Education is the most common Writing Task 2 topic — single-issue, two-issue, agree/disagree, problem/solution, all of them. Most students reach for the same five words (important, useful, students, learn, school) and lose Lexical Resource marks for thin range. This pack gives you 30 graded collocations grouped by argument-type. Use them in your next two essays and the band lifts.
Group A — making the case for something
- foster critical thinking
- Project-based learning fosters critical thinking far more than rote memorisation.
- broaden one's horizons
- Studying abroad broadens students' horizons in ways the home curriculum cannot.
- equip students with [skill]
- Schools should equip students with practical financial literacy.
- instil [a value] in
- Mandatory volunteering instils a sense of civic responsibility in young people.
- cultivate a love of learning
- Inquiry-based teaching cultivates a love of learning that survives school.
- lay the foundation for
- Early literacy lays the foundation for every later academic outcome.
- play a pivotal role in
- Teachers play a pivotal role in shaping student aspirations.
Group B — pointing out the problems
- place undue emphasis on
- Most systems place undue emphasis on standardised test scores.
- stifle creativity
- Rigid curricula stifle the creativity that early-years children naturally bring.
- widen the achievement gap
- Underfunded schools widen the achievement gap between rich and poor districts.
- lag behind [someone] in
- Australian students lag behind their Singaporean counterparts in mathematics.
- rote memorisation
- Rote memorisation produces high test scores but shallow understanding.
- burnout among teachers
- Burnout among teachers has reached unprecedented levels in the past five years.
- erode academic standards
- Grade inflation gradually erodes academic standards.
Group C — proposing solutions
- introduce / implement reform
- Several governments have introduced reforms to reduce class sizes.
- tailor the curriculum to
- Curricula should be tailored to a wider range of post-school pathways.
- invest heavily in
- Finland invested heavily in teacher training in the 1990s and reaped the rewards.
- redirect funding towards
- Redirecting funding towards early-years education yields the highest long-term returns.
- level the playing field
- Means-tested scholarships help level the playing field for students from low-income backgrounds.
- narrow the gap
- Targeted literacy programmes can narrow the gap within a single academic year.
- incentivise [behaviour]
- Some districts incentivise attendance with breakfast clubs and free transport.
Group D — generalising and qualifying (Band 7+ register)
- by and large
- By and large, smaller classes correlate with better outcomes.
- in many parts of the world
- In many parts of the world, secondary completion still hovers below 80 percent.
- there is a growing recognition that
- There is a growing recognition that wellbeing matters as much as test scores.
- research consistently shows that
- Research consistently shows that early intervention yields disproportionate gains.
- tend to / are more likely to
- Students from supportive home environments tend to outperform their peers.
- to varying degrees
- Most countries have adopted standardised testing, to varying degrees.
- with notable exceptions
- Most OECD countries fund universities through tuition, with notable exceptions like Germany.
The vocab in a paragraph
There is a growing recognition that schools should equip students with practical financial literacy alongside traditional academic subjects. By and large, curricula that instil sound money habits in adolescents lay the foundation for better financial outcomes in adulthood. Australia introduced compulsory financial literacy in 2014, and research consistently shows that students who completed the unit are 15 percent more likely to maintain a household budget by age 25 — a small reform with disproportionate impact.
Six collocations from this pack stitched naturally into a single Body 1 paragraph. Notice they don't crowd each other — one or two per sentence, in their natural register.
Pick the natural collocation
- 1
Most school systems _______ undue emphasis on standardised test scores.
Pick one. You'll see why straight away.
- 2
Underfunded schools _______ the achievement gap between rich and poor districts.
Pick one. You'll see why straight away.