IELTS Writing Task 2: Work topic — questions, vocabulary, band-7 ideas

Work is a common IELTS Writing Task 2 theme covering careers, work-life balance, remote working, and job satisfaction. It is approachable because everyone has opinions — which is exactly why weak answers sound like a casual chat. The short answer for a high band: identify whether the prompt asks about causes, a value judgement, advantages and disadvantages, or a future prediction, then argue with structure and concrete examples. This page gives you the angles, vocabulary, and band-7 thesis sentences. Read it with the Task 2 strategy guide.

Common question angles

• Work-life balance — Are people working longer hours than before, and is this harmful? (problem-solution)
• Money vs satisfaction — Is a high salary more important than enjoying your job? (opinion)
• Remote vs office work — Is working from home better for employees and companies? (discussion)
• Career change and stability — Should people stay in one career or change jobs frequently?
• Retirement and age — Should there be a fixed retirement age? Are older workers undervalued?

The weak answer reads like a diary entry. The band-7 answer treats work as a policy and trade-off question: longer hours raise output but harm wellbeing; remote work cuts commuting but weakens teamwork.

Vocabulary and collocations you need

• work-life balance, job satisfaction, a steady income, career progression
• to work remotely, flexible hours, the commute, the gig economy
• a demanding job, burnout, workplace stress, professional development
• job security, to climb the career ladder, a fulfilling career, to retrain
• to boost morale, to retain employees, a sense of purpose, the labour market

Use the paraphrase tool to restate the prompt cleanly in your introduction, and the summarize tool to practise turning a messy idea into a single sharp topic sentence.

Sample band-7 thesis sentences

• Discussion: "Although remote work offers employees valuable flexibility, I would argue that the loss of spontaneous collaboration makes a hybrid model preferable to working from home full-time."
• Opinion: "While a comfortable salary clearly matters, I firmly believe that long-term job satisfaction depends far more on purpose and a healthy work environment than on pay alone."

Each thesis names the position and previews the reasoning in one sentence — keeping the introduction tight and the Task Response clear.

Avoid the common AZ/RU-speaker mistakes

Work essays often slip on the uncountable "work" (no "a work" for the activity; use "a job" for a position), the present perfect for trends, and prepositions ("work in a company," "responsible for"). The common English mistakes by AZ speakers guide has the fixes, and the how to get band 7 guide shows how to keep the four criteria balanced so good ideas land at the right band.