short answer questions merits and demerits

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4.3 Pros and Cons of Short answer questions

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• The Short answer question type is a constructed response question. That is the student has to construct their own answer and have sufficient confidence to submit it.
• Modern browsers have an in-built spelling checker and you can ask your students to only submit correctly spelled answers. If I tell you that I have seen 14 different spellings of 'temperature' you will understand that such a variation makes accurate response matching very difficult. Ensuring you are only dealing with correctly spelled words is an important first step.

The response matching features are too limited.

• There is no feature for handling synonyms yet we all know that languages are very rich, extensive, fertile, …..
• There is no feature for accepting a different word order.
• The browser spelling checker is unlikely to include specialist scientific and medical words. Also it will only use the language used on the computer and will not check the spelling of foreign words.
• Catering for misspellings is difficult.
• Unless your required answer is very specific you will have to allow time to check how your response matching copes with real student responses. And also time to adjust your response matching in the light of those answers.

Short answer questions are consequently useful if you want an exact spelling, perhaps of a word or two.

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Pros and Cons of Different Types of Test Questions

Andrew passinger.

• January 15, 2021

Being that assessment is one of the most valuable components in the classroom, teachers can utilize numerous opportunities to evaluate their students. Depending on the design of questioning throughout a particular assessment, teachers may choose to simply check on memorization and recall of facts; they may focus on skill development; they may have questions and methods for strategic thinking or even extend and apply ideas in a more global format. The choice for types of questioning, which depend on the objectives for a particular assessment, must be explored for advantages and disadvantages.

Types of Test Questions

Multiple choice.

The most popular assessment questions are those of multiple choice. While they have a place in assessment, there are certainly some pros and cons to consider. They are considered a more traditional, basic regurgitation of facts that don’t require higher levels of cognition. Multiple-choice questions really are an exercise in memorization, which isn’t always a negative. Again, it just depends on the nature of the assessment objective.

They provide an opportunity for evaluating which nuggets of information during lessons stood out the most to students in a standardized way to allow for a quick data review. From a teaching perspective, they are much less time-consuming to evaluate and can often be graded quickly based on software programs or through physical machines like Scantron. They also save time in developing. For students, it is a matter of having the information accessible with each choice of ‘a,b,c,d’ and reasoning through the most likely correct answer.

Possibly the most effective use of multiple-choice questions pertains to small summative evaluations throughout a unit to allow teachers to adjust instruction quickly in order to best meet students’ needs. Quizzes or entrance/ exit tickets are solid examples.

These types of questions can be problematic for students but beneficial for skill development. The issues that arise in using these true and false questions pertain to the design of the question. While they appear to be easy to create, they actually take quite an amount of thought in order to perfectly encapsulate the ideas an educator is trying to assess. One wrong use of a word or example can throw the entire question out.

As well, depending on the subjective nature of words, in fact, alluding to connotation of wording, students can misunderstand or process incorrectly the intention of the question. More specifically, the same word can be justifiably processed differently by the student and teacher, which becomes tough to grade according to right and wrong.

If an instructor is focusing on developing rhetoric or teaching the importance of vocabulary or grammatical and sentence structuring or even observation skills when it comes to communication, then true and false questions can provide those important opportunities. Students can focus on the levels of thought based on the words provided in a true and false question and how that changes when word selection changes. If that is a teacher’s objective, then it is apparent why this can be respected.

Matching questions are similar in nature to multiple choice in that they are focused on recall and recognition. These often require a bit more time to answer for students, and they benefit educators when the focus is on detailed acquisition of knowledge. They are also quick and easy to create for teachers.

Short Answer

Requiring students to process knowledge on several levels is one of the ultimate goals in education. Short answer questions provide an opportunity to layer several levels of cognition into student assessments. They can be placed and designed strategically throughout the testing to incorporate analysis and prevent students from simply guessing information. Short answer questions allow for more creativity in explaining comprehension of material.

Another advantage for teachers is that exams can be quickly and easily constructed of only short answer questions. If the objective is to get more than one or two sentences from a student, then probing their thought processes with multiple ideas for application is a strong assessment.

If the idea is simply to require students to minimize information in one or two sentences, these are not as beneficial. Short answer questions designed with that intention end up evaluating basic information and/or key facts. The grading of these can be laborious for teachers and, if not designed properly, end up consuming too much testing time for no significant gain.

For instructors who desire to have a complexity in thought by way of analysis and synthesis, essays can be a truly comprehensive method of assessment. These types of queries have an openness that allows for student processing and creativity. Teachers can assess accurately what students understand because it is difficult to bluff on essays.

Essays can be swiftly created by teachers, but they do change the time frame for students. Essays limit the number of questions educators can pose, and they take a much longer amount of time for students to effectively complete because the structure responsibility is on the students. Obviously, a major disadvantage is the amount of time it takes for teachers to evaluate and provide appropriate feedback .

Instructors must design a strong assessment while considering multiple variables, ranging from time limits of a class period to levels of thinking to objectives relative to curriculum and instruction. There are pros and cons to every type of question for educators. And while it seems that on an initial level some of these categories can be completed quickly and easily, when contemplating on the best assessment for classroom information, it becomes yet one more difficult task for educators.

• #TypesOfTestQuestions

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Short answer questions

Short answer questions (or SAQs) can be used in examinations or as part of assessment tasks.

They are generally questions that require students to construct a response. Short answer questions require a concise and focused response that may be factual, interpretive or a combination of the two.

SAQs can also be used in a non-examination situation. A series of SAQs can comprise a larger assessment task that is completed over time.

Advantages and limitations

• Limitations
• Questions can reveal a student’s ability to describe, explain, reason, create, analyse, synthesise, and evaluate.
• Gives opportunities for students to show higher level skills and knowledge.
• Allows students to elaborate on responses in a limited way.
• Provides an opportunity to assess a student’s writing ability.
• Can be less time consuming to prepare than other item types.
• Structured in a variety of ways that elicit a range of responses, from a few words to a paragraph.
• Can limit the range of content that can be assessed.
• Favours students who have good writing skills.
• Can potentially be difficult to moderate.
• Can be time consuming to assess.
• Need to be well written for the standard of answers to be able to be differentiated in terms of assessment.

Guidelines for constructing short answer questions

• Effective short answer questions should provide students with a focus (types of thinking and content) to use in their response.
• Avoid indeterminate, vague questions that are open to numerous and/or subjective interpretations.
• Select verbs that match the intended learning outcome and direct students in their thinking.
• If you use ‘discuss’ or ‘explain’, give specific instructions as to what points should be discussed/explained.
• Delimit the scope of the task to avoid students going off on an unrelated tangent.
• Know what a good response would look like and what it might include reference to.
• Practice writing a good response yourself so you have an exemplar and so you are aware of how long it may take to answer.
• Provide students with practice questions so they are familiar with question types and understand time limitations.
• Distribute marks based on the time required to answer.
• Does the question align with the learning outcome/s?
• Is the focus of the question clear?
• Is the scope specific and clear enough for students to be able to answer in the time allocated?
• Is there enough direction to guide the student to the expected response?

Examples of short answer questions

Your questions can access a range of cognitive skills/action verbs.

List/identify

This SAQ requires students to simply identify or list. The question may indicate the scope of requirements. e.g. List three, List the most important.

For example:

• “List the typical and atypical neuroleptics (anti-psychotics) used to treat schizophrenia.”

This question asks student to define a term or idea.

• “What is the capital gains tax?”
• “Define soundness as an element of reasoning”.

This is a question where students are asked to provide an explanation. The explanation may address what, how or why.

• “Why does the demand for luxury goods increase as the price increases?”
• “What are the important elements of a well-presented communication strategy?”
• “Why does an autoantibody binding to a post-synaptic receptor stop neuron communication?
• “Explain the purpose of scaffolding as a teaching strategy”.

Justify/support

A question that includes a requirement to justify or support can ask students to provide an example of one or several specific occurrences of an idea or concept.

• “Use 2 examples to show how scaffolding can be used to improve the efficacy of teaching and learning”.

For this kind of question, asks students to discuss how two or more concepts or objects are related. Is one different from the other? If so, how? Are they perfectly alike? Does one represent the other in some way?

• “Why would a rise in the price of sugar lead to an increase in the sales of honey?”

Combination

Types of questions can be combined.

• “List the three subphyla of the Phylum Chordata. What features permit us to place them all within the same phylum? “
• “What benefits does territorial behaviour provide? Why do many animals display territorial behaviour?”
• “Will you include short answer questions on your next exam? Justify your decision with two to three sentences explaining the factors that have influenced your decision.”

Additional resources

Short Answer Questions- Assessment Resource Centre - University of Hong Kong

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17.1: Should I give a multiple-choice test, an essay test, or something entirely different?

• Last updated
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• Page ID 87687

• Jennfer Kidd, Jamie Kaufman, Peter Baker, Patrick O'Shea, Dwight Allen, & Old Dominion U students
• Old Dominion University

By Vanessa Rutter

- Benjamin Franklin

Learning Objectives

• The student will be able to understand the advantages and disadvantages of multiple-choice tests
• The student will be able to understand the advantages and disadvantages of essay tests
• The student will be able to provide an example of why multiple-choice or essay tests are used
• The student will be better informed of the results produced by multiple-choice, essay, and other tests

Introduction

Throughout school, teachers and other education officials use tests to assess how much information that the students have absorbed. This can be important in different ways depending on how the results will be used.

Figuring out what students have learned in the classroom is an important issue in the education field (Swartz, 2006). Teachers want to know that when they assess what their students have learned that the teachers are using an accurate assessment strategy that will mesh with their learning targets. In the following information, the focus will be on affects of using multiple-choice, essay, or other tests along with why they are used.

Advantages and disadvantages of multiple-choice tests

Multiple-choice testing became popular in the 1900's because of the efficiency that it provided (Swartz, 2006). According to Matzen and Hoyt, "Beginning in 1901, the SAT was a written exam, but as the influence of psychometricians grew in 1926, the SAT became a multiple-choice test" (2006). Until recently, multiple-choice have been favored especially for SAT and ACT testing. For many years now, the SAT test was used for mostly multiple-choice questions and has changed in the past few years so that it now includes an essay section.

