IELTS discussion essay: discuss both views and give your opinion

The discussion essay is one of the most frequently mishandled Task 2 question types. Candidates either present both sides competently but forget to commit to a personal opinion, or they give a strong opinion but fail to treat the opposing view with sufficient depth. Both errors are penalised under Task Response, the criterion that carries a full quarter of your Writing band score.

How to recognise a discussion essay

The question stem will contain a phrase such as: "Discuss both these views and give your own opinion." You may also see slight variations — "Discuss both sides of this argument and give your opinion" — but the key signal is always that both views are explicitly named and you are asked to state your own position.

Do not confuse this with a pure opinion essay ("To what extent do you agree or disagree?"), where the structure and weighting of content differ significantly. In the discussion essay, presenting only one view — even brilliantly — will limit your Task Response score.

The two-part requirement

A discussion essay has two mandatory components: (a) a fair, developed account of both views, and (b) a clear, consistent personal opinion. Failing to deliver either part will cap your Task Response score, regardless of how well you write the rest of your essay.

Examiners are trained to check for both components explicitly. An essay that discusses View A and View B but never commits to a position will be marked down even if the language is excellent. Equally, an essay that states a strong opinion in every paragraph but dedicates only one sentence to the opposing view will be penalised for imbalance.

Recommended structure

A four-paragraph structure is the most reliable approach for Band 6.5 to 7+ candidates. It maps directly onto the two-part task requirement and keeps your response focused and easy for the examiner to follow.

Writing the introduction

Your introduction should do three things in two to three sentences: paraphrase the question topic (not copy it word for word), acknowledge that two distinct viewpoints exist, and signal which side you find more convincing. The signal does not need to be elaborate — a subordinate clause such as "while both perspectives have merit, I believe that..." is sufficient to satisfy the examiner at the introduction stage.

Avoid writing a long introduction that tries to say everything. The body paragraphs are where you develop your arguments. A concise, clear introduction that announces your position early is more effective than one that hedges until the conclusion.

Developing Body 1 — the view you find less convincing

Body 1 should present the view you favour less, but it must be presented fairly and in reasonable depth. A common Band 5 error is to write Body 1 as a straw man — summarising the opposing view so weakly that the examiner concludes you have not engaged with it seriously.

• State the view clearly in the topic sentence.
• Provide at least one specific reason why people hold this view.
• Support that reason with a concrete example or explanation — not a vague generalisation.
• Do not end Body 1 with a rebuttal; save the contrast for Body 2.

Developing Body 2 — the view you support and your opinion

Body 2 presents the view you find more convincing. This is also where your personal opinion should be most visible. Rather than simply repeating "I believe" every sentence, demonstrate your position through the way you weight your evidence — using language such as "more significantly," "the stronger argument is," or "evidence consistently shows" signals your stance without sounding repetitive.

If appropriate, you can briefly acknowledge the limitation of View A here, but only to strengthen your case for View B — not to contradict what you said in Body 1.

Where to place your opinion — a common source of lost marks

Your opinion must appear in the introduction, be carried through Body 2, and be restated in the conclusion. Candidates who bolt their opinion onto the final sentence of the conclusion — having presented both views with apparent neutrality for four paragraphs — will be marked down for a position that is unclear or inconsistent. The examiner needs to know your view from the start and to see it maintained throughout.

The three-point opinion checklist

1. 1Introduction: signal your preferred view in the final sentence.
2. 2Body 2: develop your preferred view and use language that reflects your genuine support for it.
3. 3Conclusion: restate your opinion directly, without hedging or reversing your position.

Writing the conclusion

Keep the conclusion to two or three sentences. Restate your opinion using different vocabulary from the introduction. Briefly summarise the reason you find your preferred view more convincing. Do not introduce new evidence, add a new argument, or suddenly qualify your position. A wavering conclusion — "so both views have valid points" — undermines the clarity of your Task Response and signals that your opinion was never genuinely held.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Presenting both views but omitting a clear opinion — always signal your position in the introduction and conclusion.
• Giving a strong opinion but barely covering the opposing view — Body 1 must be a genuinely developed paragraph, not a one-sentence dismissal.
• An unclear or shifting opinion — decide your position before you begin writing and hold it consistently.
• Beginning every sentence with 'I think' — vary your opinion language using phrases such as 'it seems more persuasive that', 'the evidence suggests', or 'a stronger case can be made for'.
• Treating the discussion essay as two separate opinion essays — the structure is one essay with a clear thread, not two independent responses stitched together.

A note on equal treatment of both views

You do not need to devote exactly equal word counts to View A and View B, but both paragraphs should be substantively developed. In practice, Body 2 is often slightly longer because it carries the additional weight of your own opinion. A rough split of 90–100 words for Body 1 and 100–120 words for Body 2 is reasonable. What examiners penalise is not a minor length imbalance but a qualitative imbalance — for instance, three developed reasons for one view and a single vague sentence for the other.

Language for signalling your opinion

Using a range of opinion language, rather than repeating "I think" throughout, contributes to your Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range scores. The Band 7 Writing Playbook covers these phrases in detail, but core examples include:

• "I am persuaded by the view that..." (introduction)
• "The more compelling argument, in my view, is..." (Body 2 topic sentence)
• "Proponents of this position argue that... and this reasoning carries weight because..." (developing View A fairly)
• "It seems to me that the benefits of... outweigh the concerns raised above." (Body 2 development)
• "In conclusion, I maintain that..." (conclusion opener)

Aim for three or four distinct opinion phrases across the essay. Repeating the same phrase in every paragraph signals a limited range and will be noticed under the Lexical Resource criterion.