IELTS Writing Tips

The IELTS tips on this page will help you get the best possible score in the IELTS
Writing test.
The tasks in the IELTS Writing module are different depending on whether you are
doing the Academic or General Training format. However, most of these IELTS tips
are relevant to both. Advice specific to a particular format is given later.
Time is the big enemy in the IELTS Writing test. You need to be able to manage
your time very well if you are to complete both tasks to the best of your ability.
Task 1 accounts for one third of the marks and Task 2 the remaining two
thirds. You should therefore spend 20 minutes on task 1 and 40 minutes on task
2. We don't recommend spending more time on one at the expense of the other, even
if you feel you can answer one more easily than the other. Answer both tasks to the
best of your ability.
It isn't important which task you do first. However, be sure to answer each task in the
correct place. The answer sheet has "Task 1" and "Task 2" written on it in the
appropriate place. Task 1 is on page 1 and Task 2 on page 3.
If you do accidentally answer a task in the wrong place make sure you mark
it clearly and, if in doubt, inform the invigilator who will make a note of this. As long
as it is clear to the examiner there will be no problem.
Read the instructions carefully. If you do not fulfill the requirements of the
task you will be penalised. Allow yourself some time to plan your answer. You need
a well planned, coherent answer to get good marks.
You must answer the task set. Be sure to read the entire task description carefully.
Quite often the introductory sentence will indicate what aspect of the topic is most
relevant. Don't misread it!
If you don't respond to the topic, you will lose marks. If you don't answer the task that
is set, or include information that is irrelevant, you will lose marks. Don't change the
topic to something you are more familiar with (or have memorised). You will
surely be disappointed!
You will not be given any rough paper so use the question sheet for notes and
planning. Anything you write on the question paper will not be used for assessment.
You are required to write a minimum number of words - 150 for task 1 and 250
for task 2. If you write less than the minimum number you will be penalised. If you
write more you will not be penalised but writing more may mean you don't have time to
complete the other task. Ideally you should try to write just over the minimum
number for each task.
If you find you don't have enough room on the answer paper to complete your script
ask the invigilator for more paper. There is no requirement to fit your entire script on
the answer paper supplied, though this is usually sufficient.
Don't try to pad out your script by copying the rubrik from the question paper. If
you do, it won't be included in any word count made by the examiner.
Don't try to memorise a 'model' answer before the test. It is unlikely that you will
have a task on the same topic and scripts that are memorised or plagiarised are easily
detected by the examiner and will be penalised.
Write clearly. Although you won't be penalised for untidy writing, if the examiner can't
read your script it will be marked down. Poor spelling, however, will be penalised.
When writing your script remember that it will be marked by an examiner who is
looking to see if you have fulfilled the requirements of the task, that your writing
is coherent, that you can use the appropriate vocabulary and have a good range
of sentence structures. The examiner will be looking to see how accurately you can
manage these things.
Your examiner can only work with what he is given so do your best to provide him
with a variety of language used accurately and appropriately to show what you
are capable of.
If you finish both tasks before your time is up, don't just sit there feeling smug!
Use this time to check what you have written. While it is unlikely you will have time to
make major changes to the content or layout of your essay, you should certainly spend
the time proofreading. Check carefully for spelling, punctuation and
grammatical errors. Inaccuracy in these areas will lose you marks so time spent
proofreading is time well spent.

