Recommended resources
The freely available resources this lesson will direct you to.
- How to Write a Thesis Statement | Argumentative Essaywww.youtube.com
- How To Write An Opinion Essay in 8 Steps (with examples) 📝www.youtube.com
- Writing an opinion essay – Tips, structure, examples, exercises - Test-Englishtest-english.com
- Password Writing - Password English Language Testing Ltdwww.englishlanguagetesting.co.uk
Hello! In the previous lesson, you listened for exact details and checked that each answer matched what the question required. Writing begins with a similar habit: before deciding what to say, identify exactly what the prompt asks. Today you will analyse two Password opinion-essay titles, choose a defensible position, and turn it into a relevant paragraph plan. Allow about 40 minutes, including the readings and time to examine the plans.
Read the task before choosing a side
Password Writing offers a choice of two essay titles. You choose one, give your opinion, and support it with reasons and examples. The official sample instructions allow 30 minutes and ask for more than 200 words. Those limits make planning valuable: a few minutes spent identifying the task can prevent an entire paragraph from answering a different question.
Password Writing - Password English Language Testing Ltd
Read the Password English Language Testing Ltd sample instructions to see what the test asks you to produce, not just what the two topics are.
On the “Password Writing” page, begin with the task instructions near the top. Read through both titles, the time and length instructions, and the three points beginning “Your essay should”. Notice that each title asks both how much you agree and why.
Take title A: “School children should choose the subjects they study from a young age and stop doing subjects they find uninteresting.” Its topic is school subjects, but “school subjects are important” is not an answer. The claim joins two specific proposals: children should choose early, and they should stop studying subjects they do not enjoy. A relevant essay must address that proposed change, including the age at which it would happen.
Title B makes a different claim: older people are an essential part of society and therefore should be respected. An essay about services for older people might be interesting, but it would need to connect those services to the stated question of respect. In either case, the topic tells you the area; the claim tells you what you must judge.
A quick prompt analysis can be written as three notes:
- Claim: What, precisely, does the title say should happen or be believed?
- Decision: Do I agree fully, agree partly, or disagree? What does “how much” mean for my answer?
- Support: What reasons and examples would explain that decision rather than merely repeat it?
Make your position clear—and keep it tied to the claim
A position is more useful than a topic label or a feeling. “Education is important” gives the reader no answer to title A. “I mostly disagree because children need time to discover their interests before dropping subjects” gives a clear answer and a reason the essay can develop.
Watch this short explanation of a thesis statement. Its main value here is the distinction between naming a subject and stating a focused, supportable view.
How to Write a Thesis Statement | Argumentative Essay
Watch “How to Write a Thesis Statement” by The Learning Depot for its explanation of how a position guides the rest of an essay.
Watch the opening explanation, from the comparison with a navigational guide through the list of qualities of a strong thesis. Focus on the need for a specific stance that matches what the essay will actually discuss. You do not need to draft a full introduction yet.
You need not force a complicated yes or no answer when the prompt asks how much you agree. For title A, this position is clear despite its qualification:
I mostly disagree. Young pupils could have some choice, but they should continue studying a range of core subjects instead of dropping every subject they find uninteresting.
The first sentence states the degree of agreement. The second defines its limits. This is stronger than “There are advantages and disadvantages,” which leaves the reader unsure what the writer thinks. A qualified position must still remain consistent: the body paragraphs should explain why some choice is acceptable but dropping subjects early is not.
Before settling on a position, test whether you can support it with distinct reasons. “Children might make poor choices” and “children could choose badly” are essentially the same point. “Early choices could close off later career options” and “less enjoyable subjects can still teach useful skills” give you two different directions for development.
Convert reasons into a paragraph plan
A plan is not a miniature essay. It records the job of each paragraph and enough detail to show that the argument can be developed. The Test-English guide demonstrates this with a position, reasons, and supporting facts or examples.
Writing an opinion essay – Tips, structure, examples, exercises - Test-English
Read the Test-English explanation for a manageable B1 starting structure: decide on a view, collect supporting ideas, then give each paragraph a purpose.
On the “Writing an opinion essay” page, open the Explanation tab. In “Plan your ideas”, start with the planning guidance and continue through “Organise your text”, including its subsections “Introduction. Paragraph 1”, “Arguments. Paragraph 2”, “Arguments. Paragraph 3”, and “Conclusion. Paragraph 4”. Focus on how each reason receives support, rather than memorising the sample’s sentences.
Here is a possible plan created for this lesson for Password title A. It uses two body paragraphs; the official sample you will read shortly uses three. Either can work if the ideas are relevant and developed within the time available.
| Paragraph | Purpose and planning notes |
|---|---|
| 1. Introduction | Identify the proposal about choosing and dropping subjects early. Position: mostly disagree; allow some choice, but retain a range of core subjects. |
| 2. First reason | Future options: a young pupil may not yet know which subjects a later course or career will require. Example: dropping science because it seems difficult could restrict a later interest in a health-related career. Explain how the example supports keeping options open. |
| 3. Second reason | Useful skills: finding a subject uninteresting now does not mean it has no value. Example: a pupil who dislikes mathematics may still need to use it to compare prices or manage a budget. Explain why some basic study should continue even when interest is low. |
| 4. Conclusion | Return to the same degree of agreement: offer choices where possible, but do not let young children abandon every subject they dislike. Briefly recall the two reasons; add no new argument. |
Notice what makes the body notes usable. Each has one main reason, a specific example, and a reminder to explain the connection. The examples are illustrations, not invented statistics. You do not need to claim that research proves something unless you can support that claim.
A plan for title B would require different content. A writer might strongly agree that older people deserve respect, with one paragraph about the experience and contributions they can share and another about treating people with dignity regardless of age. The writer could clarify that respect means listening and fair treatment, not automatically agreeing with every opinion. That qualification sharpens the meaning of respect without changing the position.
Check the plan against a Password model
The official Password page also provides a sample answer to title A. Read it now as a planning example: identify the writer’s position and the separate work done by each body paragraph. You are not aiming to copy its number of paragraphs or its wording.
Password Writing - Password English Language Testing Ltd
Return to the Password Writing page and read its sample answer to see how one clear disagreement is sustained across an essay.
Under “Sample Answer: School children should choose the subjects they study from a young age and stop doing subjects they find uninteresting”, read the complete sample. Locate the position near the end of the opening paragraph. Then distinguish the body paragraphs’ points about the consequences of early choices, the value of subjects beyond academic plans, and broad knowledge. Notice how the conclusion returns to the writer’s view.
The model and our plan take a similar overall position but organise its support differently. That is useful: there is no single required set of reasons. Relevance and logical development matter more than reproducing a model. Under a 30-minute limit, two well-explained reasons are generally more useful than three reasons that each receive only a sentence.
Before writing, give a plan one final check. Can a reader identify how much you agree? Does each body paragraph support that position? Are the reasons genuinely different? Does each example help explain a reason? If a planned paragraph could fit almost any essay about the broad topic, make it more specific to the claim in front of you.
Key takeaways
Analyse the whole claim, including words such as should, from a young age, and how much. State a position whose degree of agreement is unmistakable, then plan separate reasons with examples you can explain. Keep every paragraph connected to the chosen Password title and realistic for the available time.
Next, you will turn that plan into an introduction that paraphrases the prompt and states a focused position.