Tips For Ielts Writing

As an IELTS writing instructor, I am often asked by my students what the secret is to successful essay writing.
When I tell them lots of practice, lots of guidance and lots of patience, they usually look at me a bit disappointed
as though my answer was too obvious.
So I tell them, just follow the 4 Cs.
The 4 Cs? they ask with new interest.
Yes, the 4 Cs: conciseness, cohesion, coherence and composition. Each needs to be employed properly if you want
to score well on your Task 2 essay. In this short article, which I am writing exclusively for www.ielts-blog.com, I
would like to touch on each of the 4 Cs and describe how you can use these powerful ideas to heighten your IELTS
score.
So lets begin with conciseness. Unlike other languages which prize long and very elaborate sentences, proper
written English is language that says a lot in few words. Students often falsely believe that the longer a sentence is
the more academic it sounds.
Writing longer sentences in your response is problematic for 2 reasons. The first is it heightens the chances of
errors related to coherence. The second is it makes it more difficult for you to control the grammar of the sentence,
leading to silly grammatical mistakes. Too often, students receive disappointing marks on their IELTS essay simply
because their long sentences led them to issues with coherence and grammar.
So how long should a sentence be? Including cohesive phrases (the second C in our list), typical sentences are
somewhere between 8 and 15 words.
Now lets take a look at how to write these cohesive phrases.
Cohesion refers to words and phrases that help ideas link together. Cohesive phrases include wordings like
Because of this,
As this shows,
As can clearly be seen from this example,
It is clear that
Thus, the idea that
To illustrate this,
After analyzing both points of view,
To provide a summary,
Without a doubt, this causes
What I always suggest to students is to commit many of these phrases to memory and learn how to use them
properly. When you get to your examination, you can use these phrases with confidence, which will not only save
you time but also reduce the chances of grammatical mistakes.
Our third C is coherence, which is the notion that all ideas you present in your essay should be easily understood
by your reader. As you can probably guess, using the cohesive phrases above correctly can really help to boost the
coherence in your essay as they clarify your ideas. Coherence is also greatly improved by proper grammar, so
make an effort to brush up on this prior to your examination.
Our final C, composition, refers to employing a proper essay structure. This means including a thesis (in the case of
an argument essay), at least 2 supporting ideas, real-life examples, proper discussion of those examples as well as
some kind of summary and finally a reasoned conclusion. To break it down, an argument essay is most likely going
to contain 15 sentences partitioned into 4 paragraphs and follow a pattern something like this:
Introduction paragraph
A background sentence giving some background informationon the essay topic.
A more detailed sentence linking the background sentence to the thesis.
A thesis that presents your point of view on your given topic.
An outline sentence declaring the 2 points you are going to use to support your thesis.
Supporting paragraph 1
A topic sentence illustrating the first point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken
from your outline sentence).
A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.
A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.
A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.
Supporting paragraph 2
A topic sentence illustrating the second point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point
taken from your outline sentence).
A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.
A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.
A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.
Conclusion paragraph
A summary sentence that briefly states the 2 points you discussed in your supporting paragraphs.
A restatement of your thesis using different words.
A prediction or recommendation based on the topic you have been given.
By employing a logical structure like this you fulfill your essays requirement for proper composition.
So, in a nutshell, the 4 Cs make up the essential elements in a successful essay. Conciseness keeps sentences
brief, cohesionhelps the sentences link together, coherence maintains understanding in the essay
and composition links all parts of the essay together logically.
Make an effort to use the 4 Cs properly and I guarantee your IELTS written mark will improve.
Good luck on your exam!
This article was written by Ryan Higgins, an online IELTS instructor, blogger and author. For more of his free IELTS
resources, visit his blog.
Get a self study book, for Academic click here, for General here.
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The IELTS Writing test: a common mistake
Before we begin, there is something else you need to know. In the recent post about the difference between the
formal and informal writing styles there was a mistake. Although it was caught and fixed almost immediately on
the website, the erroneous version was sent to your emails before we could stop it. To clarify, the words children,
many and much are formal equivalents of informal kids, a lot of and heaps of. My apologies, if the
previous email confused you.
And now to the common mistake in the IELTS Writing test. As you may know, there are 2 tasks, Writing Task 1 and
Task 2, and in both Academic and General Training modules Task 1 is shorter (150 words) than Task 2 (250
words). Often people decide to write the Task 2 first, before writing Task 1. No problem so far, but we are getting
to the really important bit.
It is essential that you pay attention to the Answer Sheet and write your answers in the right places. There are 2
marked spaces on the Answer Sheet that you get in the Writing test, one says Task 1 and the other says Task
2. To avoid confusing the examiner who will check your work, you need to make sure that the the essay is written
under Task 2 and the report (for Academic) or the letter (for General Training) under Task 1.

