Short answer: Task 2 topics repeat across a small set of themes — education, environment, technology, health, work, crime, and society. You can't predict the exact question, but you can prepare ideas and vocabulary for each theme, which is far more reliable than chasing "predictions."
✍️ Open Typehush and practise Task 2 across every common theme →Every year, candidates hunt for "the 2026 question list." The truth is more useful: while exact prompts change, they're drawn from a stable set of themes that has barely shifted in years. Prepare the themes and you're ready for whatever specific wording appears. Chasing leaked "predictions" is a poor strategy — they're unreliable, and even a correct guess doesn't help if you haven't practised developing ideas on that theme. Broad, thematic preparation beats narrow prediction every time.
There's a simple reason the themes are so stable: Task 2 is designed to be answerable by any educated adult anywhere in the world, without specialist knowledge. That rules out niche or technical subjects and pushes every question toward broad areas of shared human experience — how we educate children, protect the environment, use technology, stay healthy, organise work, and run society. Once you see that logic, the "unpredictable" exam looks a lot more predictable: the specific angle varies, but it will almost always sit inside that familiar handful of themes, and preparing them covers the vast majority of what you could be asked.
| Theme | Typical angles |
|---|---|
| Education | Online vs classroom, subjects, funding, learning at any age |
| Environment | Climate action, individual vs government responsibility, consumption |
| Technology | Social media, AI and jobs, screen time, digital dependence |
| Health | Diet and lifestyle, public vs private, prevention, ageing populations |
| Work | Work-life balance, remote work, job satisfaction vs pay |
| Society & crime | Punishment vs rehabilitation, community, inequality, globalisation |
For each theme, build a small bank of ideas and examples you can adapt — not memorised essays. If you've thought through both sides of "should governments or individuals tackle climate change," you can handle almost any environment prompt, whatever its exact angle. Memorising whole essays backfires: the wording never matches, and examiners spot pre-learned chunks that don't quite fit the question, which lowers Task Response. Flexible ideas beat rigid scripts. Aim to be able to argue either side of each theme, since you don't control which way the prompt leans.
Each theme has its own natural vocabulary, and having it ready saves time and lifts Lexical Resource. Environment: "carbon emissions," "renewable energy," "environmental degradation." Education: "acquire skills," "a well-rounded education," "foster creativity." Technology: "digital literacy," "rely heavily on," "automate tasks." Collect a handful of accurate collocations per theme from model essays — enough to write fluently on that topic without groping for words mid-essay. This is preparation you can do in advance and reuse on any specific question in the theme.
Because you can't predict which theme you'll get, cover them all at least once in practice. A candidate strong on education but who's never written about crime is exposed if crime comes up. Rotate through the themes so none is unfamiliar, and pay extra attention to any you find harder to generate ideas for. Breadth of practice removes the "I have no ideas" panic that wrecks Task Response — you'll always have somewhere to start, whatever the prompt.
Reading and typing model essays across every theme is an efficient way to prepare, because you absorb ideas, structure and vocabulary for each one at once — and you build typing speed for the computer test at the same time. Type a Band 7–8 model on each theme, note the ideas and phrasing, then write your own timed answer on a fresh question in that theme. Do that across the six themes and you walk into the test genuinely ready for whatever specific 2026 question you're given.
Type all 156 Cambridge Band 6–8 model essays with live word count →They cluster into a stable set of themes: education, environment, technology, health, work, and society and crime. Exact prompts change, but the themes barely shift year to year.
No reliably. Chasing leaked predictions is a poor strategy. Preparing ideas and vocabulary for each recurring theme is far more dependable than guessing exact wording.
No. Memorised essays rarely fit the exact question, and examiners spot pre-learned chunks, which lowers Task Response. Prepare flexible ideas you can adapt instead.
Practise across all the themes at least once, building a small bank of ideas and collocations for each. Typing model essays on every theme is an efficient way to cover them.
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