Other advantages of multiple-choice tests include how quickly tests can be graded compared to others. There are machines that can quickly grade scantrons as well as bubble sheets that show right and wrong answers quickly for teachers when grading. It is much more cost efficient than having to read over written answers which take time and possibly training depending on who is employed to grade them (Holtzman, 2008).

Others may say that multiple-choice tests are hard. In college, students have said that multiple-choice question tests are long, filled with many words, and very complicated (Holtzman, 2008). Some argue that multiple-choice question tests are based on testing the level of knowledge only and do not show a student's level of comprehension and application of information (Holtzman, 2008). It is hard to judge on a multiple-choice test whether the student guesses the right answer or didn't get the answer right because they were confused and chose one of the other answers (Swartz, 2006).

Advantages and disadvantages of essay tests

Essay tests have started to become more dominant because of the results that come along with it. Essay format questions contain a level of information quality that exceeds that of multiple-choice (Swartz, 2006). According to Swartz (2006), "They provide the opportunity to assess more complex student attributes and higher levels of attribute achievement". Another advantage of an essay is that the teacher can clearly see what the student knows instead of being misconstrued with multiple-choice tests were students can guess the right answers. A student that doesn't do well with test taking may find writing an essay to much more efficient rather than testing knowledge through multiple-choice.

There are also problems associated with essay tests. Administering essay test can be harder and be less cost efficient. There is technology already available for grading multiple-choice tests that take up much less time then grading essay tests. Essays cannot be ran through a bubble sheet optical reader machine that quickly grades scantrons used for multiple choice questions tests. For a professor with over three hundred students, it is much more efficient to use multiple-choice tests than grade three hundred essays. Communication is an important factor as well. For a student that can not write well, they may feel at a disadvantage when being graded by writing an essay. This could be true for someone with a learning disability.

Other Factors to Consider

Bill Goodling, chair of House Education Committee

Multiple-choice and essay tests are not the only test out there. The recently modified SAT test states that if you put the wrong answer you will have points taken off in the multiple-choice section. This is an incentive to not fill in the circle unless the student knows the answer or is pretty sure of themselves. There are also short answer tests and fill in the blank, but the most popular are the ones mentioned before.

Other tests may show an excess of seven different multiple-choice answers to choose from. The first three would be regular answers (A, B, or C). The next three answers will be where a student can get half credit for the answer by choosing D ("A or B"), E ("B or C), or F ("A or C"). Then the student will not get full credit by choosing D, E, or F but half credit by being able to narrow the answer down to the two answers they are certain of. The last choice would be G (I don't know). There the student would get a one-third of the credit for being honest rather than no points for guessing a wrong answer (Swartz, 2006).

In conclusion there are many advantages and disadvantages to both multiple-choice and essay tests. The teacher should pick out what is more suitable according to the classroom. Factors that would favor multiple-choice may be large class size, large amount of knowledge, technology already available for scantrons, less time for grading, and students with low writing scores. Factors that would favor essay tests could include smaller class sizes, many student teacher aides to help grade, assessment of application and comprehension, and students with high writing scores. Other tests are also being developed to bring the most from assessing students comprehension of information.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

1. What is an advantage of using an essay test?

A) It costs less money

B) It contains a higher level of information quality

C) It takes a long time to grade

D) It can be graded with a bubble sheet optical reader

2. What is a disadvantage of using multiple-choice tests?

A) Students can guess the answers

B) Tests require scantrons

C) Tests are easier

D) Tests can be graded faster

3. If a teacher has a large group of students in their class, what kind of test would be less time consuming to grade?

A) Fill in the blank test

B) Essay test

C) Oral test

D) Multiple choice test

4. Multiple-choice tests assess mostly what type of cognitive information from students?

A) Evaluation

B) Application

C) Knowledge

D) Comprehension

Holtzman, M. (2008). Demystifying application-based multiple-choice questions. College Teaching , 56(2), 114-120. Retrieved on March 22, 2009 from EBSCOhost database: http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=105&sid=ff9aaa2c-b758-4f95-8d5c-8f5a3fcc36c5%40sessionmgr109

Matzen, R. N. Jr., & Hoyt, J. E. (2004). Basic writing placement with holistically scored essays: Research evidense. Journal of Developmental Education , 28(1), 2-4,6,8,20,23,34. Retrieved on March 21, 2009 from EBSCOhost database: http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=105&sid=ff9aaa2c-b758-4f95-8d5c-8f5a3fcc36c5%40sessionmgr109

Swartz, S. M. (2006). Acceptance and accuracy of multiple choice, confidence-level, and essay question formats for graduate students. Journal of Education for Business , 81(4), 215-220. Retrieved on March 21, 2009 from EBSCOhost database: http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=105&sid=ff9aaa2c-b758-4f95-8d5c-8f5a3fcc36c5%40sessionmgr109

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Short answer type test: classification, merits or demerits.

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After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Introducing to Short Answer Type Test 2. Classification of Short Answer Typing Getting 3. Earned 4. Demerits. Three, since some questions are expected to be harder than others, the getting could shall unfair. Ask students to write more less one essay. Tests that ask for one ...

Introduction toward Small Answer Type Test:

The latest trend shall to include more short reply challenges in the question newspapers inches order to enhancements their reliability, validity and sampling capacity. Short answer test preparation tips considered to help collegiate improve brief answer test performance and test preparation strength.

Short answer questions generally require strict answers and, when taking many forms, they share the following characteristic features:

(i) They usually take less faster five minutes to read and answer, many take less than a minute.

(ii) Short answer questions permit larger sampling of content.

(iii) They tend towards big objectivity in scoring.

(iv) More reliable and validity than essay questions.

(v) Which answer is supplied by the pupil, not pre-selected as the objective questions.

(vi) Precise and specific as at the scope and length of answers.

Classification of Short Ask Type Test:

Handful can be grouped into two broad classifications:

(a) Advanced answer.

(b) Insert and completion.

(a) Long Answer Type:

The extended answer version including questions which require pupils to write a brief description, draw a map, make a list, carry a calculation, translate ampere sentence. Write down a definition oder formula and so on. Briefly answer inquiries (or SAQs) can be exploited in examinations other as part of rating tasks. They are generally your this require students to construct a ...

They are probably the most form of questions used in schools and are frequently used included examining Boards. She are deceptively easy to set and usually difficult to markers with any finish regarding geschwindigkeit and coherence.

Examples 1:

Give the titles of two novels of Prem Chand and for respectively the names of three of this principal character.

Character: (i)………. (ii)………………. (iii)………………

Chart: (i)……….. (ii)………………. (iii)………………

2. Describe briefly two factors which contributed to the outbreak of the First World War. Do did write more than thirty words about each factor.

3. Name the two types out chemical bonds which combine into form sulphates, furthermore then name one inorganic and one organic salt.

4. Do diagrams to show the structure of

(i) An atom.

(ii) ONE person cell.

(iii) Methyl alcohol.

5. Write two separate sentences, one containing which speak ’eminent’ and the extra containing ‘imminent’.

(b) Insertion or Completion Gender:

The most form of completed questions is one where of pupil the required to add one or double words go total somebody incomplete declaration correctly. Find the missing words are in the body of the comment go shall completed, it is usually called an insert type. Online Testing and Places; New Question Types; Cross-curricular Gangways ... For answers to frequently question questions (FAQ), please reference the ...

A completion type is where the words exist needed at to end of the account. Of use of place or realisierung challenges is not, however, limited to written statements and can be use to prepare extremely good questions based on completed maps, drawings, diagrams, formulae, accounting, the to like.

Examples 2:

1. Complete the missing words inside this paragraph.

That night there was so little hotel a…tion that they got to take an expensive………….. of rooms. Since paypal the bill they were almost p…………… fewer.

(A meaningful technique for testing vocabulary the spelling).

2. Complete the following formulae:

Ammonia : N……….

Sulphuric : H………

Sodium oxidize : ……………… COLD

Merits to Short Answer Type Test :

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1. Objectivity in scoring can be better provides in short answer type question in reference lo long answer question.

2. Besides, the question-setter can ask one number of such questions as compared to long-answer enter question within the same time curb. Thus, present sack be a greater coverage of content (course).

3. They are more reliable than the long-answer type-questions.

4. There is less accident of estimate by the our.

5. Preparation and administration are easy.

6. It is a adverse with the essay and the objective form of test items.

Demerits of Short Answer Type Test:

There are no such essential demerits of the small ask type test items. Handwriting, tongue, printed and one pattern of organisation of answer can affect the scores. Although, the use regarding short-answer type tests are to be preferred to long- answer type testing.

Related Articles:

• Types of Recall Type Test: Easier and Completion | Objective Test
• Merits and Minus of Targeted Type Test

Educational Statistics , Evaluation Tools , Short Return Type Test

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Multiple Choice Questioning: Pros and Cons for Effective Assessment

by Shelley | Assessment | 0 comments

Multiple-choice questioning is a popular form of assessment that has been widely used in educational settings for decades. While multiple-choice questions are easy to grade and score, they also have cons, making them suitable for some types of assessments and not for others.

Pros of Multiple Choice Questioning:

• Ease of Grading: One of the biggest advantages of multiple-choice questions is that they are easy to grade and score. Since the options are pre-determined, the answer can be quickly checked against the correct response. This is especially useful in large classrooms where a teacher may not have enough time to grade each answer individually.
• Objectivity: Multiple choice questions are considered to be more objective than other types of questions. This is because the answer is pre-determined, reducing the potential for subjective grading.
• Versatility: Multiple choice questions can be used to assess a wide range of topics, making them suitable for many different types of assessments. Whether it is a science test or a history exam, multiple-choice questions can be tailored to suit the subject matter.
• Time-Saving: Multiple choice questions can be completed relatively quickly, making them ideal for time-sensitive assessments. This is particularly useful for exams where time constraints are a factor.

