IELTS Academic Writing – Tips & Tricks

A lot of us get worried when we see the IELTS Academic Writing test. There’s a graph and a long essay
and although it’s a relief that there isn’t much to read, the thought of producing a 150 word and a 250
word response is harrowing for most of us. But there’s a good side to this: you will always know what to
expect on Task 1. It requires you to write a report on information that a visual (graph, table, map,
diagram, etc.) conveys and Task 2 requires you to write an essay. But still the thought of trying to whip
out your own sentences and presenting them whilst taking care of organization, spelling, tone is a little
bit too much for many. Don’t worry! Here are some tips to allow you to write an effective Task 1 and
Task 2 response.

But before that you must know what comes on the test. Here’s a sample paper to get familiar with the
Academic Writing test before you begin.

1. Know the Different Types of Task 1 and Task 2 questions: There can be different sorts of Task 1
questions from regular data-rich visuals like bar charts, line graphs, tables, and pie charts to
more illustrative ones like diagrams, flowcharts, and maps. For Task 2, you may get anything
from an Argumentative essay to a Discussion-based essay. Regardless of the types of questions
that you may get on the Writing test, you must make yourself familiar with the different types of
questions that may appear on the test.
2. Know the Test Parameters: IELTS is a standardized test and it has to have certain parameters to
justify that its evaluation of something as subjective as a writing response is as objective as
possible. So IELTS assesses you on 4 parameters namely, Task Achievement/Response;
Coherence and Cohesion, Grammatical Range and Accuracy and Lexical Resources. The first of
these just means how well you respond to the question prompt answering all the parts. In Task
1, it is all about selecting and reporting the main features from the visual and comparing them
(if possible). Coherence and Cohesion is all about organizing your response. For grammar it is
just not important to know how to write using correct grammar, but to also use variety of
grammatical features (relative clauses, participle clauses, conditionals, etc) to get a high score.
Lexical Resources is all about knowing the words and using them correctly. Knowing these
parameters means that you exactly know what to focus on while preparing for IELTS Academic
Writing. So if you are clueless what you need to improve on in IELTS Academic Writing check out
the rubrics of Task 1 and Task 2.
3. Time Management: This is what a lot of students struggle with especially on the Writing test.
They spend so much time trying to interpret the Task 1 that they are left with less time to write
Task 2. Remember you must not spend more than 20 minutes on Task 1. For Task 2, you don’t
get more than 40 minutes. Another interesting thing to remember is that Task 2 is worth twice
the marks as Task 1. So if you are spending less time on Task 2 and writing it a rather rushed
essay, you will score less. A good strategy would be to first start with Writing Task 2 and then
after 40 minutes switch to Task 1. This way you allocate due attention to what is more
important on the exam.
 4. Meeting the Word Limit: There is a word limit on each of the tasks. You will be penalized in Task
Response/Achievement if you write less than 150 words in Task 1 and less than 250 words on
Task 2. However, there is no penalty for writing more. But you must not write more expecting
that you will score more. IELTS Academic Writing demands Quality, not Quantity.
5. Proofread: Once you are finished writing your response, make sure that you proofread your
work to eliminate the most obvious grammar and spelling errors. We all make errors while
writing in a timed condition and it is important that you realize your mistakes and make an
effort to correct them in time. A lot of students complain that they aren’t left with enough time
to proofread their work, but you will be if you divide your writing assignment into parts and
time you different steps of writing your essay. You should time how much time you spend on
brainstorming, writing the introduction, writing the body paragraphs, writing the conclusion and
then make enough time for checking your work. You will be amazed at the type of mistakes that
you have made and how just correcting them will save you scores in Grammatical Range and
Accuracy and Lexical Resource.

If you keep these simple tips in mind while attempting the IELTS Academic Writing test, you will see
great improvement in your score!

Happy Learning!