Task 2: The Five-Minute Plan

The whole Writing test lasts 60 minutes; spending about 40 minutes on Task 2 is recommended. This is not a separate Task 2 timer. A short plan can help organise ideas and leave time to check:

1. Coherence and Cohesion assesses the organisation and connection of ideas; a plan helps you try a clear A→B→C line in advance.
2. Choosing ideas first can leave more attention for expression and explanation while writing; you may still need a new idea.
3. Noting where each idea belongs makes repetition easier to spot, but does not automatically prevent it.

Compare these two example openings. The first sentence does not give a specific answer to the topic:

Nowadays this topic is very popular and many people have different opinions about it.

The second sentence states a specific position:

Although moving production overseas cuts costs, I believe the damage to local communities outweighs the savings.

For practice, try 5 minutes for planning, about 30 minutes for writing and 5 minutes for checking. This is not an official requirement or guaranteed time saving; adapt it to your practice results.

These four lines are a useful starting point for planning some questions; adapt the structure to the actual task and cover every required part:

1. Position — your short answer when a position is requested. Note your position in agree/disagree questions and discussions asking for your own opinion. For a two-part question, put a short answer to the first question here and the second answer in the appropriate idea line; the first line alone is not the whole response.
2. Body idea 1 — the main thought and its 'because' part. One idea, one direction.
3. Body idea 2 — the second thought and explanation; take a different angle from the first.
4. Example bank — a note of suitable support: explanation, a familiar example or observation. There is no compulsory separate-example quota for each idea; do not present invented research as fact.

As a practice method, try keywords instead of complete sentences. A note like 'Free tuition widens access' may be enough to recall an idea; write the actual answer as full, connected text. Choose a note-taking method according to how useful it is for you.

Use the note-taking tools provided for your test format: you can plan on paper if supplied, or with an on-screen notes tool if available. Do not assume every format has a question booklet. Follow the official format instructions; planning notes are not the assessed answer.

1. Read the question carefully and, where annotation is possible, mark the topic word, the task word (agree, discuss, advantages, outweigh), plural/singular forms and absolute words (only, never, all). The difference between 'advantages AND disadvantages' and 'OR' can change which parts you need to answer.
2. Try short notes in a practice plan: keywords, abbreviations and signs — gov't, edu, +, -, ex:. Write the actual answer in full, connected text.
3. Discard an unsuitable idea and consider whether another direction is useful; avoid spending too long making the plan tidy.
4. If you chose the 5-minute practice split, try moving to writing when that time is up. This is not an official planning time limit.

Check meaning and style when considering a paraphrase. For example, a kids / young learners note for children is not an automatic substitution list: kids is informal, while young learners specifically describes young people who are learning. If no suitable alternative is available, repeating a key word accurately is better than changing the meaning.