Cons of Multiple Choice Questioning:

• Limited Assessment Capabilities: Multiple-choice questions are limited in their ability to assess a student’s understanding of a subject. Since the answer is pre-determined, students are not able to elaborate on their thoughts or provide a more in-depth explanation of their knowledge.
• Potential for Guesswork: Multiple-choice questions can encourage guesswork, especially when students are unsure of the answer. This can result in inaccurate results and a misleading representation of the student’s understanding of the material.
• One-Dimensional: Multiple-choice questions are one-dimensional, meaning that they only assess one aspect of a student’s understanding of the material. This can result in a limited understanding of the student’s overall grasp of the subject.
• Memorization vs. Understanding: Multiple-choice questions can also encourage memorization rather than true understanding of the material. This is because students may be able to correctly answer a question without truly understanding the concepts behind it.

I have a strong feeling about multiple-choice, more of a hate/love relationship. I feel it can encourage too much guessing and doesn’t give enough valid data on what a student has truly learned. I saw this in my classroom, usually with the students who struggle the most.

Students who were secure in their knowledge of the subject area will do fine, no matter the questioning format. I see this so much with my own son’s struggles in school. When given a multiple-choice test, more often than not, he’ll just make a guess, sometimes not even bothering to read the questions! In creating work for him, I always avoid using multiple choice, except in limited situations. When given a short answer question, he is much more apt to look for the answer using context or work the problem out for himself. If the option to guess is there, he’ll always choose it, and he’ll keep guessing until he’s eliminated the three wrong answers. Yes, he’ll eventually get the correct answer, but does that show he knew the content or was just successful at guessing?

I know multiple choice can be a huge time saver for the teacher. It is much quicker and easier to correct papers with multiple choice rather than written answers, but is it the right choice? What is our ultimate objective? To know the student understood and learned what we were teaching, right? How can we be sure that the objective was met with multiple-choice? Was the answer from retained knowledge or a lucky guess?

There are some cases (when done correctly) where I think M/C is fine. In a math problem for instance:

The problem on the left is wrong because the most common mistake a student will make in this instance is the misuse of PEDMA. The student will work the problem from left to right and end up with 6 for the answer. If this is one of the answer options, they will choose it and move on, not having any idea that they made a mistake. If they worked the problem in this manner, and 6 was not an option, they would know a mistake was made and go back to check their work. Of course, the guesser, who doesn’t even work out the problem, could guess in either case, but usually, a student will stop to take a closer look. I am not an advocate for tricking students. and in this example, that is exactly what is happening. It’s much less discouraging to a child to rework to find a correct answer than to get a test back that they failed due to being tricked!

One of the primary resources I offer is novel studies .  In my novel studies, there are only two places where you will find multiple-choice options. First, the vocabulary quiz, where the sentence including the targeted word is given, along with four choices for students to choose the definition. Again, there are the guessers who will guess anything, but most students will be able to decipher the correct definition of the word used in context after the successful completion of the novel study activities.

The other multiple-choice option I offer is parts of a comprehension quiz. I try to balance multiple-choice and short-answer questions to best gauge students’ understanding of the novel and to address higher-order thinking questioning for rigor.

I only use short-answer questions in the daily comprehension portion of the novel study itself. I feel very strongly that while reading the book, the student should be thinking deeply about what they’re reading. Using multiple-choice for comprehension during the reading of the novel encourages the student to skim the text for the answer. It also means most of your questioning will be recall level, the lowest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I use novel studies to get away from the more superficial reading that students encounter with basal series activities. My goal in using novel studies is to get my student engaged in a novel, to think deeply about the character’s motives, make inferences, point of view, plot, foreshadowing, etc. I don’t believe this can be accomplished by using multiple-choice questions. I feel this adds rigor and integrity to my novel studies. I know there are some buyers who are disappointed in this stance, and I know that some buy from my competitors looking for something quick and easy, but it’s a core value that I feel very strongly about.

Multiple-choice questioning can be an effective method of assessment when used correctly and in the proper context. However, this style of questioning should not be relied upon as the sole method of assessment due to its limitations. To achieve a well-rounded understanding of a student’s knowledge and abilities, a combination of different types of questioning should be used, including open-ended questions and essay-style assessments.

Another reason I stay away from multiple-choice testing is it is far too similar to standardized testing, which I am not a fan! Mainly for all the reasons stated above. I want my students to be deep thinkers, not guessers. Of course, the whole topic of standardized testing is a post for another day! 😉

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Flat rate ground shipping on all orders, the pros and cons of different types of test questions.

At Precision Data Products, we’re happy to offer bulk quantities of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) testing forms at an affordable rate. But when people think of our testing sheets, there’s usually just one that comes to mind — Scantron® Form 882-E, functionally identical to our own PDP-100 form. This is the testing form that every student and teacher has seen a thousand times; the good old reliable multiple-choice half sheet with 100 questions on each side.

What a lot of people don’t know is that we offer so many more OMR forms than just the PDP-100, and many of these forms have different types of test questions, allowing for more variety for students and educators. There are several different types of test questions, and each one has its own pros and cons.

While the overwhelming majority of our test forms rely on multiple-choice, you can find sheets that give you more variety. Here are the advantages (and disadvantages) of the many different types of test questions — keep them in mind the next time you’re writing an exam, and be sure to browse our online store to pick up the corresponding OMR forms.

Multiple-Choice

It’s only natural to start with multiple-choice, the king of test questions. There is a reason why multiple-choice has endured over the years, but it’s definitely not without its pros and cons, and we’ve even dedicated an entire blog post to analyzing them. We’ll keep things shorter here, but it suffices to say that there is much to be gained from multiple-choice, as long as you’re aware of the potential pitfalls.

• They Can Cover a Lot in Little Time: Multiple-choice questions allow you to cover a huge variety of topics and subjects, but it doesn’t demand a lot of time from the student. This allows teachers to create massive tests which cover a wide scope of their curriculum.
• They Can Provoke Higher-Level Thinking: A well-written multiple-choice test isn’t always as simple as one answer being right, and the others being flat-out wrong. A question can contain partial truths in each answer, which compels the student to scrutinize the facts meticulously and call upon their knowledge.
• They Are Easy to Score: OMR multiple-choice tests can be graded electronically, saving precious time for the teacher. But even when graded by hand, it’s a breeze. It may be tedious, but it’s easy, if nothing else.
• They Allow for Guessing: Unfortunately, multiple-choice tests can reward students for not preparing if they happen to guess the right answer. Of course, the odds that a student would guess the majority of questions right is astronomically low, but it can still be problematic.
• They Can Give Away Answers: This mainly comes down to poorly-written tests. A badly worded multiple-choice question may effectively give away its answer on its own. On the other hand, a question near the end of the test could provide the answer to an earlier question, and vice-versa.
• They Can Confuse and Confound: The line between a good and bad multiple-choice question can be very thin. Badly written “trick questions” can confuse students in the wrong ways, and the misinformation from incorrect answers can affect the way they think about the subject at hand.

True or False

True or false questions are basically stripped-down versions of multiple-choice, presenting the same flaws, but with fewer advantages. It’s for this reason why educators tend to stay away from them, but they’re not entirely without merit.

• It’s Simple Fact vs. Fiction: True/false questions are binary in their nature, and sometimes, less is more. Multiple-choice questions require students to examine which option is the most correct, while true/false questions demand that they identify what’s incorrect. It’s a small difference, but in the right context it can be more effective.
• They’re Easier to Write: Multiple-choice questions, while flexible, can be taxing and time-consuming to write since you have to create so many answer choices. True/false questions preserve the general spirit of multiple-choice, but they’re far easier to write, saving teachers time.
• They’re Easy to Grade: Much like multiple-choice, true/false questions are exceedingly easy to grade, both by hand and by OMR machines. This makes them an obvious candidate for larger exams.
• They’re Even Easier to Guess: The guessing problem is here too, only it’s worse than multiple-choice because it comes down to 50/50. For obvious reasons, that makes it far easier for unprepared students to stumble upon correct answers when they don’t know any better; it just comes down to a coin flip. They’re Often Badly-Written: While true/false questions are easier to write than multiple-choice, they’re also more vague, making it easier to write them badly. Sometimes the entire statement is true with one tiny piece of mostly-irrelevant info being false. A lot of true/false questions lose the spirit of what they’re intended to do because teachers focus on arbitrary minutia.
• They Don’t Engage Students: The point of a test is to get students to dive into their memory banks and analyze what they know. Multiple-choice questions provide enough options to where students need to pick apart the answers and engage with their memory to deduce the correct answer. True/false questions, being binary, provide most of the information up-front, and only require students to reflect on one single piece of information. Overall, they’re just not as engaging as other questions.

Short-Answer

Short-answer questions are effective because they force students to recall information without the assistance of “hints” that multiple-choice questions provide in their answer selection. This, however, is also their biggest weakness.

• They Don’t Give Students a Crutch: Short-answer questions are all-or-nothing; you either know the answer or you don’t. For certain subjects, this can be effective because it only rewards well-prepared students. For topics that benefit from hard memorization in the real world, students need to know their stuff.
• Quick to Grade By Hand: Short-answer questions can’t be graded by an OMR machine, which means the teacher will have to do it on their own. Fortunately, as far as grading goes, short-answers are easy; it’s either correct or it’s not. It may not be as quick as automated grading, but it’s about as quick as can be otherwise.
• They Can Be Arbitrary and Superficial: Short-answer questions test hard memorization, which can be both good and bad. The bottom line is that in today’s world, we have all the information we need at the tip of our fingers, so in many fields, forcing memorization is just a superficial way of testing students. Short-answer questions should focus on what’s important — when they don’t, it’s just frustrating.

Essay Questions

Essay questions can be considered “high-risk, high-reward.” In a nutshell, their benefits are extremely valuable, but they’re also susceptible to the most pitfalls. Essay questions should be used with care and caution to ensure that they don’t sully the testing experience.

