In an IELTS problem and solution essay, the measure you propose needs to address the specific problem you describe. A useful idea is not automatically a solution to that problem. If people cannot visit a library because of its opening hours, new computers inside the building do not remove the obstacle.
Correct grammar and positive expressions such as modern facilities, better services and improved technology can make this gap easy to miss. The reader still needs to understand how the proposed action helps in the situation you have identified.
LetsWords provides short Task Response exercises and feedback on complete IELTS essays. Feedback shows which obstacle you named and whether the proposed measure addresses it. The example below uses a library’s opening hours to demonstrate that connection.
Check what the particular task asks for
Questions in this group do not all ask the same thing. A task may ask for problems and solutions, or for causes and measures. Causes and problems are different: a cause explains how a situation arises, while a problem is an adverse aspect or consequence of it.
The familiar label problem and solution therefore does not replace reading the final question. Identify the action the task requires before deciding what to include in your response.
The general requirements are given in the official IELTS Academic Writing format. In this short example, the task is already defined: identify an obstacle and suggest a measure that reduces it.
The library closes before residents are free to visit
Imagine a question about a public library whose opening hours overlap with many residents’ working hours. In a short response, the writer chooses one problem: working adults cannot visit during the day.
The specific obstacle is access at a suitable time. Keep it visible as you move to the solution. If the response suddenly turns to the quality of the books or the equipment in the building, it needs to explain how that change addresses the scheduling problem.
Why buying computers does not address the obstacle
Working adults cannot visit the library during the day. The council should buy more modern computers for it.
What LetsWords feedback shows — Task Response. The obstacle in the first sentence is the opening hours. The action in the second is buying computers. New equipment does not change the schedule, so working residents would still be unable to visit. Revise the measure so that it acts on the obstacle you named.
Adding therefore would not create the missing connection. It would merely announce that the conclusion follows, making the mismatch more noticeable.
See what feedback identifies in the response you write.
Change the measure to create a direct connection
Keeping the library open for two evenings a week would allow people to visit after work.
The measure now changes when people can access the library. The sentence names both the proposed action and the way it helps the group under discussion.
Would allow describes an anticipated result. It does not report a reform that has already happened or promise that every obstacle to visiting will disappear. The wording stays within the problem selected for this response.
Two evenings a week makes the proposal concrete: the reader can see what would change. It gives the action enough detail to understand its purpose without turning the response into an implementation plan.
Therefore cannot repair a logical gap
Weak connection: People cannot visit after work. Therefore, the library should buy more computers.
Connected to the problem: People cannot visit after work. Therefore, the library should extend its opening hours on selected evenings.
In the second version, the action concerns the schedule. Therefore now joins ideas with a recognisable line of reasoning between them.
The first version was grammatically possible, but grammar did not establish that relationship. Checking coherence means examining the content on both sides of a linking expression.
The as a result practice page includes a free sentence check. Make sure the outcome follows from the earlier event, rather than simply appearing after it in the text.
Improve the situation: what would actually change?
Vague: The government should improve the situation.
More specific: The local council should extend the library’s opening hours on two evenings each week.
The first sentence does not name an action or identify the relevant level of responsibility. The second says who would change the schedule and what change is proposed.
Specificity does not require a detailed reform programme. In a short response, you need a measure whose connection to the problem is clear. A list of costs, job titles and implementation stages could distract from that point.
Improve, support and develop are useful verbs, but they often need more detail. If the reader still cannot tell what would change after reading them, make the proposal more concrete.
Do not promise that one change solves everything
Too broad: Longer opening hours would solve every problem faced by library users.
Within the chosen problem: Longer opening hours would make the library more accessible to people who work during the day.
Longer hours address access after work. They do not automatically solve issues involving distance, the book collection or the condition of the building. Every problem expands the promise far beyond what the measure can explain.
The correction preserves the benefit and names who would receive it. You do not need several vague qualifications to make the sentence accurate. Remove the excessive scope and keep the useful effect clear.
The same principle applies to other topics: a measure can reduce one particular obstacle without resolving an entire issue.
Expressions that connect action and effect
| Expression | What it helps you express |
|---|---|
| allow someone to do something | Give someone the opportunity to take an action |
| make something more accessible | Make a place or service easier to access |
| reduce a barrier to something | Make an obstacle less significant |
| address a problem | Take action in response to a particular problem |
| take responsibility for | Identify responsibility for an action |
Choose the expression that fits the meaning. Eliminate is stronger than reduce: removing an obstacle and making it smaller are different claims. Address does not mean a problem has already been completely solved.
You can practise take responsibility in a sentence about a specific action and get a free check. It is useful when you need to identify a person’s or organisation’s role rather than write only that someone should help.
Ask how the two ideas connect
When rereading, connect the ideas with the question “How?” How do new computers help someone who cannot arrive before closing time? If answering requires inventing a separate story, the link has not yet been expressed.
In the revised sentence, the answer is already there: evening opening allows people to visit after work. That makes the measure understandable. You do not need to add several more positive effects to establish this one relationship.
After feedback, retain the reason for the change as well as the corrected wording. The article on revising an IELTS essay after feedback shows how to turn a comment into another attempt instead of simply accepting a replacement sentence.
Continue with a new task in LetsWords
In LetsWords IELTS Writing Task 2, you can practise Task Response separately on a new task. The reference material supports preparation, and feedback connects an issue to a particular part of the answer. For full essays, a checklist and feedback across all four criteria are also available.
The mismatch is easy to see in a prepared example. It can be harder to notice in an essay you have just written, because you remember the connection you intended. Practise with LetsWords to check what the text actually communicates, repair the link and try again. That turns problem and solution preparation into practice in making and expressing decisions. Start your preparation, choose your goal and level, and try feedback before paying.