How do you get the IELTS Writing score you need?
To do well in the IELTS Writing test and get the IELTS band score you need, it’s important to know about the format of the writing test and to understand how your writing will be assessed.
It’s also important to prepare for the IELTS Writing test by practising IELTS Writing tasks and getting some feedback on your writing.
For some more advice about preparing for the IELTS writing test, have a look at the example answers and tips in the IELTS writing blog posts below.
What happens in the IELTS Writing test?
The IELTS Writing tests in IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training are one hour long and contain two writing tasks each.
For Writing task 1 in IELTS Academic, you are given a graph, chart, table or diagram (or more than one of these) and asked to write a summary of the information shown.
For Writing task 1 in IELTS General Training, you are given a situation and asked to write a letter requesting information or explaining a situation.
In Writing task 2 in both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, you are asked to write an essay in response to a problem or an opinion on a topic of general interest.
In both tests, you have to write at least 150 words for writing task 1 and at least 250 words for task 2.
How will your writing be assessed in the IELTS test?
In the test, the examiner will grade your writing tasks from 0 to 9 based on the content of your answers, your organisation and linking, and your use of vocabulary and grammar.
For IELTS Academic writing, the examiner will look specifically at how well you can:
- give and request information and/or explain a situation in a letter
- present, develop and support your ideas about a particular topic in an essay
- organise and link the information and ideas in your writing clearly and appropriately
- use a range of vocabulary clearly, accurately and appropriately
- use both simple and complex grammar accurately and appropriately
For IELTS General Training writing, the examiner will look specifically at how well you can:
- summarise the important information in a graph, chart, table or diagram
- present, develop and support your ideas about a particular topic in an essay
- organise and link the information and ideas in your writing clearly and appropriately
- use a range of vocabulary clearly, accurately and appropriately
- use both simple and complex grammar accurately and appropriately
In both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, Writing task 2 contributes twice as much to your band score as Writing task 1.
How much will your writing score contribute to your overall score?
When you receive your results, you’ll get an individual band score for your writing (as well as for your listening, reading and speaking) and an overall band score.
Your overall band score will be calculated by averaging your individual band scores and then rounding to the nearest whole or half band.
If you score 6.5 for listening, 6.5 for reading, 6.0 for writing and 6.5 for speaking, for example, you’ll receive an overall band score of 6.5 (25.5 ÷ 4 = 6.375 = Band 6.5).
How can you prepare for the IELTS Writing test?
To give yourself the best chance of getting the IELTS Writing band score you need, it’s important to practice IELTS Writing tasks and to get some feedback on your writing.
If you’d like some individual help with your writing, have a look at our IELTS tutor profiles or check out our IELTS tutoring options for writing.
For some more advice about preparing for the IELTS Writing test, have a look at the example answers and tips in the IELTS writing blog posts below.
IELTS preparation blog – IELTS writing
Here are some posts from the IELTS writing category of our IELTS preparation blog that you may find useful:
The chart shows… (2)
Hi
As you probably know, in IELTS Academic writing task 1 you have to summarise the information in a graph, chart, table or diagram (or more than one of these).
To show you the kind of writing required for this task, have a look at the chart below from the official IELTS website, think about what information you should include in a written summary, and then read the following example answer.
The chart shows the number of men and women in further education in Britain in three periods and whether they were studying fulltime or part-time.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Some advice for IELTS General Training writing task 1
Hi,
As you may know, in IELTS General Training writing task 1 you have to write a letter of 150 words or more.
For those of you taking the General Training test, here are two questions that I think you should ask yourself when you look at the letter writing task in your IELTS Writing test.
1. What is the purpose of the letter? Read the full post »
How to get a band score 8.0 in IELTS Writing task 2
Hi
Here’s the fourth in our series of IELTS band score 8.0 videos.
In the video, I explain what you need to do to get an IELTS band score 8.0 in IELTS Writing task 2.
(If you can’t view the video above, try viewing it directly on our YouTube channel or our YouKu channel). Read the full post »
How to make fewer mistakes in your writing
Hi
The key to making fewer mistakes in your IELTS writing is to know what mistakes you make, what kind of mistakes they are, and how to correct them.
One way to do this is to make an error correction log, a list of your common mistakes and their corrections.
Have a look at these corrected sentences from an IELTS candidate’s essay on the importance of maintaining old buildings, and then check out the error correction log below.
To see how we can help you improve your English and get the IELTS band score you need, have a look at our IELTS tutor profiles or check out our IELTS tutoring options.
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