• They Allow Students to Deep-Dive Into Their Knowledge: Essay questions are flexible and they allow students to dip into their knowledge, and demonstrate their learning in creative ways. Well-prepared and talented students benefit greatly from this; it can show off the extent of their learning and allow them to reflect on their curriculum deeply.
• Essay Questions Display Comprehension: It’s one thing to memorize a fact, and it’s another to actually understand and comprehend the lesson material. Essay questions allow students to show whether or not they “get it.” If a student has only memorized arbitrary facts which they intend to immediately forget, their lack of true understanding will manifest itself in an essay question.
• Essay Questions Develop Other Skills: Essay questions not only test students in the class curriculum, it also helps them build practical real-life skills, mainly writing and persuasion. Students need to articulate their thoughts in text and formulate arguments. No matter where they are in life, these are valuable skills.
• Grading is Subjective: Essay questions are more nebulous to grade than other types. It doesn’t come down to “right” or “wrong,” and this can be problematic. Subjective criteria is often used to grade, which can be a landmine for teachers and students. The teacher’s own personal biases could play a role, and students can also write in a foggy manner which makes their answer more difficult to grade.
• Writing Skill Can Make or Break the Answer: Unfortunately, some people just aren’t gifted at writing, and a student who knows the material backwards may end up failing an essay question because they can’t articulate themselves well. It’s sensible to expect good writing in an English class, but it can be highly frustrating for students when they get docked for their writing when they’re answering an essay question in science class.
• Time-Consuming For Student and Teacher:  Essay questions take up time. It takes a ton of time for teachers to grade them, and it’s the same for students writing them. And when they’re combined with other questions (such as being paired with a multiple-choice test), students who struggle with writing may take way too long working on them. Essay questions are risky, and should be used with careful consideration.

OMR Test Forms For Every Type of Question

Ultimately, it would be unfair to say that a single type of test question is objectively the best. They all have their own unique advantages, and they all present problems when they’re implemented badly. As long as you’re writing well-structured questions and considering the needs of your students, each question type can be a boon to your tests.

With that being said, you should know that Precision Data Products provides OMR test forms for every type of test. Whether you’re going with the good old-fashioned PDP-100 (882-E) multiple-choice form, or the CW-50 sheet which provides short-answer responses, we’ve got you covered. You can even order a multiple-choice test with a giant essay section in the PDP-886 . These are only a few of our forms; browse our online store today to see our full selection!

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Multiple-choice questions: pros and cons

Multiple-choice questions should contain a question (known as the stem), the correct answer (key) and distractors (other plausible options). Multiple-choice questions can be used at different points in the learning process, to check for understanding or as a low stakes retrieval task. There are a range of benefits linked to using this quizzing technique in the classroom. However, multiple-choice questioning has limitations and is not a perfect classroom strategy, no classroom strategy is. Below are some pros and cons to consider when planning, designing and using multiple-choice questions (MCQs).

Pros of multiple-choice questions:

• MCQs are a flexible questioning technique, they can be used at various points in a lesson and throughout the learning process. MCQs can be used for both formative and summative assessment and can be used inside or outside of the classroom. MCQs can be versatile in terms of the content and type of questions asked which can range from factual recall to higher order thinking (if the questions are carefully crafted).
• MCQs can provide retrieval support for younger students and students with learning difficulties making retrieval practice more accessible and the challenge desirable. They can be differentiated through scaffolded question design. Initial retrieval success is important and having the correct answer visible increases the likelihood of success and that can lead to increased confidence and motivation.
• MCQs for quizzing can be flexible in terms of time spent in a lesson. MCQs can be delivered relatively quickly, not dominating lesson time also meaning more time can be used for meaningful feedback and discussion. As students can answer MCQs fairly quickly, in comparison to free recall or extended answers, this means more questions can be asked to test a significant amount of knowledge and content. A concern with checking for understanding and retrieval practice, can be finding the time to do so in addition to teaching a demanding and content heavy curriculum. Checking for understanding and retrieval practice are essential and cannot be abandoned but MCQs can assist in terms of timing within a lesson.
• MCQs can support responsive teaching in the classroom. Carefully designed MCQs can address potential misconceptions that may have developed in previous lessons, this is very useful for the teacher to be aware of and respond to.
• MCQs are graded and scored objectively – answers are either right or wrong, no need for moderation or review. MCQs can be workload friendly in terms of feedback and marking. There are a variety of digital tools that can provide instant feedback to students. Alternatively, students can self or peer assess MCQs, monitored by the teacher.
• Another workload benefit of MCQs is that a carefully constructed quiz can be repeated and used again, to assist with regular and spaced retrieval practice.
• MCQs can be used with students across different ages and different subjects. MCQs can and ideally should be used across year groups/departments to promote consistency of the content being quizzed. The questions can be the same but the teacher can have flexibility of delivery of the MCQ for example one teacher may use a digital tool to ask questions but their colleague may prefer to embed questions into their presentations with students using mini white boards to respond. The questions used for MCQ quizzes can be designed so they can be used for short answer questions, simply removing the distractors and correct answer to increase the level of challenge.

Cons of multiple-choice questions:

• If MCQs are not designed well they won’t require effortful or meaningful retrieval but instead it is more likely to involve low level recognition or power of elimination. Distractors must be plausible and this can be a challenge for teachers to think of plausible distractors. Two plausible distractors and the correct option is sufficient. Writing carefully designed questions and plausible options can also be time consuming. A good way to address this is to view other teachers’ quizzes and use or adapt questions or alternatively, a great idea is to work together within a department or phase to design MCQ quizzes.
• MCQs can be used for both summative and formative assessments but if MCQs are used for end of unit tests or any form of high stakes assessment it can be difficult for them to be viewed as a low stakes retrieval task by learners. Some students will make the distinction but it is important that the teacher communicates with their class the purpose of the MCQ quiz.
• A reason some educators are opposed to or reluctant to use MCQs can be due to the fact that there is potential for guess work. It can be difficult for teachers to know if students selected or recalled correct information or simply guessed (although they are likely to be more reliable than simple true/false) and there are ways to tackle this through elaboration and further questioning.
• There are some online quizzing tools that use timers and award points to students depending on the speed of their answers. This encourages students to rush, not read questions carefully and make errors. Students with learning difficulties or English as an additional language, may need longer to read and process the question and for selecting or recalling the information, but a timer can cause pressure and/or panic.
• Students don’t always check their answers and reflect on their progress, preferring to view scores rather than identify and address the gaps in their knowledge but this is a vital element of the learning process to continue to move learners forward. If a student has scored 15/20 on a MCQ quiz they should be encouraged to check and be aware of which answers were correct and incorrect so they can learn from their mistakes and avoid repeating those mistakes.
• There is no flexibility in terms of credit with MCQs – either incorrect or correct, even if the students have some knowledge linked to the question that will not be awarded or recognised. This can be frustrating for the student.
• MCQs as a strategy to promote retrieval practice has limitations. There must be opportunities provided for students for free recall and elaboration. Teachers should not rely solely on MCQs for retrieval practice. Other strategies can and should be used in addition to MCQs.

There are both pros and cons but it is clear there is a place for multiple-choice questions in the classroom. They can enhance learning by checking for understanding, identifying misconceptions and used for regular retrieval practice. MCQs can also be used to promote consistency across a curriculum and support teacher workload.

You can read more about multiple-choice questions in a previous blog here .

For more resources on questioning, check out our podcast with Michael Chiles on ‘questioning in the classroom’. All of our resources are available in our free Resource Library .

The “partial knowledge issue”, can be statistically addressed considering that if you sustract point when error, and that partial knowledge give you clues to discard options, your chances to guess correctly increase, so statistically you get points from that “informed guess”, which is a way to give points according to that partial knowledge. Merry Xmas!

[…] Multiple-choice questions: pros and cons is by Kate Jones. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Use Multiple Choice Exercises. […]

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• Educational Assessment

Multiple-Choice Tests: Revisiting the Pros and Cons

• February 21, 2018
• Maryellen Weimer, PhD

What multiple-choice testing has going for it.

• Scoring is quick and easy, especially if a machine is involved.
• Easy creation of multiple versions, again with machine assistance. Plus, there’s the potential to grow the collection of questions every time the course is taught.
• Simple statistics (now regularly calculated by computer or via LMS) allow item analysis to reveal how well a question discriminates between those who know the material and those who don’t.
• Can be graded objectively without rater bias.
• Allow for inclusion of a broad range of topics on a single exam thereby effectively testing the breadth of a student’s knowledge.

Potential benefits of multiple-choice test questions when done right.

• On too many multiple-choice tests, the questions do nothing more than assess whether students have memorized certain facts and details. But well-written questions can move students to higher-order thinking, such as application, integration, and evaluation. SAT questions illustrate how thought-provoking a multiple-choice question can be. Ways to address: Recognize the amount of time it takes to write a good question. Preserve and reuse good questions. Consider using only three-answer options. Research says you can; check the reference below.
• Questions can be clearly written and if they are, it’s a straight shot to what the student knows. But the clarity of multiple-choice questions is easily and regularly compromised—with negatives or too much material in the stem, for example. Ways to address: Do an item analysis and find out if a question is being missed by those with high exam scores. If so, there’s probably something wrong with the question and it should be tossed.

What’s problematic about multiple-choice testing.

• A careful reading of some questions can reveal the right answer, and test savvy students will use this to their advantage. It might be the grammatical structure that only fits one answer option or the longer length of the correct response. What happens here is that the questions end up testing literary skill rather than content knowledge. Ways to address : Give the test to someone not taking the course and see how many questions they get correct. Ask if something tipped them off to the right answer.
• With lucky guesses students get credit for correct answers. It looks like they know something they don’t know. Ways to address: 1) Avoid throw-away answer options—those that are obviously incorrect. If the student doesn’t know the answer but can rule out one or two of the options, they’ve significantly upped the chances of getting it right. 2) Some teachers use a formula that gives points for the correct answer and takes a lesser amount of points off for answers missed. This approach, not terribly popular with students, decreases guessing by forcing student to leave questions blank when they don’t know.  3) Others have students rate the level of confidence they have in their answer, which becomes part of the score. Correct answers with high confidence ratings score the highest. Correct answers with low confidence ratings get a lower score.
• Wrong answer options expose students to misinformation, which can influence subsequent thinking about the content. This is especially true if students carefully consider the options and select an incorrect one after having persuaded themselves that it’s right. Ways to address: Spend time during the debrief on incorrect answer options regularly selected. This is a time when students need to be doing the leg work, not the teacher. Have them talk with each other, check notes, look things up in the text, and then explain why the option is incorrect. Make five bonus points available during the debrief. Those points are earned for everyone in the class by students who explain why certain answer options are wrong. More points are awarded when the explanation is offered by someone who selected that incorrect option.
• Asked for their test preference, most students pick multiple-choice tests. They like them because they think they’re easier. And they are. With a multiple-choice question, the answer is selected, not generated. Students also think they’re easier because they’re are used to multiple-choice questions that test recall, ask for definitions, or have answers that can be memorized without being all that well understood. Ways to address: Write questions that make students think.

