IELTS Tips And Tricks For Writing: IELTS Tips For Writing
Updated on 18 August, 2022
Mrinal Mandal
Study Abroad Expert
Study Abroad Expert
Every year, many students appear for the IELTS exam to pursue a successful career in the USA and other English-speaking countries. Even after practicing rigorously, aspirants consider IELTS writing as their toughest hurdle. But if you’re capable of expressing yourself quite well and have adequate knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and spelling, you can easily accomplish the writing task within the stipulated time. Let’s look at some effective IELTS writing tips that will help you slay the exam and pass with flying colors.
The IELTS writing task is different for academic and general training. Topics for the IELTS academic writing test are ideally designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students. On the other hand, general training tasks consist of excerpts on general topics (books, magazines, notices, company handbooks) that you regularly need to communicate in an English-speaking environment. The time duration for the writing tasks is 60 minutes for both academic and general.
Recommended Read: IELTS Academic vs General
Task 1: Test takers will be provided with a graph, table, chart, or diagram and will be asked to write a summary or report in your style.
Task 2: In this task, students need to write an essay to answer a question, argument, point of view, or problem. To the final writing score, task 2 contributes twice as compared to task 1.
It is recommended that candidates should write both the tasks in an academic, semi-formal or serious style.
Task 1: You either need to write a letter (in personal, formal, or semi-formal style) to request information from someone or need to explain a certain situation.
Task 2: You need to write an essay in response to a problem, argument, or question. The style is less formal as compared to the academic writing task 2.
The IELTS Writing section tests a candidate's ability to respond to the given task with coherence, grammatical accuracy, and flair for language. The writing section encompasses IELTS Writing Task 1 and IELTS Writing Task 2. Candidates are given 60 minutes to complete both tasks.
In task 1, candidates need to write 150 words in about 20 minutes, and in task 2, candidates need to write 250 words in about 40 minutes.
Here’s a table that gives an overview of time distribution in the IELTS writing section:
Things to do | Task 1- 20 minutes | Task 2- 40 minutes |
Read the question carefully | 2 minutes | 2 minutes |
Ideation | 3 minutes | Around 5 minutes |
First draft | 10 minutes | 23 minutes |
Organize | 2 minutes | 5 minutes |
Proofread & finalize | 3 minutes | 5 minutes |
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Before appearing for the test, let’s take a look at the below-mentioned IELTS writing tips and tricks to score well in the writing section:
These are some essential IELTS writing tips that will help you to secure good marks in the IELTS writing exam.
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Read More:
IELTS Eligibility | IELTS Registration | IELTS Syllabus |
Academic IELTS | IELTS Band Score | IELTS Writing Task 1 |
IELTS Writing Task 2 | IELTS Slot Booking | IELTS Band Score Chart |
Get to know about the latest updates on the IELTS Exam, Eligibility, Preparation Tips, Test procedure, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Registration Process, Important Exam Dates, and much more!! This guide is a one-stop solution for every IELTS Aspirant who aims to crack the exam with an impressive band score.
Here are some writing tips for IELTS:
Use time wisely: Candidates are given 60 minutes to complete the writing section. It is recommended that they must not spend more than 20 minutes on task one and 40 minutes on task two.
Check the number of words: Candidates will have to write a minimum of 150 words on task one and 250 words on task two. Candidates will lose marks if they write anything less.
Organize ideas logically: Candidates must spend at least five minutes understanding the question, brainstorming ideas, and selecting the information they would write.
Follow the style: Each task requires an appropriate style, determining the grammatical structures.
In the writing section of IELTS, candidates need to answer Task 1 and Task 2. To score an 8-band score in IELTS writing, test takers must use flawless grammar, correct punctuation, good vocabulary, good connectors, and collocations.
As a beginner, here are some writing tips that will help test-takers become better writers: enrich vocabulary by reading, practice as much as possible, research, and write regularly.
IELTS writing section tests how a candidate can organize the ideas and use the grammar and vocabulary accurately while writing the test. The writing section comprises IELTS Writing Task 1 and IELTS Writing Task 2.
IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic requires a test taker to write at least 150 words in response to a graph, table, or chart. Candidates are given 20 minutes to complete the task. The strategy for writing Academic Writing Task 1 is to understand the marking criteria, paraphrase the question, write an overview, support the main features while writing the paragraph, and review your work.
The test takers appearing for IELTS General Training will have to write a formal letter in task 1 of the IELTS writing test. Firstly, candidates must decide if they have been asked to write a formal or informal letter. The test takers are presented with a situation and are required to write a response in the form of an informal, semi-formal, or formal letter of at least 150 words.
IELTS Writing Task 2 is the second part of the writing test. In this section, a candidate is presented with a point of view, argument, or problem and asked to write an essay in response. The essay should be in a formal style and at least 250 words in length. Candidates must aim to complete the essay in under 40 minutes.
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