IELTS Writing Task 2 Tips
IELTS Writing Task 2 Tips
Dos
1. Answer the question read the question carefully and does exactly what it asks you to do. You can then make a plan to help you order your ideas before you start to write.
2. Use an appropriate structure. There are several different types of question that you need to learn and they all have different structures.
3. Most questions ask you what your opinion is about a certain topic. If they do, make sure you make your opinion very clear throughout your essay.
4. Keep it simple. The examiners know you only have 40 minutes and do expect a masterpiece. Don’t over think it. Often the best answers are the simplest ones.
Don’ts
1. Don’t show off. You are being marked on vocabulary and grammar but that does not mean you should try to use very complicated words. If you are not 100% sure. don’t use them.
2. You should never try to memorise or copy answers. Your grammar and vocabulary will be good but you will not have answered the question.
3. Don’t overuse words like ‘moreover’, ‘however’ and ‘nowadays’. You can use these but they should not be in every sentence. If you look at a Band 9 answer they are rarely used.
4. Never write a sentence without a purpose. Each sentence has a job to do in an essay. If it doesn’t have a purpose, leave it out.
Answer the Question Not the Topic
1. One of the biggest complaints from IELTS teachers and examiners alike is most students’ inability to answer the question. Instead lots of students write very generally about the topic and do not actually answer the question.
2. If we look at an example you will see why: Question-Global warming is one of the biggest threats humans face in the 21st century and sea levels are continuing to rise at alarming rates. What problems are associated with this and what are some possible solutions. Many students will see this question and write as much about global warming as they can think of.
This is a mistake because the IELTS writing test is not a test of your knowledge; it is a test of your ability to answer the question with a high level of written English. A good student would read the question carefully and realise that the question is not asking you to talk about global warming; in fact, it is asking you to comment on sea level rises with reference to humans. So the answer to the question will only talk about the problems humans face from sea level rises and nothing else.
Talking about the topic is the shot gun approach, you might hit a few things but you are unlikely to hit the target in the way a sniper would.
Analyse the Question Properly
1. If you don’t answer the question fully you can’t get over a band 5. It is that simple and it is probably the number one thing stopping people getting a high score. It takes a long time to improve your grammar and vocabulary but you can improve this very quickly.
2. Answering the question fully simply means reading the question carefully and then doing what it asks you to do.
3. Spend time reading the question carefully and think about exactly what the question is asking you to do
4. A good way to think about this is to use keywords (general topic), micro-keywords (specific sub-topic) and instructions words (what we must do) when thinking about your answer. Let’s look at an example:”The continued rise in the world’s population is the greatest problem faced by humanity at the present time. What are the causes of this continued rise? Do you agree that it is the greatest problem faced by humanity?” The keywords here are rise in the world’s population.
This is useful because we now know the general topic (population growth), however, we can’t simply write about this topic generally, we must think about it in more detail and figure out exactly what the question is asking us to do. The micro-keywords are greatest problem and continued rise. Therefore, we have to think about this topic more specifically and think about if it really is the greatest problem we face and we also have to comment on why it is continuing to rise.
Now we must look for the instruction words. In this question there are two different instruction words causes and Do you agree?. We must therefore talk about both of these things in our essay. If we don’t or we just write a sentence or two about one and focus on the other, we have not answered the question and we can’t get over a band 5.
Plan
1. The students who get the highest marks always spend time making a plan before they start writing. I normally tell my students to spend at least 5 minutes planning and another couple of minutes analysing the question.
2. Lots of students don’t plan and this leads to them getting lost in the middle of their test and either having to start over again and losing lots of time or results of a very confused essay that is difficult to follow. Think about this way; if you were going to travel to a new place would you take some time to look at a map or would you just start driving?
3. A plan can be very simple and just used to guide you.
Use an Appropriate Structure
1. IELTS task 2 questions generally follow a standard format. They will either ask your opinion about something, ask you to discuss to different points of view, as you to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of something or discuss the causes/problems and solutions of something.
2. The great thing about this is there are standard structures you can learn for each of these essays. I am not talking about memorising essays, you should never do this, but you should familiarise yourself with the standard structures.