If you regularly use multiple-choice tests, you ought to have a good working knowledge of the research associated with them. That can be acquired with one well-organized and easily understood “Teacher-Ready Research Review.”

Xu, X., Kauer, S., and Tupy, S. (2016). Multiple-choice questions: Tips for optimizing assessment in-seat and online. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2 (2), 147-158.

An article highlighting the research covered in the Xu, et al. appeared in the November 2016 issue of The Teaching Professor.

For more on multiple-choice tests, read:

• Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Multiple-Choice Questions
• 30 Tips for Writing Good Multiple-Choice Questions
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Types of Test Questions
• Tips for Writing Good Multiple-Choice Questions

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Essay test: types, advantages and limitations | statistics.

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After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Introduction to Essay Test 2. Types of Essay Test 3. Advantages 4. Limitations 5. Suggestions.

Introduction to Essay Test:

The essay tests are still commonly used tools of evaluation, despite the increasingly wider applicability of the short answer and objective type questions.

There are certain outcomes of learning (e.g., organising, summarising, integrating ideas and expressing in one’s own way) which cannot be satisfactorily measured through objective type tests. The importance of essay tests lies in the measurement of such instructional outcomes.

An essay test may give full freedom to the students to write any number of pages. The required response may vary in length. An essay type question requires the pupil to plan his own answer and to explain it in his own words. The pupil exercises considerable freedom to select, organise and present his ideas. Essay type tests provide a better indication of pupil’s real achievement in learning. The answers provide a clue to nature and quality of the pupil’s thought process.

That is, we can assess how the pupil presents his ideas (whether his manner of presentation is coherent, logical and systematic) and how he concludes. In other words, the answer of the pupil reveals the structure, dynamics and functioning of pupil’s mental life.

The essay questions are generally thought to be the traditional type of questions which demand lengthy answers. They are not amenable to objective scoring as they give scope for halo-effect, inter-examiner variability and intra-examiner variability in scoring.

Types of Essay Test:

There can be many types of essay tests:

Some of these are given below with examples from different subjects:

1. Selective Recall.

e.g. What was the religious policy of Akbar?

2. Evaluative Recall.

e.g. Why did the First War of Independence in 1857 fail?

3. Comparison of two things—on a single designated basis.

e.g. Compare the contributions made by Dalton and Bohr to Atomic theory.

4. Comparison of two things—in general.

e.g. Compare Early Vedic Age with the Later Vedic Age.

5. Decision—for or against.

e.g. Which type of examination do you think is more reliable? Oral or Written. Why?

6. Causes or effects.

e.g. Discuss the effects of environmental pollution on our lives.

7. Explanation of the use or exact meaning of some phrase in a passage or a sentence.

e.g., Joint Stock Company is an artificial person. Explain ‘artificial person’ bringing out the concepts of Joint Stock Company.

8. Summary of some unit of the text or of some article.

9. Analysis

e.g. What was the role played by Mahatma Gandhi in India’s freedom struggle?

10. Statement of relationship.

e.g. Why is knowledge of Botany helpful in studying agriculture?

11. Illustration or examples (your own) of principles in science, language, etc.

e.g. Illustrate the correct use of subject-verb position in an interrogative sentence.

12. Classification.

e.g. Classify the following into Physical change and Chemical change with explanation. Water changes to vapour; Sulphuric Acid and Sodium Hydroxide react to produce Sodium Sulphate and Water; Rusting of Iron; Melting of Ice.

13. Application of rules or principles in given situations.

e.g. If you sat halfway between the middle and one end of a sea-saw, would a person sitting on the other end have to be heavier or lighter than you in order to make the sea-saw balance in the middle. Why?

14. Discussion.

e.g. Partnership is a relationship between persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all. Discuss the essentials of partnership on the basis of this partnership.

15. Criticism—as to the adequacy, correctness, or relevance—of a printed statement or a classmate’s answer to a question on the lesson.

e.g. What is the wrong with the following statement?

The Prime Minister is the sovereign Head of State in India.

16. Outline.

e.g. Outline the steps required in computing the compound interest if the principal amount, rate of interest and time period are given as P, R and T respectively.

17. Reorganization of facts.

e.g. The student is asked to interview some persons and find out their opinion on the role of UN in world peace. In the light of data thus collected he/she can reorganise what is given in the text book.

18. Formulation of questions-problems and questions raised.

e.g. After reading a lesson the pupils are asked to raise related problems- questions.

19. New methods of procedure

e.g. Can you solve this mathematical problem by using another method?

Advantages of the Essay Tests:

1. It is relatively easier to prepare and administer a six-question extended- response essay test than to prepare and administer a comparable 60-item multiple-choice test items.

2. It is the only means that can assess an examinee’s ability to organise and present his ideas in a logical and coherent fashion.

3. It can be successfully employed for practically all the school subjects.

4. Some of the objectives such as ability to organise idea effectively, ability to criticise or justify a statement, ability to interpret, etc., can be best measured by this type of test.

5. Logical thinking and critical reasoning, systematic presentation, etc. can be best developed by this type of test.

6. It helps to induce good study habits such as making outlines and summaries, organising the arguments for and against, etc.

7. The students can show their initiative, the originality of their thought and the fertility of their imagination as they are permitted freedom of response.

8. The responses of the students need not be completely right or wrong. All degrees of comprehensiveness and accuracy are possible.

9. It largely eliminates guessing.

10. They are valuable in testing the functional knowledge and power of expression of the pupil.

Limitations of Essay Tests:

1. One of the serious limitations of the essay tests is that these tests do not give scope for larger sampling of the content. You cannot sample the course content so well with six lengthy essay questions as you can with 60 multiple-choice test items.

2. Such tests encourage selective reading and emphasise cramming.

3. Moreover, scoring may be affected by spelling, good handwriting, coloured ink, neatness, grammar, length of the answer, etc.

4. The long-answer type questions are less valid and less reliable, and as such they have little predictive value.

5. It requires an excessive time on the part of students to write; while assessing, reading essays is very time-consuming and laborious.

6. It can be assessed only by a teacher or competent professionals.

7. Improper and ambiguous wording handicaps both the students and valuers.

8. Mood of the examiner affects the scoring of answer scripts.

9. There is halo effect-biased judgement by previous impressions.

10. The scores may be affected by his personal bias or partiality for a particular point of view, his way of understanding the question, his weightage to different aspect of the answer, favouritism and nepotism, etc.

Thus, the potential disadvantages of essay type questions are :

(i) Poor predictive validity,

(ii) Limited content sampling,

(iii) Scores unreliability, and

(iv) Scoring constraints.

Suggestions for Improving Essay Tests:

The teacher can sometimes, through essay tests, gain improved insight into a student’s abilities, difficulties and ways of thinking and thus have a basis for guiding his/her learning.

(A) White Framing Questions:

1. Give adequate time and thought to the preparation of essay questions, so that they can be re-examined, revised and edited before they are used. This would increase the validity of the test.

2. The item should be so written that it will elicit the type of behaviour the teacher wants to measure. If one is interested in measuring understanding, he should not ask a question that will elicit an opinion; e.g.,

“What do you think of Buddhism in comparison to Jainism?”

3. Use words which themselves give directions e.g. define, illustrate, outline, select, classify, summarise, etc., instead of discuss, comment, explain, etc.

4. Give specific directions to students to elicit the desired response.

5. Indicate clearly the value of the question and the time suggested for answering it.

6. Do not provide optional questions in an essay test because—

(i) It is difficult to construct questions of equal difficulty;

(ii) Students do not have the ability to select those questions which they will answer best;

(iii) A good student may be penalised because he is challenged by the more difficult and complex questions.

7. Prepare and use a relatively large number of questions requiring short answers rather than just a few questions involving long answers.

8. Do not start essay questions with such words as list, who, what, whether. If we begin the questions with such words, they are likely to be short-answer question and not essay questions, as we have defined the term.

9. Adapt the length of the response and complexity of the question and answer to the maturity level of the students.

10. The wording of the questions should be clear and unambiguous.

11. It should be a power test rather than a speed test. Allow a liberal time limit so that the essay test does not become a test of speed in writing.

12. Supply the necessary training to the students in writing essay tests.

13. Questions should be graded from simple to complex so that all the testees can answer atleast a few questions.

14. Essay questions should provide value points and marking schemes.

(B) While Scoring Questions:

1. Prepare a marking scheme, suggesting the best possible answer and the weightage given to the various points of this model answer. Decide in advance which factors will be considered in evaluating an essay response.

2. While assessing the essay response, one must:

a. Use appropriate methods to minimise bias;

b. Pay attention only to the significant and relevant aspects of the answer;

c. Be careful not to let personal idiosyncrasies affect assessment;

d. Apply a uniform standard to all the papers.

3. The examinee’s identity should be concealed from the scorer. By this we can avoid the “halo effect” or “biasness” which may affect the scoring.

4. Check your marking scheme against actual responses.

5. Once the assessment has begun, the standard should not be changed, nor should it vary from paper to paper or reader to reader. Be consistent in your assessment.

6. Grade only one question at a time for all papers. This will help you in minimising the halo effect in becoming thoroughly familiar with just one set of scoring criteria and in concentrating completely on them.

