 1: listed ideas (several band 6 features)
In my opinion, changing careers has good and bad sides. Firstly, people can find a job which they like more. Secondly, they can earn more money. Moreover, it is interesting to try new things. However, changing career is difficult because people must study again and it cost a lot of money. So it is positive and negative development.
Step 2: a developed argument (one verdict, one idea explained and supported)
On balance, I believe this trend is positive. When people can change careers, they are not forced to stay in a job that no longer suits them. For example, a nurse who retrains as a data analyst can use her medical knowledge in an office role, which is less physically demanding. However, retraining is often expensive, so not everyone can benefit.
Step 3: a more precise qualification: body 2 of the model essay above. It says exactly who the cost of retraining affects and what follows.
| Criterion | Step 1: listed ideas | Step 2: developed argument | Step 3: precise qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task Response | Good and bad sides and positive and negative: "conclusions drawn may be unclear". Four ideas named, all "insufficiently developed". | Clear verdict; one idea explained and supported with an example, closer to band 7 "extended and supported". The limit is sound but stays general. | The same argument, with the limit made specific: who is affected and what follows. Band 8 asks for ideas "well extended and supported". |
| Coherence and Cohesion | Firstly, Secondly, Moreover on every sentence: cohesion "faulty or mechanical due to misuse, overuse or omission". | Fewer linkers, used "flexibly": When people can, For example, However. | Each sentence grows out of the one before; which may keep her and so employers carry cause and effect: "cohesion is well managed". |
| Lexical Resource | Good, bad, interesting, new things: "a rather restricted range or a lack of precision in word choice". | Retrains, suits them, physically demanding: "some flexibility and precision". | A forced career change, lower pay and insecurity: vocabulary "used to convey precise meanings". |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | It cost, changing career, it is positive and negative development: "errors in grammar and punctuation occur, but rarely impede communication". | Relative and result clauses, all correct: "error-free sentences are frequent". | Varied structures (who retrains as, For workers who cannot); "the majority of sentences are error-free". |
More on each criterion in our guide to the IELTS Writing band descriptors.
Your turn: edit a body paragraph
Body 1 for the living-alone task above, question 1 (why is this happening?):
Firstly, people have more money now. Secondly, they want freedom. Moreover, young people like privacy. Also, many people get married later. So living alone is popular.
Rewrite it in 3 or 4 sentences: keep one reason, explain how it leads to living alone, and add an example or a consequence.
One possible edit
The main reason is that young adults now marry later than their parents did. In the years between finishing their studies and starting a family, many of them earn enough to rent a small flat, and they prefer their own space to sharing with relatives or strangers. A graduate who starts work in a city, for instance, may live alone for most of their twenties.
What changed: four reasons became one (marry later), the second sentence explains how it leads to living alone, and the example shows who this is. In the years between and for instance replace the stacked linkers.
Practice: plan a two-part essay in 5 minutes
This task puts the opinion in question 1:
Many people believe that every school should teach students how to cook. Do you agree or disagree? What other practical skills should schools teach?
Set a 5-minute timer and write only the plan: the job of each question, your two short answers, and one idea with an example for each body paragraph.
Checklist for your plan:
- Body 1 says whether you agree and why, with one reason developed (for example, cooking skills affect health long after school).
- Body 2 names one or two other skills and explains why each matters, without arguing about cooking again.
- The last sentence of your introduction answers both questions.
Then write the essay in 35 minutes.
FAQ
How do I write a two-part question essay in IELTS?
Write four paragraphs: an introduction that paraphrases the statement and answers both questions briefly, one body paragraph for each question, and a short conclusion. Develop one main idea in each body paragraph and keep the two answers close in length.
Do I need to give my opinion in a two-part essay?
Only if one of the questions asks for it, such as "Is this a positive or negative development?" or "Do you agree?". If the questions ask for reasons, effects or solutions, your clear answers to them are your position.
How many paragraphs should a two-part essay have?
Four is the clearest plan: introduction, one body paragraph per question, conclusion. If one question has two parts, a fifth paragraph can help, time permitting.
What are the 5 types of IELTS Task 2 essays?
Teachers usually name five: opinion (agree or disagree), discussion (both views), advantages and disadvantages, problem and solution, and two-part (multi-part) question. IELTS also describes common essay types, but advises focusing on the exact questions in the task rather than forcing your answer into a template.
How many words should a two-part essay have?
At least 250, written in about 40 minutes. Around 260 to 290 words leaves room to develop both answers and still check your work.
Where to go next
See the problem and solution essay for the causes-and-solutions pairing and linking words for Task 2 for linking without mechanical Firstly and Secondly.
To fit Task 2 practice into the time before your exam, tell the quiz your target score, your exam date and the part of IELTS you find hardest, and GoPrep will build a personal study plan around your answers. The full lesson on two-part essays, with one more timed task and a self-check, is in the GoPrep Writing course.
GoPrep Team
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