IELTS Preparation Unit 10: Writing A Conclusion

Hello everyone. I’m Norbert and I teach English in Kaplan Dublin. I've been teaching for over 8 years and have taught IELTS for a while now.

In today’s blog we are going to look at writing a good conclusion. This skill is useful for both parts 1 and 2 of the writing exam.

As you know, writing part 1 focuses on describing data in a clear and easily comprehensible way, whereas writing part 2 focuses on essay writing.

In general, I’d recommend when doing the exam to start with writing part 2, spend no more than 40 minutes on it and then dedicate the remainder of your time to writing part 1.

Why? You get more points for writing part 2 (2/3rd of the overall score).

Before I start, let’s take a quick look at essay and report structures.

• They all have an introduction where you introduce the topic and the main theme or themes. In IELTS this can be done by paraphrasing the task description, but be aware; do not simply copy the statement or statements.
• Next, is the body of your composition. This is the part where you further develop your ideas, elaborate, and use examples to support your points. The body shouldn’t be longer than 2-3 paragraphs for an IELTS writing task.
• Finally we come to the main topic of our blog today, the conclusion.

What is a conclusion?   - A conclusion is the final paragraph of your writing that logically summarizes and integrates the different themes and ideas expressed in the body of your writing.

A well written conclusion has the following features:

• it is logical
• it does not contain any new information
• it summarizes the main points and arguments by showing their relation to the overall essay
• it rephrases the introduction
• it answers the question of the task - the full question, make sure you cover all the points.

Now let’s take a look at some examples.

Example 1:

Some people think that health care is a basic human necessity that should not be provided by private companies, but should be provided by the state.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of health care being provided by the private sector.

Source: Ready for IELTS (Sam MacCarter, Macmillan Education, 2010)

A possible conclusion can be:

In summary, I would reiterate that people have always worried about their health. To address these concerns, patients should be given access to the high standards of both state and private health care services, which would provide effective and comprehensive treatments and solutions for their patients.

Example 2:

Source: Ready for IELTS (Sam MacCarter, Macmillan Education, 2010)

A possible conclusion can be:

In conclusion, the graph shows that people in the workforce were represented in all fields, however, employment varied according to sex and occupation with men being employed in professional jobs and women being in more clerical posts.

Good writing skills are essential for students studying at various universities and colleges, so developing great essay and report writing skills is important. Give the tips above a go and let me know how you get on.