How to address ‘do you agree or disagree’ type essays

The task 2 essay often asks test takers if they agree or disagree with the given proposition. While answering this type of essays, you have three options: You can agree, you can disagree or you can partly agree and disagree.

Consider the example.

Education should be free for all. Do you agree or disagree?
You can address this task in three different ways.

1. You can agree

In this case, you have to explain why you agree. You can discuss the following points.

Education is a fundamental right, so it should be accessible to all.
Millions of children do not go to school because they cannot afford education. If education is free it will benefit them.
An educated society will be more prosperous. It will also be healthier.

You can discuss these points and any other point you have in the three body paragraphs and then restate your opinion in the conclusion.

2. You can disagree

In this case, you need to explain why you disagree.

You can discuss the following points

If education is free for all, it will put too much burden on the public exchequer.
When everybody is educated, they may all seek white collar jobs. In that case finding people to do manual jobs may be difficult. (These are not great arguments, but I can’t find anything better.)

3. You partly agree and disagree

This is what I will do if I write this essay. My arguments will be the following.

Education does not have to be free for all. There are lots of students who can afford it. The government does not have to pay for their education.
Education should be free for students who cannot afford it. I will also discuss points like the benefits of education.

And then in the conclusion I will write something like this.

As we have seen, education is a fundamental right and everyone should have access to it. However, this does not mean that it should be free for all. It should be free for poor students. Those who can afford it should be required to pay for it.