Many students underestimate the significance of the Conclusion paragraph in IELTS Writing Task 2, often due to poor time management or focusing too much on the body paragraphs. The result? A half-finished essay that lacks a Conclusion, which is a costly mistake.
Before we get into the rest of the article, let’s look at what a Conclusion is.
Writing Topic
“Some people believe that university education should be free for everyone, while others argue that it is too expensive for governments to provide. Discuss both views and give your opinion.”
Conclusion
To conclude, the question of whether free university education should be given is a complex one. Proponents believe that it will lead to a more equitable society whereas others fear that the tax system will be strained and this could also discourage students from working hard. The best solution would be to subsidise university education for all.
Table of Contents
Essay Structure Overview:
- Introduction
- Main Body Paragraph 1
- Main Body Paragraph 2
- Conclusion
An IELTS essay should ideally consist of 4 paragraphs, including the Introduction and Conclusion. A 3rd body paragraph is optional but should be avoided if you’re short on time.
Does Your Conclusion Impact Your Score?
Yes, it does!
Without a Conclusion paragraph, your writing score would change drastically.
The IELTS Writing Task 2 is assessed on four criteria:
- Task Response
- Lexical Resources
- Cohesion & Coherence
- Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Each carries a weight of 25%. If you omit your Conclusion, your score for Task Response could fall below a 6 . Even if your main body is well-developed with strong examples, without a Conclusion, it is all in vain. Overall, there might be a drop of 0.5 to 1 band. For example, a possible band 7 essay could drop to 6.0 or 6.5 due to missing conclusions.
How to Write an Effective Conclusion:
- Plan your Essay: Before writing, outline the key points you want to cover.
- Write the Main Body First: Focus on developing the body paragraphs within your time limit.
- Mentally Plan the Conclusion: Use the points from the body to guide your summary.
- Paraphrase: Avoid repeating phrases from earlier paragraphs and instead paraphrase to demonstrate your Lexical Resources. However, it’s a good idea to write down the keywords from the body paragraphs that catch the essence of your arguments.
- Use Proper Connectors: Begin with “In conclusion,” “To conclude,” or “To sum up” to maintain a formal tone.
- Summarize Key Points: Restate the main ideas covered in your body paragraphs.
- Make a Final Statement: Consider adding a recommendation, prediction, or conditional statement, depending on your essay type. We will cover these below.
- Avoid New Ideas: The Conclusion should not introduce new arguments. This is where you wrap up your discussion.
- End Positively: Try to leave the reader with an optimistic or forward-looking statement.
Here is guide to Writing an Effective IELTS Essay Introduction
Useful Connectors for Your Conclusion:
The following examples illustrate how connectors can help you write a strong, cohesive Conclusion. (Note: Expand these into full sentences in your actual Conclusion.)
- To conclude, despite the growing concerns over water pollution, timely intervention could reverse the damage.
- In conclusion, although smoking rates are rising, it is not too late for the government and families to intervene.
- To sum up, while children should care for their elderly parents, governments must also offer independent living options for seniors.
- To conclude, even though English fluency is essential in a globalized world, preserving local languages and traditions is equally important.
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Let’s Write a Conclusion:
It is important to note that the Conclusion paragraph will differ depending on the question type. A general rule of thumb is that it sums up key points that were made in the main body paragraphs.
1. Double Question Essay Example:
- Topic: What causes water pollution? How can we prevent it?
- Conclusion: To conclude, water pollution has escalated due to industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and improper disposal. However, stricter regulations, sustainable farming, and better waste management could help alleviate the problem. With collective action, we can protect our water resources for future generations.
Key Points in the Conclusion:
- Yellow highlights: The first statement summarises the reasons behind water pollution and the next statement offers possible solutions.
- Blue highlights: This is a positive, future-oriented statement that helps to close your IELTS essay on a positive note.
2. Opinion Essay Example:
- Topic: Rules and laws are essential for a functioning society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
- Conclusion: In conclusion, rules and laws are necessary for societal order and crime prevention. However, it’s crucial that they don’t become excessive or infringe on personal freedoms. Independent organizations can help balance the need for authority with individual rights.
The closing line in blue is a recommendation that also adds a positive spin to your IELTS essay.
3. Problem-Solution Essay Example:
- Topic: More and more people are struggling with mental health issues. What are the main barriers to mental health awareness, and what actions can improve mental health support?
