The Question The first part of the question for an ielts discussion essay will be a statement containing two opposing views. You will then be asked to discuss both sides of the argument and give your own opinion

Example sentence: 
A good example of this is the golden lion tamarin from Brazil which 
nearly died out because of logging and mining activities which are 

---

destroying its habitat. Today, a third of wild golden lion tamarins were 
raised in captivity. 
That’s the 3 parts of our first main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished paragraph. 
We now follow the same process for our second main body paragraph. 
Main Body Paragraph 2 
Main idea 2 
– Cramped cages & unnatural environments, animals distressed. 
First, we write the topic sentence to summarise the main idea. I started main body paragraph 1 
with the phrase ‘On the one hand...’, so main body paragraph 2 will naturally begin, ‘On the 
other hand... . 
These are great cohesive devices to use when making a direct contrast between two opposing 
views and they link the ideas together well. They can be used in most IELTS discussion essays 
and will help to earn you a good score for cohesion and coherence. 
Topic sentence: 
On the other hand, a significant percentage of zoos house their animals 
in cramped cages with very little space to move around or behave 
naturally. 
Now for the explanation sentence where we expand on this idea.
Explanation sentence: 
This can lead to them becoming distressed and depressed as well as 
suffering physically through lack of exercise. 
Finally, an example to support this point. 
Example sentence: 
A friend of mine recently visited a wildlife park while on holiday abroad 
and was very upset to see the lions pacing up and down in a narrow, 
bare pen and eagles in enclosures so small that they were unable to fly. 
That’s the 3 parts of our second main body paragraph complete. Here’s the finished paragrNow 
we need a conclusion and our IELTS discussion essay is done.