Can You Use “I” and Personal Examples in IELTS Task 2?

Two different questions get tangled together here, so let's separate them.

Using “I”: allowed, and usually necessary

Task 2 prompts routinely end with give your own opinion or to what extent do you agree or disagree. Task Response requires a clear position that is sustained throughout the essay. Avoiding the first person while trying to make your position clear leads to sentences like:

Figure 1

Hedged into invisibility, and the alternative

Position hidden

It could be argued by some that this development may be considered largely positive by many observers.

Position stated

I largely agree with this view, although I would limit it to urban areas.

Whose view is the first one? Nobody's — the writer has hidden their position behind hedging, and Task Response suffers.

The second is clear, direct, and it takes a position the rest of the essay can defend.

Useful phrasings

One caution: don't repeat I think in every paragraph. Once in the introduction and once in the conclusion is usually enough — the body paragraphs demonstrate your position by arguing for it.

---

The impersonal alternative — also fine

If you prefer a more academic register, you can signal position without the first person:

Both work. What is not acceptable is having no discernible position at all. The register is your choice; the clarity is a requirement.

---

Personal examples: allowed, but handle with care

Many prompts explicitly invite them — include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. So a personal example cannot be “against the rules.”

The risk is different. Personal anecdotes tend to be narrow, and narrow support weakens the argument it's meant to strengthen.

Figure 2

The anecdote as argument, and as illustration

Weak use · the anecdote replaces the argument

I have a friend who studied abroad and he found it very difficult and expensive. Therefore, studying abroad is not a good idea for most students.

One friend cannot support a general claim

Strong use · the anecdote illustrates a general claim

Studying abroad imposes costs that go beyond tuition: accommodation, travel and the loss of any local income a student had. For many families these hidden costs turn out to be larger than the fees themselves , which is why students often arrive expecting one budget and discover another.

General mechanism, concrete detail

Published examiner comments on lower-band scripts frequently flag the pattern on the left: an example that doesn't actually support the point being made. On the right, the general mechanism does the work and the concrete detail makes it vivid — that's what "extended and supported" looks like.

---

The safest approach