IELTS Writing: Advantage and Disadvantage Essay Writing Part in IELTS Exam

In the advantage/disadvantage essay of the IELTS writing section, you need to tell whether the advantages of something are greater than the disadvantages or not. The advantages and disadvantages portion of the IELTS exam is an important part to deal carefully.  In this article, we have given an example of an essay on the advantages and disadvantages of living and working abroad.

Given below is sample question:

Nowadays people have the liberty to live and work anywhere they want in a world because of the improvement in transportation and communication technology.

Do you believe that the advantages of improvements outweigh the disadvantages?

Understanding of the Task in IELTS Essay Writing.

This is to be understood that this kind of question asks you to write an essay on the advantages and disadvantages of something and has not asked you to write your opinion on the given topic.

If you’re inquired about the disadvantages and advantages of something then it means that the question does not ask you to write your opinion, so refrain from writing it. Just discuss the drawbacks and benefits. How to organize the Advantages/Disadvantages of the IELTS essay writing section?

You can organize your IELTS essay in two main paragraphs:

• Body One: (The advantages)
• Body Two: (The disadvantages)

However, if in the question the word outweighs is written or if it’s written that you must show the positive and negative points then they are asking your opinion. So, you should say what are the disadvantages and advantages.

If you don’t write in this way, then you will have a low score in the category of Task Response as you will not be addressing the given question accurately.

Moreover, if you see the band descriptions of IELTS then you will notice that not addressing the question properly will lower your band score. However, other categories will not be affected.

Let’s look at the examples below

Nowadays people have the liberty to live and work anywhere they want in a world because of the improvement in transportation and communication technology.

Do you believe that the advantages of improvements outweigh the disadvantages?

This question asks you to write the disadvantages and advantages by not giving your own opinion. So, you simply write the advantages in one paragraph and the disadvantages in the other.

However, the following question asks for your opinion.

Nowadays people have the liberty to live and work anywhere they want in a world because of the improvement in transportation and communication technology.

Dou you believe that the advantages of improvements outweigh the disadvantages?

OR

Will it have negative or positive influences?

What is the meaning of Outweigh in the advantages/disadvantages of the IELTS Essay writing section?

One thing to be careful while attempting this kind of question is that you need to understand the word ‘outweigh’. Many students get confused when writing the essay. They actually write that is opposite to the outweigh word.

For example, if the question has asked you to write the disadvantages which outweigh the advantages, and you write the advantages more than it is not right.

However, if you’re unsure about the usage of the word appropriately then we suggest that you should not use it in your writing. Just give your opinion and you are good to go.

Thesis Writing in Advantages/Disadvantages of the IETLS Essay writing Section.

After you have decided to organize your essay now you need to jot down the three supporting ideas that must be equal for both sides. So, you will write three paragraphs one with a benefit/ drawback and the other 2 with disadvantages/advantages.

While writing the essay it is a common practice that candidates start writing with the argument or opinion with whom they disagree. This is because starting your writing with the idea for which you have more information is always a good practice.

Organizing your essay is very important if you want to have a band 7 or above. Now let’s see the example below which is the model answer for the given example question.

Example of Disadvantage/Advantage IETLS Essay writing Section.

You have 40 minutes to complete the following task.

Write a response to the below-given topic.

Nowadays people have the liberty to live and work anywhere they want in a world because of the improvement in transportation and communication technology.

Do you believe that the advantages of improvements outweigh the disadvantages?

Give appropriate reasons in support of your answer and also include the examples relevant to the topic based on your knowledge or experience. You must write 250 words at least.

How to Model Answer for advantages/disadvantages essay question?

Given below is the model answer for the advantages/disadvantages of the essay questions in the IELTS exam.

Nowadays people travel to other countries to work, study or live mainly because of enhancements in the mode of communication and air travel convenience. I think that improvements in transport and communication have more advantages than disadvantages.

The major disadvantage of traveling abroad is that the distance comes between family members. Although there are modern ways of communication nowadays such as Face-time or Skype which helps the individuals to be in contact with their loved ones. But it does not give you that feeling when you are with your family members. However, one can visit their family once or twice a year when they have the holidays but still, it is not enough.

Apart from this, there are many advantages to going abroad. Firstly, you have the great opportunity to visit different countries and see their cultures. For example, Asian people mostly go to Europe or middle east countries. Visiting these countries help them to learn the different culture including their language, traditions and the ways they are working for their country to make it prosper.

Additionally, if you see on the wider level then you will notice that it also benefits the other countries. If you are going abroad then it is very likely that your skill is needed there. For example, doctors and nurses move to other countries where there is a shortage of people with such a profession. This is valuable to the hosting country as it is having manpower from abroad.

In conclusion, I would say that despite there are some disadvantages to going abroad for living and work, there are many outweighed advantages too. It helps people to shape their lives in a good way and also participate in the growth of other countries.

Comments to the Model Answer of advantages/disadvantages essay question?

As you have seen in the model answer the writer accepts that there are many advantages than disadvantages of going abroad so the essay is somewhat biased. It describes more benefits than drawbacks.

Moreover, the opinion of the writer is clear and is also repeated in the last paragraph which puts the reader in no confusion.