Task 2 questions › Education
Education: IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people argue that schools should spend less time on traditional academic subjects and more time teaching practical life skills, such as cooking and managing money. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Question type: Opinion (agree or disagree) · Write at least 250 words · About 40 minutes
How to approach it
This is an opinion question, so you must state clearly how far you agree and keep that position from the introduction to the conclusion. A partly-agree answer is fine, but you must explain which part you accept and which part you reject. Notice that the statement is about reducing academic time, not only about adding new lessons.
Suggested outline
- Intro: paraphrase the statement and give a partly-agree position: life skills deserve a place in school, but not at the cost of core academic subjects.
- Body 1: why practical skills matter - many school leavers cannot budget, cook or understand a rental contract, and school is the one place that reaches every child, including those whose parents cannot teach these skills.
- Body 2: why academic time should not be cut - literacy, maths and science are the foundation for further study and skilled jobs; life skills can be built into existing subjects, such as budgeting tasks in maths lessons.
- Conclusion: restate the partial agreement and the idea of combining life skills with academic content rather than replacing it.
Arguments for
- Many young adults struggle with debt, rent and basic cooking
- Not all parents have the time or knowledge to teach these skills
- Practical lessons can motivate students who find academic work difficult
Arguments against
- Academic subjects are the foundation for university and skilled jobs
- Life skills can be learned later from family, online or through experience
- School timetables are already full, so cutting core subjects could lower standards
Band 7+ vocabulary
- financial literacy – the knowledge needed to manage money well
- core subjects – the main subjects every student must study, such as maths and languages
- a well-rounded education – an education that develops many different abilities
- the school curriculum – the subjects and content taught in schools
- fall into debt – start to owe money that is hard to pay back
- lay the foundations for – create the basic conditions needed for something later
- independent living – managing daily life without help from parents
Common mistakes on this question
- Writing only about why life skills are useful and never discussing the cost of reducing academic subjects.
- Changing position halfway through, for example agreeing in the introduction but disagreeing in the conclusion.
- Listing many skills (cooking, driving, first aid, taxes) without explaining any of them in depth.
Band 8 model answer
Show the model answer (try writing your own first)
It is sometimes suggested that schools should reduce the hours given to academic subjects and devote more of the timetable to everyday skills such as cooking and handling money. While I agree that these practical abilities deserve a proper place in the school curriculum, I do not believe they should be taught at the expense of core subjects.
There is a strong case for teaching life skills more seriously. Many young people leave school able to analyse a poem or solve an equation, yet they have never planned a weekly budget, cooked a simple meal or read the small print of a rental agreement. When they move into their first flat, these gaps can lead to a poor diet or, more seriously, to debt from loans they do not fully understand. Some parents teach these skills at home, but many lack the time or knowledge. School is the only institution that reaches every child, so it is the fairest place to make sure that nobody starts adult life without basic financial literacy.
However, cutting academic time would be a mistake. Reading, writing, mathematics and science lay the foundations for further study and for most skilled jobs, and a student who falls behind in these areas often finds it very difficult to catch up later. In any case, the choice is not really between the two. Practical skills can be built into existing lessons: a maths class can calculate the interest on a loan or compare phone contracts, and a science lesson can explore nutrition through cooking. In this way, students gain useful skills while strengthening their academic knowledge rather than losing it.
In conclusion, I partly agree with the statement. Life skills are too important to leave to chance, but the best approach is to combine them with academic content instead of replacing it.
Written for StudyChat as an example of a high-band answer. Word count: 304.
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