If worse comes to worst and youve mixed the two spaces, dont panic. First, finish writing your tasks wherever
youve started to write, dont worry about the wrong spaces, just take care of the contents and the paragraphing
as usual. After the Writing test is over you can ask staff at the test center to affix a note to your work explaining
where each task is. It will help the examiner locate the right task and your score wont suffer.
Good luck with your exam!
The IELTS Writing test: telling the difference
between formal and informal
Many of you have asked me about the difference between the formal and
informal writing in IELTS and this tells me that its a common problem. So here is what you
need to know about the styles of writing in the IELTS test.
If you are preparing for the Academic IELTS module, both Task 1 and Task 2 in the Writing test
are formal. For the General Training candidates, Task 2 in Writing is always formal, and Task 1
can be formal or informal.
As you know, Task 1 for the GT module is a letter, and if the topic asks you to write to someone
you know, that is an informal letter as opposed to writing to someone you dont know, which
should be formal.
The difference between formal and informal styles is mainly in the vocabulary. Informal words
are the ones used in everyday conversations and formal are used in books, contracts, business
letters and essays. If the task requires formal writing avoid using informal vocabulary. If the
task requires informal writing, such as a letter to a friend, avoid using formal heavy words.

Apart from the vocabulary in formal writing it is best to avoid words like I, you, we,
unless you are expressing an opinion. For example in an essay instead of writing You would
find it difficult to get a job without proper qualifications, write something like One would find
it difficult to find a job without proper qualifications, or you could write Finding a job without
proper qualifications would be rather difficult.
For those of you who dont live in an English speaking country and dont speak English on daily
basis it may be difficult to tell the difference between the formal and informal vocabulary, which
is why I compiled this short list of words. You could memorize it and use in your writing while
practicing this way the chances you will use the correct word in the real exam increase.
Formal Informal
Inform me Let me know
Cancel Drop
Contact Get in touch
Obtain Get
Apologise Say sorry
Postpone Delay
Request Ask for
Compensate Make up
Establish Set up
Discover Find out
Handle Deal with
Investigate Check up on
Tolerate Put up
Increase Go up
Children Kids
Many / Much A lot of
Many / Much Heaps of
IELTS writing: using transitional phrases
This post was contributed by Mr. Nipun Jain, the head of Benchmark our evaluation team. On behalf of all the
readers I would like to thank Mr. Jain and all the fine teachers of Benchmark.
Transitions
Transitional words and phrases are what gives your essayscoherence, we need them to join sentences and
thoughts together. Look at the lists below. These are transitional phrases that you can memorize and keep in your
arsenal for the IELTS writing module.
AGREEMENT: also, plus, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover, additionally, to add to that, next, in
accordance with, accordingly, in agreement, finally, for instance, for example, in exemplification, exemplifying that,
in fact, factually speaking, in terms of, and so forth, looking at the nexus between, in coordination with, along
those lines, collectively speaking, generally speaking, indeed, undoubtedly, obviously, to be sure.
CONTRAST: however, contrastingly, in contrast, on the contrary, on the other hand, To put it into perspective,
from a different angle, nonetheless, nevertheless, but, yet, a catch to this is, sadly enough, as a hindrance, looking
at the holdups, oddly enough, instead, in direct opposition, still, and rather.

RESULT: as a result, as a consequence, consequently, thus, therefore, hence, thereby, resulting in, ultimately, in
the end, finally, in the overall analysis, in hindsight, in retrospect, retrospectively, vicariously, the long term effect,
as a short term result, significantly, as a major effect, effectively, heretofore, hereafter, thereafter, in short,
generally, over all, concluding.

