IELTS Task 2 — topic idea bank

Pro online learning / school reform

• • flexible scheduling for working students
• • access for rural and low-income learners
• • personalised pace via adaptive software

Con

• • loss of peer interaction and soft-skill development
• • digital divide widening inequality
• • weaker accountability and dropout rates

Government should act

• • regulation drives industry change faster than individuals
• • tax incentives for renewables
• • global problems need global treaties

Individual responsibility

• • consumer demand shapes corporate behaviour
• • small lifestyle changes scale across populations
• • voting and activism are individual acts

Benefits

• • productivity gains and access to information
• • remote collaboration
• • automation freeing humans from dangerous tasks

Drawbacks

• • job displacement in routine roles
• • social-media-driven mental-health decline
• • privacy and surveillance concerns

Public-health priorities

• • preventive screening reduces long-term costs
• • education about diet and exercise from school age
• • subsidising sports infrastructure

Individual choice arguments

• • personal autonomy over diet and exercise
• • nanny-state criticism of bans (sugar tax etc.)

Remote / 4-day week

• • productivity rises in well-managed remote teams
• • reduced commuting cuts emissions and stress
• • talent pool widens beyond cities

Office / 5-day week

• • mentorship and culture build face-to-face
• • younger workers risk isolation
• • some roles cannot be performed remotely

Positive

• • lifts emerging economies through trade
• • cultural exchange and shared innovation
• • cheaper consumer goods

Negative

• • loss of local industries and cultures
• • race-to-the-bottom labour standards
• • supply-chain fragility (pandemics, wars)

Crime & punishment

• • deterrence vs. rehabilitation
• • youth crime and education
• • community sentencing alternatives

Media

• • public-interest journalism vs. clickbait
• • social media's role in shaping opinion
• • regulation of misinformation

Tourism

• • economic boost and cultural exchange
• • over-tourism damaging heritage sites
• • sustainable / eco-tourism models

Family

• • nuclear vs. extended family structures
• • ageing populations and elder care
• • shared parental leave