Your English skills, that is your vocabulary and grammar, contribute only 50% to your overall IELTS Writing score. The other 50% will be determined by your writing skills. Although learning English takes quite a lot of time, you can develop your writing skills much more quickly. Let’s get started with our tips!
First thing to remember is to stay extremely close to the task. When writing, it’s so easy to get a bit carried away and write a generic sentence or two about the topic. In IELTS Writing, however, irrelevant details are not just a waste of time, they actually harm your score.
If you look at the Band Descriptors that list all the requirements for each band score, you can see that irrelevant detail is a sign of Band 5.
Have a look at this topic.
Some people think the government should subsidise fruit and vegetables to make healthy food more affordable. Others argue that the government should tax unhealthy food instead. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience. Write at least 250 words.
What should you write about? How about this:
- Why is eating healthy important?
- What is a healthy diet?
Are these relevant? No! Healthy eating is a wider topic, but this is not what your question is about. Writing about a topic generally instead of answering a particular question in the task is a very common mistake that will cost you dearly.
The only three things you should write about are:
- Should the government subsidise fruit and vegetables to make healthy food more affordable?
- Should the government tax unhealthy food?
- Your opinion.
You should discuss each view and say which one you agree with.
Next, when you’re writing your answers, don’t look for complex ideas. You are not taking a course on nutrition or publishing a policy. Using simple ideas is absolutely fine. It’s actually good because you may be able to express simpler ideas better. Examiners will not expect you to be an expert on the topic.
In IELTS Writing, it’s important to know where to give your opinion and where not to. In IELTS Academic Writing, Task 1 is a report where you describe a chart, map, table, or diagram. You should not say what you think about the data, whether it’s good or bad. Instead, you should write a formal report that summarises the information in the task.
Task 1 for IELTS General Writing is a letter. This whole letter is about expressing what you think or want about a given topic.
Task 2 is an essay for both IELTS Academic and General Writing. In this task, it’s important to make your opinion clear throughout your answer. In my courses, you will learn how to give your opinion on each type of task.
For example, in our topic on two views and your opinion, a common mistake is when candidates write only about what other people think, and then write only about which view they agree with in the conclusion.
Tell the examiner what you think in your body paragraphs; don’t wait until the conclusion to do so.
Each type of task requires different writing styles, formal, semi-formal, or informal.
In your Task 2 essay, use formal English. This means that you should avoid contractions, such as don’t and won’t. Instead, write do not, will not. Avoid slang, five dollars, rather than five bucks, or tired instead of knackered. Most English idioms are informal, so you must also avoid idioms. Instead of writing that university education costs an arm and a leg, say that it is unaffordable for many, and don’t say cut to the chase, instead get to the most important point.
In some types of formal writing personal pronouns like I and we are avoided, but this is not the case in IELTS Writing. You can freely say I think, in my opinion, I believe in any part of your essay.
In Task 1 Academic where you describe data, a formal writing style should also be used. If you take the General Training exam, your Task 1 is a letter, which may be informal, semiformal or formal. And it’s very important to stick to the correct style.
Have a look at these examples. Are they formal or informal?
Should you require any further assistance, do not hesitate to contact me.
It’s formal, although very friendly. How about this phrase at the beginning of a letter:
I’m writing to…
Again, this is quite formal. In a formal letter, it’s better to write it in full.
I am writing to...
What about this one:
Warmest regards,
Asiya
Is it formal or informal?
This is an informal letter ending. To make it more formal or semiformal, say:
best regards or kind regards
For formal letters, use:
yours sincerely (known addressee) or yours faithfully (unknown addressee)
One of the key things in IELTS Writing is to develop your ideas, especially in the Task 2 essay. Here’s an example of a body paragraph about imposing a tax on unhealthy food. If you read it, you can see that the first sentence introduces the paragraph, and then each sentence follows the other.