4 ways to get in trouble with your IELTS Writing
tasks
If you have an IELTS exam this weekend, this post can literally save your score. Many people get in trouble with
their IELTS Writing tasks for no reason, just because they dont realize some things are not acceptable in IELTS
letters, essays or reports. Here is a number of ways you can get in trouble with your IELTS writing tasks:
1. Using informal English in the IELTS Writing tasks.
Informal English is OK for your Speaking test it is not OK for your Writing test. Even though not every informal
word gets penalized, the more formal your style is, the better your score will be. To demonstrate the difference,
informal expressions such as loads of / tons of should be replaced with many or much; fed up with should
be replaced with lost his patience, etc.
2. Using contractions.
Contractions are its instead of it is, Ive instead of I have, were instead of we are (these are only a few
examples). Contractions are a bad, bad thing to use in your essay, they dont save you much time and can cost
you marks. Do me a favor and forget about contractions in your IELTS writing. Write should not instead of
shouldnt, could not instead of couldnt, would not instead of wouldnt. You get the idea.

3. Using slang.
You can use slang any time talking to your friends, but this is the only place where it belongs, in a conversation
between friends. Keep it out of your IELTS essays, letters or reports. You cant write dunno instead of dont
know, wanna instead of want to or gonna instead of going to.
4. SMS-like spelling.
We all are typing SMS messages, chatting on Skype and the like, and there is a bunch of shorter ways to write
longer words. We type u instead of you, c instead of see, IMHO instead of in my humble opinion. None
of these can appear in your IELTS exam, unless you are specifically trying to mess up and get a lower score than
you deserve. You need to write the full word and spell it correctly, period.
I hope this post has caught you in time to prevent any of the above mistakes. Good luck with your exam!
IELTS Writing: connective words (part 4)
This is the post about connective words and here you will find words to use in sentences referring to examples,
describing reasons or sequencing events in time.
Time
for instance
There are many schools in many countries where you could study, for instance the schools in London or
Birmingham.
one example
One example of how to get better at cooking would be to start readingrecipes.
for example
just as
I wanted to be home already just as much as a thirsty man in the desert wanted water.
in particular
I am referring to my exams, in particular, IELTS and TOEFL.
such as
namely
My friends, namely Andy and Cindy, have told me about this new exhibition in the city.
to illustrate
Reason
since
Since you asked, Id like to tell you my story
because (of)
due to
Due to the teachers illness this lecture is canceled.
owing to
the reason why
in other words
leads to
This assumption leads us to believe that
cause
The cause of this unfortunate accident was
Time
before
since
Since 2005 I have been working in
as
until
Until now I wasnt able to find anything like it.
meanwhile
Meanwhile, I would like to ask you to be patient.
at the moment
At the moment I am experiencing financial difficulties.
when
whenever
Whenever I call him, he appears to be very busy.
as soon as
just as
Hey, you're new here! I love new people, welcome.

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Continuing the topic of previous posts (part 1 and part 2), here are some more connective words to use in your
IELTS essay, letter or report. The headings in bold are the purpose for which you are using the connective words.
Certainty
obviously
I was very disappointed, obviously because my expectations were too high.
certainly
I will certainly let her know your opinion.
plainly
You are plainly wrong
of course
undoubtedly
She is undoubtedly very beautiful

Condition
if
unless
I wont be able to participate, unless we schedule the meeting in the morning.
whether
Whether you like it or not, this is the truth.
provided that
I can guarantee a good result, provided that you study.
so that
I can send you the documents so that you would have proof.
depending on
We can have a picnic this weekend, depending on the weather.
Summary
in conclusion
in summary
lastly
finally
to sum up
To sum up, I strongly support the efforts of our society to help the environment.
to conclude
to recapitulate
in short
I was going to post more connective words again, if it wasnt for an email that gave me another good idea.
These connective words are awesome, but they wont help you if you are seeing them for the first time and dont
know how to use them in a sentence. So now, I am repeating the whole list with examples, where appropriate.
Addition
in addition
In addition, I would like to point out that my neighbor is disturbing melate at night.
and similarly
Your life will change forever and similarly, your whole family will feel the change.
likewise
Some people have little time for a hobby, and have likewise little will to get one.
as well as
Beauty, as well as smarts, is a remarkable quality