Academic Versus General Training

There are two versions of the writing test. The Academic format is aimed at candidates
intending to go abroad to study at an undergraduate or postgraduate level. The
Academic writing module is therefore used to assess whether the candidate is able to
write in a way acceptable to academic institutions such as universities. The General
Training writing module is aimed at the more basic survival requirements of candidates
who want to emigrate, work abroad or study abroad but not at degree level.
Academic Writing
The Academic writing module is used to assess whether a candidate meets the more
formal requirements of a higher education establishment. The tasks set and the
requirements are therefore different to the General Training writing module.
Task 1
The task will be to interpret a diagram or table and present the information in
your own words, usually for a university lecturer. This may involve describing the
information present or describing a process.
First spend a few minutes making sure you understand what the diagrams or
tables show. What is it you see? You may be required to explain the data presented,
possibly making comparisions. You may be required to explain how something works or
describe the steps in a procedure or a sequence of events.
Once you have decided what the task involves by carefully reading the task description
and looking at the diagrams/tables plan how you are going to answer it. You can
use the question paper to make notes.
Your first paragraph should explain, in your own words, what the diagrams/tables
show. Do not just regurgitate the task description. If you do it will be ignored by the
examiner and not included in any word count. You therefore need to paraphrase
what is in the task description.
Your following paragraphs should describe the data or process. You are explaining
the information and drawing any conclusions that may be apparent from the data. Do
not include opinions.
You must write at least 150 words. Failure to do so will be penalised.
Task 2
The second Academic writing task is designed to assess the candidate's ability to
discuss a problem, point of view or argument. The issues raised are of general
interest and suitable for candidates entering higher education.
Read the task task description carefully. It is very easy to have an incomplete
understanding of the topic. If so you will be marked down because you have not
satisfied the requirements of the task.
Once you clearly understand the requirements of the task you must plan your essay.
Use the question paper to do this. Introduce the topic in your own words. Do not
copy the task from the question paper or it will be ignored and not included in the word
count. You may be required to present an argument for or against a proposition,
compare and contrast points of view, justify an opinion or evaluate evidence.
End your essay with a conclusion.
You must write at least 250 words. Failure to do so will be penalised.
General Training Writing
The General Training writing test differs from the Academic version as it is aimed at
assessing basic survival needs.
Task 1
In task 1, General Training candidates are expected to write a letter as a response
to a problem or requesting further information.
Read the task description carefully so that you understand what the letter is for. In
particular, be sure to read the bullet points and include the information in the
letter or you will not be fulfilling the task. Is this a formal or informal letter? To a
friend or an organisation?
You will be told to start your letter with "Dear....." or "Dear Sir or Madam", depending
on the formaility of the letter. Please do as requested! (The '....' can be replaced with a
fictitious name.) These already give you a hint as to the tone of the letter. If you are
told to start with "Dear Sir or Madam" the letter is clearly formal (and should end with
"Yours faithfully"). If the letter is to "Dear....." check from the rubrik whether it is to a
friend or is more formal. If it is to a friend it is an informal letter so could be to "Dear
John" and end in an informal way (not "Yours faithfully" or "Yours sincerely"). If it is a
formal letter it could be to "Dear Mr. Smith" and should end with "Yours sincerely".
The content of the letter should cover the task as specified in the task description.
Be sure to cover all the bullet points and write the letter in the correct tone.
You must write at least 150 words. Failure to do so will be penalised.
Task 2
In task 2 of the General Training writing module candidates are presented with a point
of view, argument or problem.
Read the task description carefully so that you have a complete understanding of
the task. If not you will be marked down because you have not satisfied the
requirements of the task.
Once you clearly understand the requirements of the task you must plan your essay.
Use the question paper to do this. Introduce the topic in your own words. Do not
copy the task description from the question paper or it will be ignored and not included
in the word count. You may be required to present an argument for or against a
proposition, compare and contrast points of view, justify an opinion or
evaluate evidence. End your essay with a conclusion.
You must write at least 250 words. Failure to do so will be penalised.
Use these IELTS tips to ensure you get the IELTS Writing score you deserve!
For information on how to prepare for the IELTS test, check out our IELTS Writing
Preparation and IELTS Resources pages.
 