- Conclusion: To conclude, the lack of mental health awareness stems from the prioritization of physical health and the stigma around mental illness. However, increasing awareness through schools, workplaces, and communities could lead to better support. If not addressed, the mental health crisis will worsen, leading to severe economic and social consequences.
The last statement in blue is conditional. Sometimes it is OK to end with a negative statement. This conveys to the examiner what could happen if the issue is not taken seriously
4. Opinion Essay Example
- Topic: Some people think it is better for children to be educated at home than in a traditional school setting. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
- Conclusion: To sum up, I believe that both home education and regular schools have their place in modern society. However, schools offer children a more holistic education which may be challenging to replicate at home. Ultimately, the decision would depend on the child’s needs and the family’s ability to homeschool a child.
This Conclusion gives concession to both homeschooling and traditional schools. The candidate does not pick a side and instead leaves the choice up to the parents.
- Topic: Some people argue that traditional forms of entertainment, such as reading books or watching television, are better than modern forms, like social media and video games. Others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
- Conclusion: In conclusion, it is fair to say that traditional sources of entertainment allow for deep engagement and quality family time. Modern diversions, on the other hand, offer interactive experiences and instant gratification. I personally believe that we should go back to older forms of entertainment before we lose ourselves to the destructive addiction of social media and gaming.
In this Argument-led question, the candidate concludes giving concession to both traditional entertainment and modern forms, however the candidate’s opinion is clearly stated in the last line. In the IELTS exam, make sure that you do not forget to write your opinion because it is part of the Task Response.
FAQs For IELTS Writing Task 2
Q1: Is a Conclusion mandatory in Writing Task 2?
Yes, it’s mandatory. A Conclusion is part of the marking criteria for Task Response.
Q2: How much time should I spend on the Conclusion?
Aim for about 5 minutes to write your Conclusion, leaving any remaining time for proofreading.
Q3: How long should my Conclusion be?
Your Conclusion should be concise, typically around 40-50 words, but never longer than your main body paragraphs.
Q4: Can I memorize a template for writing Conclusions?
Avoid using memorized templates. They can make your writing sound repetitive and may result in a lower score.
Q5: What is the best way to write a strong Conclusion?
Review high-band model answers, practice writing Conclusions under time constraints, and focus on summarizing key points without adding new ideas. Use IELTS Writing Checker by Benchmark.
Q6. What should I do if I have no time left?
Stop writing your main body paragraphs and jump straight to the Conclusion. Writing even one line will help salvage your score.
Examples of Bad Conclusions
Now that you’ve seen examples of good Conclusions, let’s do a fun exercise where you will read a bad Conclusion. Try to figure out what went wrong before reading ahead.
Topic
Some people believe that university education should be free for everyone, while others argue that it is too expensive for governments to provide. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
1. In conclusion, free education is good, but too expensive for governments.
This conclusion is too short and does not summarize the points covered in the main body of the essay.
2. “In conclusion, education should be free because it’s really important, but on the other hand, it is really expensive for taxpayers, which makes it hard to do, but then again, people need education, so governments should find a way, therefore, it’s a very difficult issue to solve, and this should be considered really carefully.”
- This is a poor example of Conclusion because of the overuse of connectors (highlighted in red). This lowers your score in Cohesion & Coherence.
- The word “really” has been repeated three times thereby impacting your Lexical Resource score.
- Finally, it is better to write 2-3 separate sentences instead of a long sentence that runs into an entire paragraph. Such sentences severely affect readability.
3. “So, yeah, free education sounds cool, but it’s just too pricey for the govt, and they prolly can’t afford it. So, we need to think of something else to encourage the kids to graduate.”
- The language is not academic. You shouldn’t be using words like ‘yeah,’ ‘cool,’ ‘prolly,’ and ‘kids’.
- Avoid abbreviations like ‘govt’ and spell the word out – government.
4. In conclusion Free univerity educaiton might help equalise Opportunity but goverments might not be able to afford it. In any case people need to start thinking about these isues and act FAST!!!
A lot has gone wrong in this Conclusion and you will be marked down for the following:
- Incorrect capitalization in words like ‘free’ and ‘opportunity.’
- Triple exclamation marks (!!!)
- Wrong spelling (univerity, educaiton, isues)
- Poor punctuation, no use of commas
- Avoid capitalizing words (“FAST”) for emphasis because the IELTS Writing Task 2 is an academic essay and not creative writing.
So now that you know what a good Conclusion looks like, why not check out our article on how to write a great Introduction. (ADD LINK)
Keep practicing Conclusions with a timer and review some of our best IELTS Writing Task 2 essays.