besides
We arent friends. Besides, I dont feel its my place to set him straight.
furthermore
Computers are getting faster and faster these days; furthermore, their cost is getting lower and lower.
also
moreover
Ive been wanting a change for a long time, moreover, I feel I deserve one.
and then too
not only but also
Not only this product is good for your hair, but also it may soften your skin
Sequence
first(ly) initially
Initially, you would start putting a plan together.
second(ly)
to begin with
To begin with, you will need to commit a portion of your time to studying.
then
next
earlier/later
Later on there comes a stage when your skills are put to a test.
after this/that
following this/that
Consequence
as a result
I studied well and as a result, I got a high score.
thus
so
therefore
I was younger and therefore less experienced.
consequently
it follows that
thereby
I upset my friend, thereby causing her pain.
eventually
then in that case
admittedly
Admittedly, he is the smartest person I know.
Contrast
however
The book is expensive, however it is worth it.
on the other hand
She says she feels fine, but on the other hand, her face is pale and she doesnt look healthy.
despite
in spite of
In spite of the difficulties, the task was completed.
though
He still insists, though he knows that wont do any good.
although
but
on the contrary
The music didnt lift her spirit, on contrary, it made her feel weak and vulnerable again.
otherwise
yet instead of
He felt unwelcome, yet instead of leaving, he stayed.
rather
Eggs for breakfast is not a good idea, I would rather have some toast.
whereas
He was her true love, whereas for him she was just another girlfriend.
nonetheless
While they didnt trust each other, nonetheless they worked together for many years.
even though
compared with
in contrast
alternatively

Since many of you have been asking me for tips in Writing, I though a useful collection of connective words would
help. It was kindly shared by a student and I am sure that using those words in your essays, letters and reports
will positively affect your score.
This is part 1, part 2 is coming tomorrow.
Addition
in addition
and similarly
likewise as well as
besides further more
also moreover
and then too
not only but even
besides
Sequence
first(ly) initially
second(ly) etc.to begin with then
next earlier/later
after this/that
following this/that
Consequence

as a result
thus
so
therefore
consequently
it follows that
thereby
eventually
then in that case
admittedly
Contrast
however
on the other hand
despite
in spite of
though
although
but
on the contrary
otherwise
yet instead of
rather
whereas
nonetheless
even though
compared with
in contrast
alternatively
2 assumptions you shouldnt make about your
IELTS exam
This post is basically a common mistake alert. As you know Im receiving many emails from IELTS test takers
and they tell me about their exams, what went right, what went wrong, and we analyze the situation and what
should have been done differently.
And here is a point regarding the latest exam. As you know it was identical in many countries and apparently many
people had the same problems, because they werent mentally prepared.
Assumption # 1
People assumed that Task 1 in the Academic IELTS will be a chart or a graph and when they were given a
diagram, it came as a complete shock. As a result, it took them longer to get their heads around the task and they
spent over 30 minutes only thinking what they are going to write in their reports. Then its a chain accident if the
first task takes you longer, you dont have enough time for your essay and you are stressed, so the performance
goes down the drain.
This could have been easily solved by practicing beforehand. Guys, when you practice dont choose just graphs,
prepare for diagrams as well, its important to be prepared for whatever they throw at you and not things you think
are likely to appear. If youre under time pressure and have only a week to study thats fine, do just one or two
diagrams, but at least try yourself at it.

Assumption # 2
I dont know why, but people assume that IELTS questions never repeat when this blog is a proof to the fact that
they do, and quite often. Ive got an email from a student that said: You know what is really ironic? I saw my
speaking question the night before my exam on IELTS-Blog, but thought I will never get the same question and
didnt practice it.
Do yourself a favor go through the list of recent exams and familiarize yourself with the latest questions. The
best chances to get the same questions as before are, of course, in the Speakingtest, however in the Writing test
we too have seen that the questions were repeated over time.
And above everything else good luck with your preparation and I wish you an easy exam!
Spelling in IELTS: British or American?

