IELTS Passive Voice in Task 2: When It Helps Your Band
Quick answer: Use the passive in Task 2 when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious, or when you want the issue itself at the front of the sentence. Two to four correct passive structures per essay is enough; forced or wrong passives lower your Grammatical Range and Accuracy score.↗ Share on X
Use the passive voice in IELTS Writing Task 2 when the person doing the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious, and when you want the focus on the problem or the result instead of on people. Use it in two or three sentences per essay, not in every line. Examiners reward passive voice that is correct and fits the meaning. They do not reward passive voice that is forced in just to look advanced.
Why does passive voice matter for your Task 2 score?
IELTS Speaking Part 3: How Long Should Each Answer Be? →
IELTS Part 2 Notes: A 60-Second Plan That Fills 2 Minutes →
IELTS Writing Cohesion: Linking Words That Reach Band 8 →Task 2 is marked on four criteria, and each one counts for a quarter of your writing score:
1. Task Response
2. Coherence and Cohesion
3. Lexical Resource
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Passive voice belongs to the fourth one. "Range" means you use different sentence structures. "Accuracy" means those structures have no errors. The passive helps with range, but only if it is accurate. A wrong passive hurts you twice: it shows an error, and it often makes the sentence hard to understand, which also hurts Coherence.
There is a second reason. Task 2 is an academic-style opinion essay. In this kind of writing, the topic is usually a big issue like pollution, crime, or education, not a single person. The passive lets you talk about the issue directly.
Compare:
- Active: "People throw away millions of plastic bottles every year."
- Passive: "Millions of plastic bottles are thrown away every year."
Both are correct. The second one puts the bottles, which are the real topic, at the start of the sentence. That is the kind of choice examiners like to see.
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How do you build a passive sentence correctly?
Every passive sentence has the same formula:
object of the active sentence + a form of "be" + past participle (+ by + doer, only if needed)
The past participle is the third form of the verb: build → built, write → written, reduce → reduced.
The only part that changes with the tense is the verb "be". Here is a table with the tenses you will really use in Task 2.
| Tense | Active example | Passive example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | Governments fund public schools. | Public schools are funded by governments. |
| Past simple | The city built a new hospital. | A new hospital was built. |
| Present perfect | Scientists have done many studies. | Many studies have been done. |
| Present continuous | Companies are replacing workers with machines. | Workers are being replaced by machines. |
| Future (will) | The law will change the system. | The system will be changed. |
| Modal (should, must, can) | We should ban junk food ads. | Junk food ads should be banned. |
| Modal perfect | They could have avoided the problem. | The problem could have been avoided. |
Look at the modal row. This is the most useful form for Task 2, because essays often ask what should be done. "Should be done", "must be introduced", "can be reduced" appear naturally in body paragraphs and conclusions.
When should you use the passive in an IELTS essay?
IELTS Writing Task 2: A 5-Step Plan to Organize Ideas →
IELTS Speaking: Use Advanced Words Without Sounding Fake →
IELTS Opinion Essay: How to Reach Band 8 in Writing Task 2 →Use it in these four situations.
1. The doer is unknown or not important.
"Many forests have been cut down in the last century." Who cut them down? Many different people and companies. Naming them adds nothing.
2. The doer is obvious.
"Criminals who are caught should be punished fairly." Everyone knows the police catch criminals and courts punish them. You do not need "by the police" or "by judges".
3. You want the topic at the front of the sentence.
If your paragraph is about public transport, keep public transport as the subject: "Public transport is often seen as slow and unreliable. However, if it is improved, more people will use it."
4. You want to sound objective and careful.
Phrases like "It is often argued that…", "It is widely believed that…", and "It has been suggested that…" let you present an opinion without saying "I think" in every line. They work very well in the introduction and in paragraphs that present the other side of the argument.
When should you NOT use it?
Do not use the passive when:
- The doer is the main point. "Parents should teach children good manners" is stronger than "Good manners should be taught to children by parents" if your argument is about parents' responsibility.
- The sentence becomes long and confusing. If you need to read your own sentence twice, change it back to active.
- You already used it in the previous sentence. Three passive sentences in a row sound robotic.
- The verb has no object. Verbs like "happen", "arrive", "die", "occur" and "exist" cannot be passive. "The accident was happened" is wrong. Write "The accident happened."
A good target for a 250-word essay is two to four passive structures. That is enough to show range without making the essay stiff.
Where does the passive fit in each paragraph?
Here is a simple plan you can follow in the exam. The examples use the question: *"Some people think the government should pay for university education. Others think students should pay. Discuss both views and give your opinion."*
Introduction (1 passive)
"It is often argued that higher education should be paid for by the state, while others believe the cost should be covered by students themselves."