7. The mechanics of expression (legibility, spelling, punctuation, grammar) should be judged separately from what the student writes, i.e. the subject matter content.

8. If possible, have two independent readings of the test and use the average as the final score.

Related Articles:

• Merits and Demerits of Objective Type Test
• Types of Recall Type Test: Simple and Completion | Objective Test

Educational Statistics , Evaluation Tools , Essay Test

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• How to answer advantages and disadvantages essay questions in writing task 2 IELTS exam
• IELTS Writing Task 2

Among different kinds of essay questions asked in the IELTS exam, students commonly come across the “advantages/disadvantages” essay questions. Here, in this article we are going to understand the concept of these essay questions, figure out a way to answer them in a logical manner and understand the intricacies related to them. 

Understanding the meaning of Advantage/Disadvantage essay questions

The Advantage/Disadvantage question usually begins with a statement, further seeking your comment on what according to you are the advantages and disadvantages of the same. 

There are three different kinds of advantages and disadvantages essay questions that are asked by the examiner in the IELTS exam. 

They can look like the following:  In order to solve traffic problems, the Government should tax private vehicle owners heavily and use the money to improve public transportation. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution?  Do the dangers d erived from the use of chemicals in food production and preservation outweigh the advantages?  These days, many people have their own computers and telephones, making it quite easy for them to work from home. Does working from home have more advantages than disadvantages? 

The phrases highlighted above are a true representation of the different types of questions that can be categorised under Advantages/Disadvantages questions. Your examiner can ask your opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of certain things in any of the abovementioned ways. 

Recognizing that it is indeed an advantages/disadvantages question is the first step to learning how to answer these questions. 

Marking criteria 

The marketing criteria for all the answers in any writing task in your IELTS exam, including the problem/solution essay will be based on the following four basis: 

1. Task response 

Your score under this criterion will depend on how well you are in terms of paying attention to the requirements of the question. It will also depend on your skills being relevant in terms of the questions. Going off topic and not making sense will only lead you to a lower score spectrum.  

2. Cohesion and coherence 

Concisely crafted pieces, written in not more than four paragraphs with a logically central idea is what your examiner is looking for. Your score in this criterion depends on your ability to present your ideas in a structured manner, with the right linking words supporting the body of the written piece and having a central topic flowing in a particular paragraph. 

3. Lexical resources and vocabulary 

You can score well in this particular section by keeping in mind just three things: 

• Your ability to use appropriate words 
• Your ability to use the words in their right collocative manner 
• And, your ability to spell those words right. 

These three tips will go a long way as far as this particular section is concerned. 

4. Grammar range and accuracy 

Errors must not be made in the most common grammar rules. You must avoid using the wrong tenses and the wrong verbs as much as possible. Also, you must not forget to focus on the sentence structure and syntax, word order in the sentence, as well as the correct punctuation marks. 

Each criterion carries a 25% weightage in order to determine your final score for that answer.

Advantage/Disadvantage essay framework 

The basic structure of an Advantage/Disadvantage essay answer can be explained with a simple approach. You have to introduce, explain and then close. 

Introduction 

Start by giving a background statement first. Introduce what you are trying to say throughout the essay and paraphrase the question in this paragraph. You should always end this introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, with the help of such phrases: “This essay discusses…”.  This thesis statement will act as a transition statement between the introduction and the body paragraph 1. 

Body paragraphs 

Once you are through with your introduction, you are now going to jump to the body paragraphs. Your body paragraphs can be divided into two sections, or three (if there is something else you would want to add or simply add the third paragraph due to the requirements of a word limit). 

Begin your body paragraph 1 by talking about the first side. Explain why you think whatever you think. Support your explanations with proper examples and illustrations. And then end the first body paragraph with an ending statement. This ending statement will be a transition statement between the first body paragraph and the second one. 

The second body paragraph should focus on the second side you want to talk about. Again, start explaining the main point for the second side. If you have discussed advantages or positive aspects in the first body paragraph, discuss the disadvantages or negative effects in this second body paragraph. Support your arguments with valid illustrations and examples. End this paragraph with a closing statement as well. 

Conclusion 

End your essay with a proper conclusion,  beginning with phrases like “ To conclude…” or “To sum up…” . Write briefly about the things you discussed in your body paragraphs. Sum up your arguments in a sentence and end the essay with phrases like “This essay discussed…”. 

Planning an advantage/disadvantage essay 

It is extremely important that you are planning out your answers in advance when writing down “advantages and disadvantages” essay in your IELTS exam. 

1. Analysing the question 

Ensure you understand the question first before you begin writing your answers. Understand what the question demands from you. Do not confuse the “Advantage/Disadvantage” essay question with an opinion essay question. The “Advantage/Disadvantage” essay question does not seek your personal belief or opinions to be answered. It only seeks valid and logical statements and facts from you. Do not confuse the two when writing down the answers to this type of an essay question. 

Identify the question before you begin writing. The phrases in an “Advantage/Disadvantage” essay questions will be as follows:  What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution?  Do the dangers … outweigh the advantages?  …. have more advantages than disadvantages? 

2. Highlighting the keywords 

There is no denying the fact that highlighting keywords is one of the most important tasks you can undertake while writing any essay answer. This requires your focus and attention, along with you understanding the art of proofreading. Always proofread your answer before submitting your answer book to the examiner. Once you have proofread everything, ensure you are highlighting all the essential keywords. It gives you an edge over the others. 

3. Brainstorming the ideas, structure and explanations

Spare a few minutes, at all times, after you have identified and analysed the question. Map out the structure of your answer, brainstorm your opinions and viewpoints that are needed to be added in your answer, the kind of words you are going to be using and then begin writing. 

Writing is a secondary task, what is primary is you brainstorming the points you need to cover. If you do this properly, there is no stopping you from getting into that 7+ band score. 

Common mistakes to avoid 

No matter where you are at your preparation stage for the upcoming IELTS exam, always ensure you are not making the following mistakes as far as the “Advantage/Disadvantage” essay questions are concerned. 

Giving out your opinions 

Make sure you are not presenting your personal beliefs as a part of your answer in the “Advantage/Disadvantage” essay answers. Your personal beliefs and opinions form a part of the “Opinion” essay based questions in the IELTS exam and not this answer. You are only required to state facts and statements that have already been proven. Stating your personal beliefs in this essay answer will only land you in the wrong spots with the examiner. 

Not supporting your explanations with examples 

Ensure you are putting in the right examples at the right places. Most people do not understand the importance of examples and illustrations in an essay. It is imperative that you are supporting your facts and arguments with the right examples. It could be just a simple example, however, it is important that you state it in the right place. 

Repeating the same words 

Avoid repeating the same word over and over again. Using the same word can put you in a troublesome spot altogether. Try and broaden your vocabulary horizon, and use different synonyms instead of that particular word. 

Exceeding the word limit

Try not exceeding your word limit. Usually, the answers are supposed to be answered in about 250 words. However, when required and deemed extremely necessary, try not to go over 280 words. Stick to a healthy word limit of 250-280 words. Sticking to this word limit will spare you a few minutes in the end to proofread your essay again and highlight all the necessary phrases and keywords. 

Illogical essay structure 

Sparing a few minutes to plan your answer in advance is very important. The lack of planning can lead you to start writing your answer in a haphazard manner and ruin the basic framework of your answer. Think of all the necessary phrases and the structure to be used before you begin writing your essay. Take a breath. Give yourself that one minute, or two and then jump to writing. If you are not planning, you are going to lose grip right in the middle of your essay and forget all the arguments that could have led you to that spot in the 7+ band score. 

Follow our YouTube channel “ Unlock IELTS with Richa ” for more such great tips and tricks to crack your upcoming IELTS exam in an easy way. All the best!   

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How to Plan & Write IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essays

Questions for IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays  can be worded in several different ways. Here is some typical wording that might be used:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of….?
• Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your opinion.

It is also common for synonyms of ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’ to be used, such as ‘benefits’ and ‘drawbacks’, as can be seen in this sample question.

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of income. Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not well-managed.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern world? Do you think that the benefits of tourism outweigh its drawbacks?

I’ll be using this question to guide you through the process of planning and writing an IELTS advantage and disadvantages essay later on in this lesson.

Here’s what the lesson covers:

• Understanding IELTS advantages & disadvantages essay questions 
• Essay structures
• How to plan
• How to write an introduction
• How to write main body paragraphs
• How to write a conclusion

Want  to watch and listen? Click on this video.

Click the links to see lessons on each of these Task 2 essay writing topics. 

Once you understand the process, practice on past questions. Take your time at first and gradually speed up until you can plan and write an essay of at least 250 words in the 40 minutes allowed in the exam.

The Question

IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay questions fall into two main categories:

• Questions that ask for your opinion.
• Questions that do not require you to state your opinion.

The first part of the question will always be a statement. You will then be asked to write about  both  the advantages  and disadvantages of the idea stated. You may also be required to state your opinion.

Here are two more sample questions for illustration. For the first one, you must give your opinion but in the second, you should not.

1. Small businesses are disappearing and being replaced by large multinational companies.

Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

2. Most career choices demand vocational skills or specialist knowledge. However, despite this, most schools still teach academic subjects such as history or social studies.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Essay Structures

Now let’s look at two simple structures you can use to write IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays. They're not the only possible structures but are ones I recommend because they are easy to learn and will enable you to quickly plan and write a high-level essay.

I’ll explain later why I’m giving you two slightly different structures.

These structures will give you a well-balanced essay with 4 paragraphs.

One Advantage and Disadvantage or Two?

The question will state 'advantages' and 'disadvantages' in the plural, that is, more than one. However, it is acceptable to write about just one.

This should give you an essay of just over the minimum 250 words. To write about two advantages and disadvantages will require you to write nearer 400 words which are a lot to plan and write in the 40 minutes allowed.

It is better to fully develop one advantage and one disadvantage than ending up with your second idea missing an explanation or an example because you run out of time, but you can write about two if you feel able to or more comfortable doing so.

Having said that, using essay structure 2, where you start with the examples, will enable you to easily add more than one advantage and disadvantage without having to write many more words.