Not everyone knows that there is a British and an American way of spelling words, and they are different. The
question about the acceptable spelling came up a lot lately and I found out that many students are unsure how to
spell words in the IELTSListening, Reading and Writing tests the British or the American way.
First, for those who have no idea what Im talking about, let me explain: if you ask someone from the USA and
someone from the UK to spell a word such as color, the American will spell colorand the person from the UK will
spell colour. There are many other examples:
favorite (USA) favourite (UK)
honor (USA) honour (UK)
memorize (USA) memorise (UK)
check (USA) cheque (UK)

There is no point in listing all of the differences here, you can see the whole list on this page.
As to the question, what is the right way to spell words in IELTS, the American or the British, the answer is both.
You can use either form and it will be accepted, no penalties.
The important thing is to choose one particular way and stick to it.
9 Academic IELTS Writing tips from Phuong on how
to get Band 7
This is the last article from Phuong, Band 7 in IELTS, and here he shares the secrets to success in the Writing
test.
Writing tips
This isnt, in fact, my weakness. But this skill is difficult to self-study. You need to go to an English center where
there are teachers who are willing to check your writing. Here are some suggestions I can think of, it maybe
cant help you out. But do your best, you will be fine.
1. Before writing an essay, you must know its basic structure. Abook about essay writing might show you this.
2. Do Task 2 first, because it is worth more marks and is easier.
3. Dont waste too much time on Task 1. Learn all the specific writing structure for each type of task 1. In the real
test, you just have to apply that structure with new data and suitable verb tenses. Read sample essays and take
note of the ones with good structure to have a wide range of academic structures for task 1. Some structures
might be used in the task 2 as well.
4. You must complete both tasks. I dont care how difficult the test is, I dont care how little time you have got.
You MUST complete your test at any cost. If you dont, you will be penalized.
5. Again, practice writing. Do both 2 tasks in one hour. You can focus only on task 1 or task 2, but before the test,
you should practice writing both tasks to get familiar with time limits.
6. Practice makes perfect. In writing, this statement is completely true. But it is better if there is someone to check
your writing for you and so you can learn from your mistakes.
7. Writing requires wide academic vocabulary. You also have to buy a dictionary to work on and enrich your
vocabulary.
8. Avoid all informal ways of writing. There are some rules of writing you should follow. For example: no
abbreviations, no 1st and 2nd pronoun or possessive (I, you, me, my, your), except in conclusion where you have
to state your opinion.
9. Each body paragraph has to include: the topic sentence, supporting sentences (2-3 sentences), development
sentences (evidence: example, experience, data). In many languages (English included), there are many ways to
develop a body paragraph, which results in a situation where that topic sentence is not the first sentence. But you
are advised to put the topic sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph. Dont be creative in this case.
That is all I can think of. I hope you will be lucky in your exam and what I wrote will help you in one way or
another. But REMEMBER, to reach success, you MUST make an effort. You should have a clear motivation and a
strong will to overcome difficulties. When I did practice tests, I was exhausted. But no success comes easily.
Practice is the only way to gain success. Dont just wait for a lucky break, it will never come if you dont know how
to grab it.
And the final point I want to mention is:
Relax before the test!
Attempting to do one or two practice tests before the real test wont help you increase your score. On the contrary,
it will make you feel stressed and less confident.
I took IELTS 2 times:
The first time: no relaxing, I tried to do more practice tests right before the test day. As a result, I couldnt
concentrate on the test and the result is: L:5.5 ; R:7.0 (dont mention about W and S here because it depends
mostly on examiners)
The second time: 2 weeks after the first time, that means when I received the first result, I had to take the test
the day after. But this time I felt relaxed since I knew I got 6.5 overall in the first test. And here is the second
result: L:6.5 ; R:7.5
I believe in a short period of time (two weeks), I couldnt improve that much. Moreover, the second test was
considered to be more difficult. So what makes the difference is the relaxation. There are more examples I could
mention to prove this point, but it would be wasting your time.
In brief, you must relax before any tests. Forget about them to relax, and believe in yourself.
Free Writing Samples
Writing samples for the General Training test
This sample includes letters and essays, all with examiners comments, as follows
1) A letter of Band 5
2) A letter of Band 7
3) An essay of Band 5
Click here to view the samples
This sample is a Letter topic click here to view
This sample is an essay topic click here to view
Writing samples for Academic Module
This sample includes 4 reports and 4 essays, all with examiners comments, as follows
1) A report of Band 5
2) Two reports of Band 6
3) A report of Band 7
4) Two essays of Band 5
Click here to view the samples