Notice that this one sentence has three passive forms. Do not do this in every sentence. In the introduction, one strong sentence like this is enough.
Body paragraph 1 (1 passive)
"If university is funded by taxes, talented students from poor families are not excluded simply because they cannot afford it."
Body paragraph 2 (0 or 1 passive)
"On the other hand, students who pay their own fees may take their studies more seriously." (Active is fine here. Mix it up.)
Conclusion (1 passive)
"In my view, basic fees should be covered by the government, but students should contribute something towards their living costs."
That gives you three or four passive structures, spread across the essay, each one natural.
What are the five most common passive mistakes?
These are the errors examiners see again and again. Check your essay for each one.
Mistake 1: Forgetting the verb "be".
- Wrong: "The problem can solved."
- Right: "The problem can be solved."
Mistake 2: Using the past simple instead of the past participle.
- Wrong: "The law was wrote in 1990."
- Right: "The law was written in 1990."
Learn the irregular forms you use most: write/written, take/taken, give/given, choose/chosen, break/broken, speak/spoken, grow/grown.
Mistake 3: Wrong agreement between subject and "be".
- Wrong: "Many new roads is built every year."
- Right: "Many new roads are built every year."
Find the real subject. If it is plural, use "are" or "were".
Mistake 4: Making intransitive verbs passive.
- Wrong: "Many changes have been occurred."
- Right: "Many changes have occurred."
Mistake 5: Adding "by" + doer when it is useless.
- Weak: "Smoking should be banned in public places by the government."
- Better: "Smoking should be banned in public places."
"By the government" is obvious. Cutting it makes the sentence cleaner.
Which passive phrases are worth memorising?
Memorise a few flexible frames. You can drop almost any Task 2 topic into them.
1. It is widely believed that… — for introducing a common opinion.
2. It could be argued that… — for introducing the other side.
3. This problem can be solved by… + -ing — for solutions. Example: "This problem can be solved by investing in public transport."
4. Stricter rules should be introduced to… — for recommendations.
5. … has been shown to… — use only when it is common knowledge. Example: "Regular exercise has been shown to improve health." Do not invent studies or numbers.
6. … is often seen as… — for describing how people view something. Example: "Working from home is often seen as a luxury."
7. If nothing is done, … — for warning about consequences.
Do not memorise whole sentences. Examiners spot memorised language. Learn the frame, then build your own sentence around the topic.
How can you practise passive voice in 15 minutes a day?
Here is a simple routine. Do it for two weeks and you will notice the difference.
1. Minutes 1–3: Pick one Task 2 question from a past practice book.
2. Minutes 4–8: Write five active sentences about the topic. Keep them simple.
3. Minutes 9–11: Rewrite each sentence in the passive. Ask: is the passive better here, or worse?
4. Minutes 12–13: Keep the two best passive sentences. Throw the others away.
5. Minutes 14–15: Check each one against the five mistakes above. Read it out loud. If it sounds unnatural, simplify it.
This trains the most important skill: choosing. A Band 7 or 8 writer does not use the passive everywhere. They use it where it is the better choice.
How do you check your passive sentences in the exam?
Save the last three to five minutes of your 40 minutes for checking. Look at each passive sentence and ask three quick questions:
1. Is there a form of "be" before the main verb?
2. Is the main verb in the third form (past participle)?
3. Does "be" match the subject (is/are, was/were, has been/have been)?
If the answer to all three is yes, the sentence is grammatically safe. If you are not sure about one, rewrite it in the active voice. A correct simple sentence is always better than a wrong complex one.
Your next step
Take the last Task 2 essay you wrote. Underline every passive sentence. If you find none, choose two sentences where the doer is unknown or obvious and rewrite them in the passive. If you find more than five, change some back to active. Then check every passive sentence with the three questions above. Do this with your next three essays, and the passive will start to appear naturally, in the right places, when you write in the real exam.
FAQ
How many passive sentences should I use in IELTS Writing Task 2?
Two to four in a 250-word essay is a good target. Spread them across the introduction, body and conclusion, and only use them where the passive fits the meaning better than the active.
Does using the passive voice automatically raise my IELTS band?
No. Examiners reward a range of structures used accurately. A passive with an error counts against you, so a correct active sentence is better than a wrong passive one.
Can I start my IELTS essay with 'It is widely believed that'?
Yes, it is a natural way to introduce a common opinion. Just follow it with your own words about the topic instead of a memorised sentence.
Which verbs cannot be used in the passive?
Verbs with no object, such as happen, occur, arrive, die and exist. Write 'The change occurred', never 'The change was occurred'.