It will be more suitable for some questions than others so bear this in mind when you're writing practice essays and try out both structures.

I’m going to use essay structure 2 to show you step-by-step how to write an IELTS advantage and disadvantages essay. I’ll also give you a model answer using essay structure 1 so that you can compare the two.

How To Plan IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essays

The planning process only takes around 5 minutes but it is essential as it will save you time overall and will result in a far better essay and thus, higher marks. Th ere are the 3 things you need to do:

• Analyse the question
• Generate ideas
• Identify vocabulary

# 1  Analyse the question

Analysing the question will ensure that you answer it fully. It’s quick and easy to do. You just need to identify 3 different types of words:

• Topic words
• Other keywords
• Instruction words

Topics words are the ones that identify the general subject of the question and will be found in the statement part of the question.

Here is the question we’re going to be working on. I’ve highlighted the topic words in blue.

So, this question is about ‘ tourism’ .

Many people do this first step of the process and then write about the topic in general. This is a serious mistake and leads to low marks for task achievement.

What we need to do now that we know the general topic, is to understand exactly what aspect of tourism we're being asked to write about.

The  other keywords  in the question tell you the specific topic your essay must be about. 

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of income . Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not well-managed.

By highlighting these words, it’s easy to see that you are being asked to write about the conflicting issues of tourism being ‘a main source of income’ in many places, yet also being ‘a source of problems’.

Your essay must only include ideas relevant to this aspect of tourism.

The  instruction words  are the question itself. They tell you exactly what to include in your essay.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the modern world? Do you think that the  benefits of tourism outweigh its drawbacks ?

Here, we are required to write about:

• The advantages of tourism in relation to income generation.
• The disadvantage of tourism in relation to problems it can cause.
• Our opinion as to whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Note the use of the synonyms ‘ benefits ’ and ‘ drawback ’ in the second sentence of the question.

# 2  Generate ideas

The next task is to generate some ideas to write about.

There are several different ways to think up ideas. I cover them fully on the  IELTS Essay Planning  page.

I’m going to demonstrate two of them for you here – the ‘friends technique’, which is suitable for most IELTS essays, and the ‘example method’, which perfectly fits essay structure 2.

The ‘ friends technique ’ is the method I generally prefer as it allows you to take a step back from the stress of the exam situation and think more calmly.

Here’s how it works. Imagine that you are chatting with a friend over a cup of coffee and they ask you this question. What are the first thoughts to come into your head? Plan your essay around these ideas.

Doing this will help you to come up with simple answers in everyday language rather than straining your brain to think of amazing ideas using high-level language, which isn’t necessary.

Here are my ideas using the friends technique:

There are far too many ideas here to include in an essay of just over 250 words. Think up a few then pick one advantage and one disadvantage that you think you can develop well.

With the ' example method ', on the other hand, you start by thinking of specific examples related to the question. They can come from your own experience or be something you’ve read or heard about. These examples will generate ideas that will become the main points of your essay.

It works particularly well for the model question I’ve selected for this lesson which is why I’ve included the second essay structure.

Here are my ideas using the examples technique:

Now that we have some ideas, we’re almost ready to start writing our IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay, but first, we have one more task to do.

# 3  Vocabulary

During the planning stage, quickly jot down some vocabulary that comes to mind as you decide what you're going to write about, especially synonyms of key words. This will save you having to stop and think of the right language while you’re writing.

Writing an IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

We’re ready to begin writing our essay. For the first model answer, I’m going to take you step-by-step through essay structure 2. I’ll then give you a model answer for essay structure 1.

Here’s a reminder of the question and the essay structure. 

We’ll now start work on the introduction.

How To Write an Introduction

The introduction to an IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay should have a simple 2 or 3 part structure:

• Paraphrase the question
• Outline the main ideas
• State your opinion (if required)

Our tourism question asks for our opinion so our introduction will have 3 parts.

1)  Paraphrase the question

Start your introduction by paraphrasing the question statement.

     Question:   A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of income.             

      Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it is not well-managed.

Paraphrased question:  

Although holidaymakers contribute hugely to the economies of many popular destinations, the influx of tourists can also cause serious issues.

Note my use of synonyms for some of the key words. It’s fine to repeat one or two words if you can't think of suitable synonyms. Above all, your language must sound natural.

2)  Outline statement

Now we need to add a statement where we outline the main points that we’ll be covering in the rest of the essay, that is, an advantage of tourism and a disadvantage of tourism.

Here are the two main ideas I’ve chosen to write about:

• Advantage – Poor areas are now prosperous tourist resorts
• Disadvantage – Displacement of local people

Outline statement:  

This essay will demonstrate how tourism can transform the economy of poor areas but will also show that this can lead to such problems as the displacement of local people.

3)  Opinion statement

The question also asks for our opinion and it’s essential that we include it in the introduction.

Opinion statement:  

Whilst acknowledging that there are drawbacks, the essay will argue that the advantages of the tourist industry outweigh the disadvantages.

So, let’s bring the three elements of our introduction together.

     Introduction

This introduction achieves three important functions:

• It shows the examiner that you understand the question.
• It acts as a guide to the examiner as to what your essay is about.
• It also helps to keep you focused and on track as you write.

The two ideas in your introduction will become your two main body paragraphs.

Main body paragraph 1  – Poor areas are now prosperous tourist resorts

Main body paragraph 2  – Displacement of local people

How To Write Main Body Paragraphs

Main body paragraphs in IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays written using structure 2, should contain 3 things:

• Topic sentence – give an example
• Explanation – explain the benefits/advantages
• Consequence – state the result

Main Body Paragraph 1

The  topic sentence  summarises the main idea of the paragraph. It plays an important role in ensuring that your ideas flow logically from one to another. It does this by acting as a signpost for what is to come next, that is, what the paragraph will be about.

If you maintain a clear development of ideas throughout your essay, you will get high marks for task achievement and cohesion and coherence.

In this instance, the topic sentence will introduce our first example, for which I’ve chosen Thailand.

• Main idea –  Poor areas are now prosperous tourist resorts
• Example – Thailand

Topic sentence:  

One country that has experienced a significant economic boost from tourism is Thailand.

Next, we must write an  explanation sentence  that states the main point of our example.

Explanation sentence: 

Over the past 50 years, many of its small fishing villages, where people often struggled to make a living, have been developed into thriving holiday destinations.

Finally, we explain the  consequence or result  of the situation. This is where we give an example of one specific advantage. It is better to pick one and develop it than to just add a long list.

Consequence:

With all the hotels, restaurants, shops and other tourist facilities that have been developed, there are now enough jobs for everyone and the general standard of living has greatly increased.  Many local people have spotted new business opportunities and become entrepreneurs which has further diversified the economy.

That’s the 3 parts of our first main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished paragraph.

We’ll now follow the same process for our second main body paragraph.

Main Body Paragraph 2

Main idea –  Displacement of local people

Example – Venice

First, we write the  topic sentence  to summarise the main idea.

Topic sentence:

In Venice, on the other hand, the huge popularity of the beautiful canals and stunning architecture with visitors from around the world has had a negative impact on local residents.

Now for the  explanation sentence   that states the main point of our example.

Explanation sentence:

The growing need for tourist accommodation, places to eat and shops has forced many people from their homes to make way for this new development.

Finally, a specific example to explain the consequence .

Not only have these people suffered by having to move away from their family and friends but the situation has also resulted in a lost sense of community in the worst affected areas.

That’s the 3 parts of our second main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished paragraph.

Now we need a conclusion and our IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay is done.

How To Write a Conclusion

The conclusion is a summary of the main points in your essay and can generally be done in a single sentence. It should never introduce new ideas.

If you're below the minimum 250 words after you’ve written your conclusion, you can add a prediction or recommendation statement.

Our essay is already near the minimum word limit so we don’t need this extra sentence but you can learn more about how to write a prediction or recommendation statement for IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays on  the Task 2 Conclusions page.

The conclusion is the easiest sentence in the essay to write but one of the most important.

A good conclusion will:

• Neatly end the essay
• Link all your ideas together
• Sum up your argument or opinion
• Answer the question

If you achieve this, you’ll improve your score for both task achievement and cohesion and coherence which together make up 50% of the overall marks. Without a conclusion, you’ll score below band 6 for task achievement.

You can start almost any final paragraph of an IELTS a dvantages and disadvantages essay  with the words:

• In conclusion

        or

• To conclude

Now all you need to do is briefly summarise the main ideas into one sentence.

Here’s a top tip . Go back and read the introduction to the essay because this is also a summary of the essay. It outlines what you are going to write about.

To create a great conclusion, you simply have to paraphrase the introduction. 

Introduction:

Here's the same information formed into a conclusion:

That’s it. We’ve completed our advantages and disadvantages essay. Here it is with the 4 paragraphs put together.

Finished IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay.

Go through this lesson as many times as you need to in order to fully understand it and put in lots of practice writing IELTS advantages and disadvantages essays from past exam questions. Practice is the only way to improve your skills.

Example IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essay for Structure 1

Now, here’s a model answer for essay structure 1. First, a reminder of the structure and the ideas I generated using the friends technique.

Ideas generation - Friends technique

I’ve underline the ideas I’ve chosen to write about in this second essay:

Advantages of tourism – source of income:

• Provides jobs for local people
• Opportunities for local entrepreneurs
• Tourist spending boosts both national & local economy
• Brings improvement in local infrastructure & facilities which benefit whole community
• Helps maintain traditions & culture

Disadvantages of tourism – the problems:

• Money goes to wealthy business owners not local people
• Increased crime
• Illegal activities, e.g. drugs
• More pubs & clubs – changes the local culture
• Increase in property values
• Destruction of the natural environment to build hotels, airports & other facilities
• Displacement of indigenous people 

See if you can identify the different parts of the essay and how I have developed them.

That's it. Now it's time for you to get practicing.

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More help with ielts advantages and disadvantages essays & other task 2 essays.

IELTS Writing Task 2  – T he format, the 5 question types, the 5 step essay writing strategy & sample questions. All the key information you need to know.