Task 1 Sample bar graph, click here to view
Sample essay topic #1, click here to view
Click here to see what a real Answer Sheet for the Writing sectionlooks like.
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The IELTS Writing test How to avoid getting your
essay penalized or disqualified
Did you know that in IELTS your marks are taken away for writing an essay, a letter or a report that is too short?
The length of your essay dictates how many marks you may lose. Let me explain: if you have written 240 words
(instead of the required 250 for an essay), you will lose fewer marks than if you have written only 200 words.
The lesson here is this: even if you dont have enough time to write 250 words, try to write as much as you can,
because then you will lose fewer marks. Obviously the best is to aim at 250-265 words to avoid penalty for
underlength.
Did you know that if you write an essay/letter/report but not on the topic you were given, your work can be
disqualified? Yes, thats true and here is another sure way to lose all the marks for writing: memorizing. The
examiners are not fools; they are trained professionals and can easily spot a memorized work.
The lesson here is this: dont take any chances, write an essay on the topic you were given, even if you dont have
brilliant ideas on it. It doesnt matter how original you are, as long as your writing makes sense and follows
the rules of an IELTS essay.
Did you like this post? New ones are coming every day subscribeand read future updates seconds after theyve
been published.
How to get ideas for an IELTS essay

You guys often ask me this question in the emails: How do I get ideas for an IELTS essay, when I dont
understand the topic?. And youre right, it is extremely hard to write about something you dont understand.
So heres what you can do to solve this problem:
Work on your vocabulary and learn new words, to make sure you will be able to understand the topic or at
least take a very good guess.
Read as many IELTS essays as you can. You can find manysample essays here. Reading other peoples essays
helps with the ideas, if you dont have any of your own borrow from others.
Read as much IELTS essay topics, as possible. You can find essay topics in every post in the Recent exams
category. Why should you do it? Simply because sometimes the topics repeat in the future exams
Important! Dont try to memorize essays. IELTS examiners are trained to look for memorized essays and they
will disqualify your work on the spot.
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The IELTS Writing half-band scores
About a year ago there was a change in the IELTS grading system, when half-band scores were introduced for
theWriting and Speaking modules. At first there was so much confusion, until they came up with an explanation of
those half-bands, but even now many people write to me asking to explain what can make a difference between a
full band and a half-band.
According to the IELTS examiners, it is the quality of your writing that makes that half band of difference. Let me
explain. I have written a post explaining how your Writing task gets graded, what things are important and what
you can get marks for. So lets take for example one of categories there, Selecting what information to present.
If the examiner sees that you attempted to do that, but didnt do it quite right (for example threw too much
information away) that could mean that you get half of band for attempting but not the full band because you
didnt do a very good job selecting information. Usually messing up in just one category is not enough to cost you
half-band; it would take two or three mess-ups of that kind to get the half-band taken away.
Another example weak grammar and poor choice of words can make the difference between band 5.5 and 6. The
work can be written in beautiful English but if it doesnt follow the IELTS format, youll never get beyond Band 7.
So I think the bottom line is they introduced the half bands to make difference between students that know what
IELTS writing rules are, try hard but do a poor job following the rules and students that do a good job in fulfilling
all the requirements.
The IELTS Writing how your band score is
calculated
This is the key question of many students: please explain how the band score is calculated. Finally, I decided to try
and summarize what I know about the scoring process so this is it the scoring process in my understanding.
When your Writing Task 1 gets graded (I am talking about theIELTS Academic module here), you can get (or lose)
points for:
Filling the requirement of the task
This means writing a report that shows this student understands what he needs to do and does as we ask.
Selecting what information to present
A bit tricky, you need to be careful not to throw away useful information yet avoid including every little detail.
Presenting an overview
Describing what the graph shows without repeating the task statement (task prompt), in your own words. If you
dont have an overview or copy the task statement it will cost you marks.
Presenting key features
Almost any graph has the most noticeable features, write about them.
Organization of information
This is mostly about paragraphs that should come in a logical order.
Progression
As the examiner reads your report he/she needs to see how you move smoothly on the graph from one thing to
another.
Cohesion, reference and substitution
That is to do with the way you present statistics. If you repeat the same structure to mention all the numbers, or
choose awkward expressions to do it it will cost you marks.
Range of vocabulary
Your choice of words can point at limited, normal or wide vocabulary. It also matters if your vocabulary is adequate
for the task or not (if it is not wide but enough to write a clear report, thats fine)
Control over grammar, spelling and appropriate choice of words
No need to explain
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The IELTS test score an important change
As you all know, the IELTS score consists of 4 parts which are the scores for the Listening, Reading, Writing and
Speaking modules. Until now you could get half scores in the Listening and Reading tests, but for the Writing and
Speaking you could only get whole bands (such as 6 or 7, but never a 6.5).
From 1 July 2007, as the IELTS official site www.ielts.org announced, the Writing and Speaking tests will also be
graded using half-scores, just like the Reading and Listening. The reason for this change is to give students more
accurate information on their skills. They also mentioned that students shouldnt change a thing in the way they
study.
Well, a change like that demands further research I am going to look for more information about this and once I
learn more I promise to share
Tips by an IELTS examiner

