IELTS Task 2 discussion essay: Great individuals or social forces
A Task 2 discussion question. Explain both views fairly, then give your own opinion. The question asks for all three, so an essay on one side only answers part of it.
2 students’ essays below, each marked by Axiom, from band 6.5 to 7.5. Updated on 13 September 2026.
The question
Is history shaped by great individuals or societal forces?
Students’ essays on this question, marked by Axiom
Across these 2 essays the average band is 7.0: Task Response 7.5, Coherence and Cohesion 6.5, Lexical Resource 7.5, Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7.0. Coherence and Cohesion was the weakest criterion.
Real answers, shared without their writers’ names, newest first. Each opens with its revisions marked in place. Estimated by AI. It isn’t an official IELTS score.
Overall band, an AI estimate: 6.5
Essay #2
Task response 7.0, coherence 6.0, vocabulary 7.0, grammar 7.0
It is often debated whether great individuals or nations play more important role in history. While some argue that great individuals have more influence, I am of the…
Overall band, an AI estimate: 7.5
Essay #1
Task response 8.0, coherence 7.0, vocabulary 8.0, grammar 7.0
One of the most controversial and long-standing questions in human history is whether individuals or communal power has more influence on history and trajectory of…
More Task 2 questions like this one
Questions on the same theme, then questions of the same type, each with students’ essays marked by Axiom.
- Parents and their children’s crimes: a discussion question, 2 essays
- Quality of life now and in the past: an opinion question, 2 essays
- Influences outside the home: an opinion question, 2 essays
- The influence of newspapers: a two-part question, 2 essays
- Having a first child later: an advantages and disadvantages question, 2 essays
- Tall apartment blocks in cities: an opinion question, 2 essays
Check your answer to this question
Write your own essay on this question and Axiom gives it a band for each criterion, with revisions for your own sentences. How the Task 2 checker works.
Check an essay free