The 5 Types of Task 2 Essay   – How to recognise the 5 different types of Task 2 essays. 15 sample questions to study and a simple planning structure for each essay type.

Understanding Task 2 Questions  – How to quickly and easily analyse and understand IELTS Writing Task 2 questions.

How To Plan a Task 2 Essay  – Discover why essay planning is essential & learn a simple 4 step strategy, the 4 part essay structure & 4 methods of generating ideas.

How To Write a Task 2 Introduction  – Find out why a good introduction is essential. Learn how to write one using a simple 3 part strategy & discover 4 common mistakes to avoid.

How To Write Task 2 Main Body Paragraphs  – Learn the simple 3 part structure for writing great main body paragraphs and also, 3 common mistakes to avoid. 

How To Write Task 2 Conclusions  – Learn the easy way to write the perfect conclusion for a Task 2 essay. Also discover 4 common mistakes to avoid.

Task 2 Marking Criteria  – Find out how to meet the marking criteria in Task 2. See examples of good and poor answers & learn some common mistakes to avoid.

The 5 Task 2 Essay Types:

Step-by-step instructions on how to plan & write high-level essays. Model answers & common mistakes to avoid.

   Opinion Essays

   Discussion Essays

  Problem Solution Essays

  Advantages & Disadvantages Essays

  Double Question Essays

Other Related Pages

IELTS Writing Test  – Understand the format & marking criteria, know what skills are assessed & learn the difference between the Academic & General writing tests.

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Advantages–Disadvantages Essay Questions in IELTS Writing Task 2

Learn how to answer Advantages–disadvantages essay questions in IELTS writing Task 2 with an overview, recommended approach and practice question.

Example question

Recommended approach, practice question.

Advantages–disadvantages essay questions are a common question type in IELTS writing Task 2. You’ll be presented with a statement about some kind of trend or phenomenon. You’ll either be asked what the advantages and disadvantages are, or whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Here are some key points about Advantages–disadvantages essay questions:

• You should spend no more than 40 minutes on the task.
• You should write at least 250 words – you’ll be penalised if your answer is too short.
• Task 2 is worth two thirds of your total writing mark; Task 1 is worth one third.
• You must write in full sentences, not bullet points or note form.

Here’s an example Advantages–disadvantages essay question.

Write about the following topic: Some people choose to be self-employed rather than work for an employer. Do you think the advantages of being self-employed outweigh the disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Here’s my recommended approach for answering Advantages–disadvantages essay questions. We’ll use the example question to go through the steps you need to take.

IMPORTANT: The overall approach is the same for all  Task 2  question types (i.e. discussion, opinion, advantages–disadvantages and two-part essay questions). This is important because, on test day, you could get a question that doesn’t fall neatly into any of these categories. However, if you learn and practise applying the overall approach, you should be able to respond flexibly to any question you’re presented with. Also, while I generally recommend writing 4-paragraph essays, there are other structures you can use to write an effective essay.

Step 1  >  Analyse the question

The first step is to analyse the question. This is crucial – if you don’t take the time to analyse the question properly, you may misunderstand what it’s asking you or fail to respond to key parts of the question. Here’s our question prompt again.

You can see that we’ve been presented with a straightforward statement about being self-employed, and we’re being asked whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The phrase Do you think and the verb outweigh are important here. They make it clear that the question is asking for our opinion. We need to make it clear to the examiner whether we think there are more advantages or more disadvantages. If we don’t do this, our score for Task Response will be affected.

IMPORTANT: Some Advantages–disadvantages essay questions don’t require you to give your opinion. These questions are usually worded like this: What are the advantages and disadvantages of being self-employed?

Step 2  >  Think of ideas

Once you fully understand the question and what you’re required to do, the next step is to spend a few minutes thinking of ideas for your essay. Don’t try to brainstorm as many ideas as you can – all you need is a few good ideas. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, try asking yourself these questions:

• What are the most obvious ideas?
• If you asked 100 people for their ideas, what do you think most of them would say?

For Advantages–disadvantages essay questions, you need to think of ideas for both sides (i.e. advantages and disadvantages). Because the words advantages and disadvantages in the question are in the plural form, you need to think of more than one advantage and more than one disadvantage. If the question asks you whether there are more advantages or more disadvantages, you also need to make a decision about that.

Step 3  >  Make a plan

Once you’ve thought of some ideas, it’s time to make a plan. I’d recommend that you spend about 5 minutes on your plan. It doesn’t need to be very detailed, but it’s important to think about what examples you’ll use and how you’ll explain your points. If you think of these things in advance, you’ll be able to connect your ideas more effectively when you’re writing your essay. Don’t try to write in full sentences – you can use symbols and abbreviations. The important thing is just to get your ideas down on paper. The plan for this essay might look something like this.

Step 4  >  Write the introduction

Now that you’ve thought of ideas for your essay and made a plan, it’s time to write the introduction. IELTS doesn’t specify what you need to include in your introduction, but for Advantages–disadvantages essay questions, I recommend that you include:

• a paraphrase of the statement given in the question;
• a statement about whether you think there are more advantages or more disadvantages.

Let’s look at each of these parts one by one.

1. A paraphrase of the statement given in the question

An easy and effective way to start your introduction is to paraphrase the statement given in the question. At this stage, don’t state whether you think there are more advantages or disadvantages – we’ll do that in the second part of the introduction. Keep in mind that you mustn’t copy the exact wording used in the question. Instead, you need to use synonyms and other forms of paraphrasing. You won’t be able find synonyms for everything. In fact, some words shouldn’t be replaced because doing so would change the meaning. Our paraphrase could be something like this: The vast majority of people work as employees in a company, but a growing number of people are making the decision to work for themselves.

2. A statement about whether you think there are more advantages or more disadvantages

In the second part of the introduction, you should clearly state whether you think there are more advantages or more disadvantages. An easy way to introduce this opinion is to use a conjunction such as While to introduce the side (i.e. advantages or disadvantages) that you think is less strong, and then make your opinion clear by using a phrase like I believe and the verb outweigh to introduce the side that you think is stronger. Here’s how we could write this statement: While being self-employed does have its benefits, I believe that they are outweighed by the drawbacks.

If we put the two parts of the introduction together, this is what we have.

The vast majority of people work as employees in a company, but a growing number of people are making the decision to work for themselves. While being self-employed does have its benefits, I believe that they are outweighed by the drawbacks.

Step 5  >  Write the body paragraphs

The next step is to write the body paragraphs. Your first body paragraph should be about the side (i.e. advantages or disadvantages) that you think is less strong. Your second paragraph should be about the side you think is stronger. Note that your second body paragraph may be longer than your first body paragraph. This is fine because you’re likely to have more reasons to support the side you think is stronger. A linking word such as While , Despite or However can help you introduce the stronger side. Make sure it’s clear that you’re giving your opinion. Don’t be afraid to use phrases such as I believe that and I am of the view that . Here are some possible body paragraphs for our example.

There are clear benefits to being self-employed. First of all, those who run their own businesses are usually free to set their own schedules. Unlike employees, there is no requirement for them to work 9 to 5, so those who are more productive in the afternoon, for example, can simply start their workday later. In addition, the self-employed can pick and choose the projects they want to work on and the clients they want to work with. For instance, if a client is fussy or otherwise difficult to work with, business owners can opt not to work with them again. This can give self-employed people a sense of control over their work lives. However, I am of the opinion that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. A significant drawback is the fact that people who work for themselves tend to have irregular income. Their business earnings inevitably fluctuate month to month, which means they are unable to pay themselves a consistent salary. This can have a detrimental impact on many aspects of their lives, including their ability to make long-term plans and apply for a mortgage. In addition, those who run their own businesses do not enjoy the same benefits as their traditionally employed counterparts. For example, employees are entitled to annual leave and sick pay. Even though self-employed people can take annual leave and sick days if they wish, in practice they rarely do because of fear of losing clients and income. This situation can negatively impact their physical and mental well-being. Finally, many self-employed people find that the lack of structure in their workday makes it difficult to stay motivated. This sometimes means that they end up working longer hours each day to get their work done because of their lack of productivity.

Step 6  >  Write the conclusion

The next step is to write the conclusion. All you need to do here is summarise the statement in the question and, again, make it clear what your own opinion is. Don’t just copy the words you used in other parts of the essay – use synonyms and paraphrasing as much as you can. Start your conclusion with In conclusion or To conclude . Here’s a possible conclusion for our example.

In conclusion, even though there are no doubt advantages of being self-employed, I believe that the significant disadvantages make traditional employment the right choice for most people.

Step 7  >  Check your work

The final step is to check your work. At this stage, you won’t have time to make any major changes, but it’s still an important step. Things to check for:

• whether you’ve used an adequate range of grammar and vocabulary;
• your word count.

Now it’s your turn to practise. Try the Advantages–disadvantages essay question below using the approach outlined above.

Write about the following topic: Many parents encourage their teenage children to get a part-time job while they are still in high school. Do you think the advantages of high school students having a part-time job outweigh the disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

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Click below for a sample answer.

High school students are often encouraged by their parents to work part-time while they are still at school. Despite the fact that part-time employment has some downsides for students still in high school, I do feel that these are outweighed by the benefits.

A part-time job can come with a number of disadvantages for high school students. Firstly, balancing a part-time job and school commitments can lead to time management challenges, potentially impacting the student’s ability to focus on their studies, complete assignments and perform well academically. The pursuit of a part-time job can also limit a student’s ability to do sport and exercise and reduce the amount of time they have available to spend with family and friends. This can take a toll on their physical and mental well-being.

Despite these challenges, I feel that, on balance, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Firstly, a part-time job provides practical exposure to the world of work, helping students develop important skills such as time management, responsibility and teamwork. This hands-on experience can contribute to their personal growth and preparation for future careers. Additionally, a part-time job can teach financial literacy. High school students with a part-time job learn to manage their earnings and make informed decisions about spending and saving. It also gives them a sense of independence as they no longer have to fully rely on their parents for money. This is an important part of becoming an adult and a first step towards eventually leaving the family home.

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