I was fortunate to have met a very special person, a former IELTS examiner. He sent me an email and it was filled
with GREAT tips, real insider information and, of course, I wasnt going to keep all of that to myself .
IELTS Writing tips
It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you dont fully
understand.
If you need Band 6 no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 then show advanced
sentence structure, language and vocabulary.
Dont write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get a lower mark, but
because of these 2 reasons:
1) It takes more time
2) More words = more mistakes

If you are told to cover specific points in your essay/letter cover every point, examiners do actually count them.
Dont overuse connecting words (like However, Furthermore, Moreover, etc) examiners are watching for you to
do that.
IELTS Speaking interview tips
Speak until they stop you, dont just answer the question and stop. Display you best English. Behave as if it was a
driving test keep going straight until told to turn right, left or park.
It is quite possible that you have to speak about something you have never heard of, or have no opinion of. If you
dont know the subject tell the examiner immediately, so he could ask you another question. If you dont tell him
and start trying to speak, he might think that it is not a knowledge problem, but a language problem.
Posted in IELTS Preparation tips, Speaking tips, Writing tips | View Comments (1)
The IELTS Writing Task 2 explained
I said this many times and I will repeat it again to write a good IELTS essay, you need to get into your
examiners head. Youve got to understand what makes you gain or lose marks, because once you do you cant
go wrong. What I am about to reveal here can be found in the IELTS official site, but I am explaining it in simple
English.
This is how they grade your essay: you receive points for Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical
Resource,Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Looks heavy? Never mind, here comes the simple English
version:
Task Response means that your essay shows that you understood and covered the topic from all its sides,
aspects, etc. Lets take this topic for example Internet: connecting or isolating people?. Those who chose to
write about how Internet connects people lose marks, those who chose to write about how Internet isolates
people lose marks, those who compare and contrast both sides of the Internet and give arguments for and
against gain marks.

Coherence and Cohesion means how well you connected the paragraphs and sentences inside each paragraph.
You see, all of your paragraphs need to be logically connected. For example, if paragraph 1 explains the
advantages of the Internet, and paragraph 2 explains its disadvantages, then paragraph 1 should have a last
sentence saying something like this: In spite of Internet being such a help in communication, its drawbacks can
not be overlooked. This sentence creates the connection between 1st and 2nd paragraphs. If it wasnt there, the
examiner could have thought that you jumped from advantages to disadvantages without a reason. The same rule
applies to sentences inside the paragraph. Every sentence should lead to the next one.
Lexical Resource means vocabulary and different types of sentences, simple and complex. You should be able
to use words and their synonyms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy means spelling and grammarof sentences. You should be able to spell the
words correctly, do not forget the articles a/an and the, the punctuation is also important, and so on you get
the picture, dont you?
One more important thing to know: the four criteria are equally weighted. It means that if you forgot about the
Coherence and Cohesion in your essay, you will lose 1/4 of your essay points.
It is quite possible that after reading this explanation you still couldnt write a good IELTS essay. This is
where Ace The IELTS book comes in. It has a full chapter dedicated to IELTS essays, which explains from A to
Z the whole process of essay writing and makes it so easy that a child could do it.
There are topics of essays for you to practice on and our teachers are waiting to check your essays and make sure
you are ready for the real IELTS test. And, of course, I am here to answer your questions, solve your problems and
support you every step of the way, write me to simone@IELTS-Blog.com
Tips for the Writing Task 1 of the IELTS Academic
test