On the one hand, I agree that the tax option can help to reduce the consumption of potentially harmful foods. For example, the so-called “sugar tax” imposed in the UK on soft drinks with a high sugar content has had some positive effects. However, soft drink manufacturers have reacted by reducing sugar levels to just under the amount liable for tax and, as a result, most people tend to buy this slightly healthier version without really changing their overall dietary habits that much. Furthermore, it could be argued that this policy represents a kind of punishment for those consumers least able to seek better alternatives for financial reasons.
I know it’s not easy to do. In my courses, I teach the TET formula for writing body paragraphs. Basically, each paragraph should have a topic sentence, explanation, and transition to the next paragraph.
The next tip is to make sure that you link your sentences, and one of the main ways to do so is to use a variety of formal linking words. If we have a look at the same body paragraph, the linking words are highlighted in green.
On the one hand, I agree that the tax option can help to reduce the consumption of potentially harmful foods. For example, the so-called “sugar tax” imposed in the UK on soft drinks with a high sugar content has had some positive effects. However, soft drink manufacturers have reacted by reducing sugar levels to just under the amount liable for tax and, as a result, most people tend to buy this slightly healthier version without really changing their overall dietary habits that much. Furthermore, it could be argued that this policy represents a kind of punishment for those consumers least able to seek better alternatives for financial reasons.
You might not be used to using a lot of linkers when you write. So, make sure you learn some linking words for each situation and vary them in your writing.
The paragraph above comes from a full Band 9 sample answer, which you can download for free. You can also read a breakdown of how I wrote the full essay in my blog:
How to write a Band 9 IELTS Writing Task 2 essay sentence by sentence | Two views and your opinion
As for your vocabulary and grammar, you should try to find the right balance in your writing. This means the balance between complexity and accuracy. When you use fewer common words and complex grammar, your score goes up. When you make mistakes, it goes down. For Band 7, you need fewer common words and some complex grammar, but, most importantly, you’re only allowed to make occasional errors, or a few errors.
It seems that many students try to make their essays as complex as possible in an attempt to increase their scores. However, this leads to so many mistakes that the score goes down instead.
No need to make your writing overly simplistic but avoid the extra complexity.
It’s pretty difficult to finish both tasks in 60 minutes. But if your Task 2 essay has no conclusion or if your Task 1 answer does not cover the whole topic, you will be penalised severely. Two finished answers are likely to get a higher score than a great answer written only halfway.
Practise at home and do your best to finish your writing tasks in the given time.
In Task 1 you must write more than 150 words and in Task 2 more than 250. Although examiners don’t count if you write 145 or 151 words, they will deduct marks if your answers are obviously too short. Candidates with advanced skills often write longer answers, which is fine. You don’t lose points for writing more words, but you won’t get extra marks either.
When you’re practising at home, write your answers on the answer sheet and see how long each answer should be. I personally know that I need to be careful with my Task 2 to make sure it fits on a single answer sheet. This means during the exam, I don’t have to ask for another sheet, which I have to fill out again with candidate information, which will take time.
Of course, this relates to the paper-based IELTS. If you take your exam on a computer, words will be counted automatically at the bottom of the screen.
One of the things that can help you write your answers more quickly is by knowing what to write about in each type of task. So, the moment you see the task, you already have an idea of what to write in your answer. Let me show you what these types of tasks are.
In Academic Writing Task 1, you may get diagrams, maps, or charts and tables with or without dates. Charts and tables with dates come with several time periods and show changes over time. Make sure you practise answering each of them.
In General Writing Task 1, you may get informal letters to friends, semiformal letters (for example, to your work colleagues), or formal letters (to a business).
In Academic and General Writing Task 2, there are five main types: advantages – disadvantages, two views & your opinion, opinion essays (or agree - disagree, positive - negative development), problem & solutions and two direct questions.
In my courses, I show what each question may sound like, how to structure each essay, and what to write about in each paragraph. For example, in our task about taxes and subsidies, you must discuss both views, but if the question is whether you agree or disagree with a certain statement, you must not give reasons why you agree and why you disagree. My courses are linked below.
As for the sample essay we used earlier, you can download it below. You can also read this blog to learn how I wrote the full essay.
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