A typical reason why candidates stay stuck at 6 or 6.5 in IELTS writing is that they write main points in their task 2 which are in fact benefits and drawbacks, rather than answer the specific question. This can mean that some of their content is irrelevant. They make this mistake because they have not analysed the question logically enough.

I will explain what I mean with two examples, one using a question adapted from a real one, and then later with a simple example relating to coffee and tea. By the end, you should be able to understand this important point well.

Q: There is no reason to have traditional lectures any more because we now have technology for education. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Less good main point: I agree that traditional lectures can no longer be justified because some students live far from universities and it is much easier for them to learn using technology.

Better main point: I agree that traditional lectures are no longer necessary because students can learn exactly the same content with the aid of technology.

The reason in the bad point is “students from all over the world can watch online lectures whenever they want”. This is in fact an advantage of learning online or a good reason why learning online should be an option. However, it does not clearly explain why traditional lectures are no longer necessary. The point does not compare the two learning options, which is what we have to do to answer this question to the very high standard that band 7 requires.

The better main point is a relevant one because we can see clearly that learning with technology does the same job as traditional lectures, in terms of giving knowledge. If option A and option B do the same thing, then we can say that we do not need both of them – one is enough.

Here is another, more basic example:

Bad point: “Everyone should drink coffee and not tea because coffee is tasty and refreshing.

Better point: “Everyone should drink coffee and not tea because coffee is much tastier and more refreshing than tea.”

This coffee/tea example shows the same mistakes with logic as the first example. In the bad point, we have said why coffee is good, or what the benefits of coffee are. But we have not compared it with tea and so we have not persuaded anyone that they should not need drink tea.

Of course, some questions do ask for benefits and drawbacks, in which case this is exactly what you should write about.