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During the 10 years ofmy IELTS Dubai training, I have had many students coming to me only to improve their writing skills in the IELTS Exam. So, are you someone who is stuck at band six despite taking the IELTS exam several times? You may need a band seven or above in the IELTS but you can’t seem to get higher than six in the writing exam. Now, have you ever tried to identify your problem?
It’s likely that you have been following some ineffective approaches in the writing exam.
How about changing your approach to the IELTS Exam? Let’s start with;
- Clear Understanding on the Exam
The IELTS writing test usually comprises of two tasks. You’ll have 60 minutes to answer both the tasks.
For Task 1, you must provide a 150-word written response to describe, summarise or explain some visual information such as graphs, tables, charts or diagrams, using your own words.
On the other hand, Task 2 requires you to respond to a point of view /argument /problem through a discursive consideration of the relevant issues in 250 words. Answers should be relevant and not in general. For example, Writing on computers is a general topic. While writing on computer sales is more specific and relevant.
2. Understand the scoring criteria
You need to understand that your IELTS writing score is made up of four different parts: task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource (which means vocabulary) and grammar.
The IELTS examiners use detailed performance descriptors when assessing your answers for both tasks:
- Task achievement (25 %)
- Coherent and cohesion (25%)
- Vocabulary (25%)
- Grammatical range and accuracy (25%)
Your final score will be the average of the four criteria above.
Think now, where are you weakest? What do you need to work on from these four areas?
3. Get Training and Practice
If you aren’t confident in your English abilities, it can cause quite an anxiety. Even those who call English their native language and are trained in it have failed the test.
The IELTS Writing test demands precision in terms of grammar, the vocabulary used and cohesiveness between sentences. But with enough preparation and practice, you can pass this test with a high band score.
4. Manage the Time Wisely
As an IELTS candidate, you should at first have a clear understanding of how to manage the test time.
The writing component of the IELTS Writing test is designed to assess how you write a response suitably and wisely. Organise ideas and use a range of vocabulary and grammar accurately.
To wisely manage time, practice beforehand and write your answer for Task 1 within 20 minutes. Task 2 contributes double the marks so it’s crucial to ensure you have at least 40 minutes left for this.
5. Mind the Word Count
In the IELTS Writing Task, there’s a penalty if you write under the word count. Task 1 requires you to provide at least a 150-word written response, while Task 2 requires at least a 250-word written response.
There’s a risk of losing marks if you are just a few words below the word count. Therefore, you must always write above the word count or you will lose marks. There is no upper limit on how many words you can write. But, aim to write between 160 to 180 for Task 1, and 260 to 280 for Task 2.
This will ensure that you do not lose marks for writing too little while also ensuring you aren’t adding too much additional information.
Learn to count the words by lines instead of individual words so you save time during the real test.
6. Practice makes perfect
There are tonnes of online resources available for you to practice both the tasks. Try to choose the best ones that’ll help you and bookmark them for reference.
Although model answers are aplenty, your practice should not include memorising them as examiners can spot such answers. Sometimes, you will even risk having your entire test invalid.
While writing your test ensure that you get your spelling, grammar, and punctuation right. If you make mistakes, your chances of failing in the exam is more likely.
These are the things you need to consider in-order to easily get through the IELTS Writing test. Prepare and practise well and get ready to pass the test with confidence.
Noufal MK
I am a professional IELTS Trainer with Edoxi Training Institute – a world-class Educational Training Center providing the best IELTS Coaching in Dubai.
I have been working as an IELTS, PTE Trainer for the last couple of years. Last year, I have trained 400 students. It has helped me in accomplishing the best score in each area of the IELTS tests. I have a strong training background in effective classroom coaching which enables me to bring out the best in each student.
Before joining the Edoxi Training institute as an IELTS Trainer, I worked with Markaz Ihram English club, Koyilandy as the Head of Academics and as a Guest Lecturer with Markaz Law College, Kozhikode.