As I promised to many of you, this is what you need to know about the Academic IELTS Test Writing Task 1.
The task here is to describe a graph in a report. The report is intended for a university lecturer, so the language
you use should be appropriate.
There are several different graphs you could see in a Writing Task 1:
Single line graph see example
Double line graph see example
Bar graph (Single, Double or Triple bar graph) see example
Pie chart see example
Table see example
Process
No matter what graph, diagram or table you are describing, you shouldnt break these rules:
Your report must be of at least 150 words written in 20 minutes.
You shouldnt write your opinion or copy words from the task prompt rephrase and use synonyms instead.
Never use bullets, write as if you were writing an essay or a letter.
When your Academic Writing Task 1 is graded by IELTS examiners, they look for this structure:
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
The Introduction should describe the purpose of your report and say what overall trends you see.
For example, if the graph is climbing up or dropping down, you should mention that.You need to remember that
you are describing a graph to someone who doesnt see it. Write what the graph is about, its dates and location.
The Body should describe the most important trends, while all information is summarized to avoid unnecessary
details. For example, if there is a graph that has 2 peaks, you should mention them; tell when those peaks
appeared and what the peak values are. Notice how many distinctive features the diagram has and divide
information into paragraphs, one paragraph per feature. You should link the paragraphs by sentences that logically
connect them to one another.
Important! You need to write about all the periods of time and all the subjects of graph. If it shows several years
(1992, 1993, 1994) write about all of them, if it is about men and women write about both. Remember,
summarizing doesnt mean throwing away information. The secret here is to select whats important, organize it,
compare and contrast.
The Conclusion should sum up the global trends shown on the graph and compare them if possible.
And if you need some sample answers, here they are, enjoy.
More Writing tips for the IELTS General module
Lets continue with the Writing tips, because I have more of them for you.
By the way, for those of you who cant wait to read Ace The IELTS book it is coming, I will release it very soon.
In the meantime youll have to settle for these tips .
In the Writing Task 2 you will receive a topic and you will have to write an essay of 250 words.
This task has more weight than the Writing task 1. It also takes longer 40 minutes, whereas Writing task 1 takes
only 20 minutes.
The topic of an essay can be one of 3 possible types: a description of an opinion, an argument or a social
problem.
Any essay you write on any topic must have structure you can receive (or lose ) points for it. Structure
means having at least 4 paragraphs (5 is better). The first paragraph is introductory, the next two or three are the
actual essay body, and the last one is the conclusion.
The first thing to do is to understand what kind of topic is before you.
Next:
for an argument you need to explain both sides and agree with one of them
for an opinion you need to present another point of view and say which one you agree with and why
for a problem you need to explain it, discuss and offer a solution and discuss it too.
No matter what type of essay you are writing, you must provide some facts, evidence and information. When you
explain the problem evaluate it; say when/where/who for it is especially difficult. If you present an idea of
solution discuss it; say what its good and bad sides are. Add examples from your own experience to support what
youre saying.
In any essay the logical sequence of information is very important. Jumping from one idea to another is very bad
for you score, all ideas must be connected logically. Another important thing is smart words try to use them as
much as you can, because this also affects your score. Punctuation is important too. Take a look at
some Examples Of Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2 here.This file is from the IELTS official site it can be
trusted.
Thats all for today keep up the good work!

Tips For Ielts Writing

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As an IELTS writing instructor, I am often asked by my students what the secret is to successful essay writing.

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