Write for an Academic Discussion shows you an online class discussion, with a professor’s question and two classmates’ replies, and you add a post of your own. It’s the last of three Writing tasks on the TOEFL iBT since January 2026, and it checks how well you state an opinion and support it in clear, accurate English.
You see a discussion board for a class. The professor’s post sets out a topic in a few sentences and ends with a question asking for your opinion. Below it, two students have already replied, and they take different positions.
Your job is to add a reply of your own: say what you think and explain why, using your own reasons, experience or knowledge. The instructions say an effective response will contain at least 100 words. There’s no upper limit, but you have 10 minutes, so a well-explained post beats a long one.
Topics are general, and you don’t need any special knowledge: the professor’s post gives you what you need.
It’s the third and last task in the Writing section, after Build a Sentence and Write an Email. The whole section takes about 23 minutes.
Your post gets a score from 0 to 5 on ETS’s scoring guide for this task. A post at the top of the scale is a relevant, very clearly expressed contribution to the discussion. It typically has:
Lower scores go to posts whose ideas are less developed or only partly relevant, which use a narrower range of sentences and words, and whose errors start to get in the way. A post that is off topic, or mostly copies the professor’s or classmates’ words, scores very low.
Nothing in the guide asks for a set structure or rare vocabulary. It rewards a clear, relevant opinion, explained well, in accurate English.
This discussion was written for this guide in the same format as the real task. Try writing your own post in 10 minutes before you open ours.
Your professor is teaching a class on economics. Write a post responding to the professor’s question. In your response, you should do the following: express and support your opinion, and make a contribution to the discussion in your own words. An effective response will contain at least 100 words.
Dr. Alvarez
Some popular cities now charge visitors a small daily tax, added to the price of a hotel room. The money often pays for cleaning streets, repairing old buildings and running public transport. Critics say the tax makes travel more expensive and could keep visitors away. What do you think? Should popular cities charge tourists a daily tax? Why or why not?
Priya · student
Yes, I think it’s fair. Tourists use the same streets, buses and parks as residents, but they don’t pay local taxes for them. A few dollars a day is a small part of a trip, and it helps keep the city pleasant for everyone, including the next visitors.
Daniel · student
I disagree. Travel is already expensive, especially for students and families. Hotels in popular cities cost a lot, and another charge makes those places even harder to visit. Cities already earn plenty from tourists through restaurants and shops.
I see Daniel’s point about cost, but I agree with Priya that a small daily tax is reasonable, as long as the money is spent where visitors can see it. Large crowds put real pressure on a city. Streets need cleaning more often, old buildings wear out faster, and buses fill up, and residents shouldn’t have to pay for all of that alone. A tax of a few dollars a night is unlikely to stop anyone from making a trip they have already saved for. To keep it fair, cities could exempt students and children, which would answer Daniel’s concern about families. In my hometown, a tourist charge paid for new signs and free walking maps, so visitors actually got something back for their money. That kind of visible benefit is what makes the tax worth it.
Answer the professor’s question in your first sentence. Say which side you’re on straight away. You can show you’ve read the others at the same time: “I see Daniel’s point, but…”.
Add something new. Don’t repeat a classmate’s reason in other words. Agree or disagree with them, then bring a reason or an example they didn’t mention: that’s your contribution.
Develop one or two reasons fully. One reason explained with a real example does more than three reasons listed. Aim for a little over 100 words and spend your time on detail rather than length.
Save two minutes to check. Read your post once for missing words, verb forms and agreement (“students has”). The odd typo is forgiven; repeated errors aren’t.
Writing Practice Test 1 has all three Writing tasks, timed and scored on the 1.0–6.0 band scale, with feedback on your email and your discussion post. Free, with no account needed.
Start Writing Practice Test 1