The IELTS tips on this page will help you get the best possible score in the IELTS
Listening module.
You will be given this first bit of advice over and over again but it's still worth repeating:
listen carefully to the invigilator's instructions. We are always amazed by the
number of people who fail to heed this advice. We often notice candidates not paying
attention to the invigilator and these are the ones who get told off because they open
the question paper before being instructed to do so. We appreciate that it is difficult
listening to someone speaking in your second language but candidates really need to
concentrate very hard on what the invigilator says.
Before discussing these IELTS Listening tips it is worth mentioning that if there are any problems with
the conduct of the test you should make a mental note in case you do not get the result you need - see
the section "After The Test" on the IELTS Tips page.
Examples of possible problems include faulty equipment or being distracted by noise inside or outside the
exam room. The invigilator should not be wandering around during the IELTS Listening test as this can
be distracting or even cause interference if wireless headphones are in use.
Listen to the invigilator's instructions. Fill out the answer sheet as instructed. When the
question paper has been given out, read the instructions on the front but DO NOT
OPEN IT. The instruction to open the question paper is recorded on the tape.
The invigilator will check the recording before starting the listening test. They will
do this by playing the first two or three sentences. (These are not part of the test, just
introductory sentences.) Listen carefully so that you know if you can hear OK. If you
have any problems say so immediately. If there is a problem with the CD or
equipment it will be apparent to everyone, but at some Test Centres headphones are
used and if your headphones are faulty others may be able to hear fine while you
cannot.
Do not wait until the test has started before saying something. Once the test has
started the tape cannot be stopped!
Do not open the question paper until instructed to do so. You will be instructed to
open the question paper on the recording. Opening the question paper before
being instructed to do so may be considered to be cheating.
Listen carefully to the tape and don't let your attention wander. The tape will be
played once only and there will be no repeats. All instructions and pauses are
recorded on the tape so, if you are told you have half a minute to check your answers,
there will be half a minute of silence on the recording.
The listening test consists of four sections. Before each section you will be given time to
read the questions for that section. Read them carefully but not too slowly - when
your time is up the recording will start, whether or not you have read all the questions.
Be sure to read the instructions, as well as the questions, carefully and follow
them. If it says write no more than three words, do not write four!
As you listen to the recording don't just listen for the answer to the question you are
expecting. Be aware of the questions that follow the one you are expecting. It
is easy to miss the answer to a particular question and then find yourself lost.
Quite often the speaker will provide an answer that is vague, or that they are not sure
about. Always keep listening for clarification or a change of mind.
Write your answers in the question booklet quickly and clearly enough for you
to be able to read them when you come to transfer them to the answer sheet. You can
use some form of shorthand to save time if you wish, even your own language, as
nothing you write in the question paper will be seen by the examiner. Just be
sure you can still understand it when you come to transfer your answers.
After each section you will be given chance to check your answers. If you finish
checking your answers to a section in the time available give yourself a head start and
begin looking at the questions for the next section.
After the final section you will be told that you have ten minutes to transfer your
answers to the answer sheet. If you are wearing headphones be sure to leave them
on as you will continue to receive timechecks and instructions from the
recording - including the one that tells you to stop writing! Failure to stop writing may
be seen as cheating!
During this time carefully transfer your answers using pencil. Make sure you
transfer your answers to the correct number on the answer sheet. Also, check
you have followed any instructions correctly. If your spelling is incorrect or if the
examiner cannot be sure if you have answered the question correctly because it is not
written clearly, it will be marked incorrect so try to get your spelling right and
write clearly.
10 minutes is sufficient time to transfer your answers as long as you don't waste time.
For example, if you have not been able to answer all the questions be sure to transfer
all the questions you have answered before reviewing those you haven't.
Although the IELTS Listening test gets progressively more difficult, you get the same
mark for every correct answer regardless of whether it was easy or hard.
Once you have transferred the answers to all the questions you managed to answer,
review those questions you were unable to answer. Now is the time to guess. For some
questions it might be obvious which are definitely wrong answers, perhaps leaving you
with two possible choices. Guess which is correct and move on to the next
question. You will not lose marks for incorrect answers but have every chance of
gaining marks by guessing. Even for questions where you don't have any idea what the
correct answer is, try to guess. A correct guess might be enough to push you up a
band. Your target should be to have an answer for every question - try not to leave
any blank.
Take note of these IELTS tips and you should have a much better chance of reaching
your potential in the IELTS Listening test.

IELTS Reading Tips

The IELTS tips on this page will help you get the best possible score in the IELTS
Reading test.
As with other modules, the first bit of advice is to listen to the invigilator and read
the instructions on the question paper carefully.
When you receive the your question paper DO NOT OPEN IT until instructed but, in
the meantime, read the instructions and check that you have been given the correct
paper i.e. Academic or General Training.
Unlike the listening module there is no time allocated to transferring your
answers to the answer sheet after the test. It is easy to assume that, because the
format of the answer sheet is similar to the listening test, you will be able to do this -
don't be caught out.
Some candidates prefer to answer all the questions on the question paper and not
transfer them until they have finished. Our advice would be to transfer your answers
as you go, or, at the very least, at the end of each section. Time on the reading
test is tight. If you don't manage your time well you could find that you don't have
time to transfer all your answers. This is a really bad way to lose marks and we
have seen it happen.
The IELTS Reading module gets more difficult as you progress, yet each answer has
the same mark. A good strategy would be to work through the paper leaving
questions that you can't easily answer but transferring those you can to the answer
sheet. Once you have gone through the paper, work through your unanswered
questions from the beginning of the paper onwards so that you do the easier questions
first. If you can't find an answer, guess.
In any case, be sure to read all the questions for a section before you read the
text. If you know what the questions are before reading the text, it will be much easier
and quicker to answer them. Remember that sometimes questions are before the
text, sometimes after and sometimes before and after.
When you transfer your answer to the answer sheet make sure you put your answer
in the correct place. You also need to be careful about spelling and writing
clearly. If your answer is spelt incorrectly or isn't clear to the examiner it will be
marked wrong. There is very little excuse for bad spelling on the reading test as the
correct spelling will almost certainly be found in the text.
At the end of the test be sure you stop writing and put your pencil down when
told to do so.
Following these IELTS tips will help ensure you finish the IELTS Reading test with the
highest possible number of correct answers.