Cambridge IELTS 18 Academic Writing Test 2

• Task 1: describe the chart/graph/table in your own words.
• Task 2: write an argumentative essay responding to the prompt.
• On submit, AI will score you on all 4 IELTS criteria with feedback.

Cambridge IELTS 18 Academic Writing Test 2 couples a Task 1 chart with a Task 2 discussion essay; the trick on this paper is to leave Task 1 cleanly rather than perfectly. Task 1 asks you to summarise the number of households in the US by their annual ’ income in 2007, 2011 and 2015. Task 2 then turns to a discursive prompt: Some university students want to learn about other subjects in addition to their main subjects.

Group the data into two or three clear bands rather than reading each segment in turn — examiners reward grouping over listing. Pick two contrasting figures for the body and leave smaller detail for a closing comparative sentence. Use two body paragraphs, one per view, then a balanced concluding paragraph that explains why both perspectives have merit.

Budget twenty minutes for the Task 1 report and forty for the Task 2 essay, and resist the temptation to keep polishing Task 1 once your overview and two body paragraphs are in place. On a discussion essay, the introduction and conclusion deserve at least seven minutes of focused work between them — they frame the marker's first and last impression of your Coherence and Cohesion.

New to this skill? Read the Writing question types guide for tactics, scoring rules, and frequency analysis across Cambridge 10–20. Or browse all Writing practice tests.

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