Task 2 – building body paragraphs

How to write well-developed IELTS essay paragraphs using the Point-Explain-Example-Link pattern, with a Band 6 paragraph rewritten to Band 8.

The body paragraphs are where most of your marks are won or lost. The band descriptors for Task Response talk about ideas that are ‘relevant, extended and supported’. For Coherence and Cohesion they ask for ‘a clear central topic within each paragraph’. In practice, the difference between a Band 6 and a Band 7 essay is very often the difference between paragraphs that list ideas and paragraphs that develop them.

One paragraph, one idea

A body paragraph should make a single main point and then prove it. A reliable pattern is PEEL:

A paragraph of this kind has four to six sentences and 80–110 words. Two of them, with an introduction and a conclusion, make a complete essay.

The topic sentence

The first sentence of a body paragraph tells the reader what the paragraph will argue. It should be general enough to cover the whole paragraph and specific enough to say something.

A good test: if someone read only the topic sentences of your essay, would they understand your argument?

Good topic sentences also show how the paragraph relates to the previous one: Those who favour a vocational focus make a practical case… / On the other hand, there are strong reasons for letting students choose… / There are, admittedly, drawbacks…

Explaining

After the point, ask yourself ‘Why?’ or ‘How?’ and write the answer. This is the step weak essays skip.

Point: People generally work harder when they study something they care about. Why does that matter? …and a motivated historian is likely to be more employable than a reluctant accountant.

Language for explaining:

• This is because… / The reason for this is that…
• In other words, … / That is to say, …
• …, which means that… / …, so…
• If…, (then)…
• Without…, … would…

Giving examples

Examples make an abstract claim believable. They do not have to be statistics, and you should never invent statistics or studies (‘A 2019 Harvard study showed 73%…’). Examiners are not impressed by made-up data, and it adds nothing to your language score.

Good sources of examples:

Introduce examples in varied ways:

• For example, / For instance, …
• …, such as…
• A good illustration of this is…
• Take… as an example.
• This can be seen in…
• In my experience, …

Linking back

The last sentence of a paragraph often states the result or returns to the question:

This suggests that what is disappearing is one function of the centre, not the centre itself.

It tells the reader, and the examiner, why the paragraph mattered. Not every paragraph needs one, but it is a mark of a well-controlled essay.

A model paragraph, analysed

Question: Online shopping will lead to the death of town centres… To what extent do you agree?

(P) The fear rests on the assumption that a town centre is simply a collection of shops. (E) In reality, people have always gone into town for many reasons: to meet friends, eat out, see a doctor, visit a library or be entertained. None of these experiences can be delivered to the door in a cardboard box. (Ex) In my own city, several units abandoned by clothing chains have reopened as cafés, a climbing gym and a shared workspace, and the streets are busier in the evening than they were a decade ago. (L) This suggests that what is disappearing is one function of the centre, not the centre itself.

One idea, fully developed, in 104 words.

From Band 6 to Band 8: a rewrite

Question: Many employees now work from home. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Band 6 paragraph

Working from home has many advantages. Firstly, people can save time. Secondly, they can save money. Thirdly, it is good for the environment. Moreover, they can spend more time with family. Furthermore, they can live anywhere. In addition, companies can save money on offices. So there are many advantages of working from home.

What is wrong with it?

• Six ideas, none developed. It is a list. Why does saving time matter? How is it good for the environment?
• Mechanical linking. Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, Moreover, Furthermore, In addition – a connector at the start of every sentence.
• Simple sentences only. Every sentence is subject + can + verb.
• Vague vocabulary. many advantages, good for, save money.
• The last sentence repeats the first.

Band 8 paragraph

The most obvious advantage is the disappearance of the daily commute. Employees who used to spend two hours a day on crowded trains or in traffic now have that time for their families, for exercise or simply for rest, and they save a considerable amount of money. There is a wider benefit as well, since fewer journeys mean less congestion and pollution. Home working also gives people greater freedom over where they live. Someone employed by a company in the capital can settle in a cheaper region, which may help to revive towns that young people used to leave.

What has changed?

• Two ideas (no commute; freedom of location), each explained and illustrated. The other ideas from the list have been absorbed as consequences of these two (time for family, money, environment).
• Natural cohesion: that time (reference), There is a wider benefit as well, also, which may help. Only one ordinary connector.
• Complex sentences: a relative clause (Employees who used to…), a reason clause (since fewer journeys mean…), a non-defining relative clause (which may help to revive…).
• Precise vocabulary: the daily commute, crowded trains, congestion, settle in a cheaper region, revive towns.

The Band 8 version is not full of rare words. It is simply specific.

How many ideas per paragraph?

One or two ideas per paragraph, properly developed, is the target. If you find yourself writing ‘Another advantage is…’ for the fourth time, stop and develop what you have.

Developing an idea when you feel stuck

Use these questions on any point:

1. Why is this true?
2. What is an example?
3. What happens as a result?
4. What would happen if the opposite were true?
5. Who is affected, and how?

Point: Schools should offer a wider range of physical activities. Why? Not everyone enjoys competitive team sports. Example: dance, swimming, climbing. Result: pupils who dislike football are not excluded and are more likely to stay active.

→ Schools could… offer a wider range of activities, such as dance, swimming or climbing, so that pupils who dislike competitive team sports are not excluded.

Concession: showing you have considered the other side

A strong argument acknowledges opposing points and answers them. This is especially useful in opinion essays.

Admittedly, the casual conversations in which ideas are exchanged are hard to reproduce on a screen. Nevertheless, if teams meet in person on two or three fixed days each week, relationships and training need not suffer.

Patterns:

• It is true that… However, …
• Although/While…, …
• Admittedly, … Nevertheless, …
• Some people argue that… This argument overlooks the fact that…
• Critics may point out that… Even so, …

Common mistakes

• The list paragraph (see above).
• The example with no point: a story about your uncle that never connects to the question.
• The drifting paragraph that starts with one idea and ends with another.
• Invented statistics.
• Over-generalisation: ✗ All teenagers are addicted to their phones. → ✓ Many teenagers spend several hours a day on their phones. Use many, most, some, tend to, are likely to, can, may.
• Rhetorical questions and exclamation marks: ✗ Who wants to live in a polluted city?! They are too informal for an academic essay.

Key points

• One central idea per paragraph, stated in a clear topic sentence.
• Develop with PEEL: point, explanation, example, link.
• Fewer ideas, more depth: two developed points beat six listed ones.
• Use realistic examples; never invent data.
• Acknowledge and answer the opposing view where relevant.
• Hedge generalisations with many, tend to, may.

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