3. For example in a problem and solution essay your structure should look something like this:
Paragraph 1
– Sentence 1- Paraphrase Sentence
– Sentence 2- Outline Sentence
Paragraph 2
– Sentence 3- State Problem
– Sentence 4- Explain Problem
– Sentence 5- Result of Problem
– Sentence 7- Example
Paragraph 3
– Sentence 8- State Solution
– Sentence 9- Explain Solution
– Sentence 10- Example
Paragraph 4
– Sentence 11- Conclusion
– Sentence 12- Recommendation/Prediction
Don’t Show Off
1. To show off is to try to tell everyone how good you are at something. IELTS candidates try to show off by using very complicated vocabulary and advanced grammar and believe this will show the examiner how good they are and that you deserve a high score. The only problem with this is that many people use vocabulary and grammar they are unsure of and this leads to lots of mistakes.
2. If you try to use advanced vocabulary and grammar structures, but use them incorrectly, you will actually get a lower score. It is much better to use a simpler structure you are 100% sure is correct. I always tell my students to follow the 100% rule- if you are not 100% sure, don’t use it.
3. This is one of the biggest revelations my students have after their first class with me and it leads to clearer writing and ultimately higher bands scores.
Make Your Opinion Clear
Most of the Task 2 questions ask you to give your opinion. You should make this very clear in the introduction, conclusion and the main body paragraphs. Make sure you state your opinion in the introduction, if asked to do so, by saying:
– I believe that.
– It is agreed that
– It is disagreed that
– This essays agrees that.
– This essay does not agree that.
2. The rest of your essay should then be used to demonstrate why you believe this to be true.
What Are Your Common Grammar Mistakes?
1. After marking thousands of IELTS papers, I can tell you that students tend to make the same mistakes over and over again.
2. These small grammar mistakes might not seem very significant, but unless at least half of your sentences are 100% error free, you cannot get over a band 7 for grammatical range and accuracy.
3. You should therefore get a native speaker or a professional IELTS teacher to mark some of your writing and tell you what your common grammar mistakes are and then you can fix them. If you know the mistakes you are making, you can practice hard and eliminate them from your writing.
Write Slightly Over the Word Limit
1. Did you know that IELTS examiners count every word of your writing test? It’s a very boring job but they still do it.
2. For task 1 you have to write at least 150 words and for task 2 at least 250 words. That means if you write 149 words for task 1 you will lose marks. It is therefore essential that you write over the word limit.
3. You will not have time to count every word, so the best thing you can do is practice using the official answer sheets and you will then know what 150 words and 250 words looks like on the page without having to count every word.
4. Lots of students also ask if it is better to write over the word limit. The answer is no because you don’t have time and writing more than is required often leads to more grammar mistakes and your ideas becoming irrelevant. Try to write about 10-15% over what is required. This way you will always go over the word limit, but not lose time or make mistakes.
Write Clear Topic Sentences
1. Topic sentences should be the first sentence you write in each main body paragraph and should tell the reader what the rest of the paragraph is about. These really pop out at the examiner and tell them exactly what the whole essay is about. They make your essay very clear and easy to read and this will not only make the examiner very happy, but also get you higher marks.
Explain Your Points and Give Examples
1. The official task 2 band descriptors state that your ideas should be relevant, fully extended and have well supported ideas.
2. This means that your ideas should not only answer the question (see IELTS writing tip 1), but also be explained and supported with examples.
3. When you make a point you should assume that the writer has no previous knowledge of the subject and you have to explain what you mean. I often tell my students to pretend they are writing to a 10 year old who has never heard of the topic you are writing about and this will help you to fully explain your ideas.
4. You also need to include a very specific example of what you are talking about. This could be a newspaper article, a personal anecdote or some research that was recently done that relates to the question. The key is to try and be specific. Including specific countries or cities and dates will help you be more specific.
5. Lots of students complain that they cannot think of any specific examples. If you are unable to think of a real example, simply make one up. The examiner will not check your examples for authenticity; it is not an honesty test, it is an English test. Just make sure your examples sound plausible.
Learn How to Paraphrase and Use Synonyms
1. Paraphrasing and using synonyms are two of the key skills required in the IELTS writing test. In fact, the examiner will be looking for your ability to do this.
2. Paraphrasing is simply restating a phrase or sentence with different words, so that it has the same meaning.
Don’t Memorise Answers
1. Every question is unique and will therefore require a unique answer. If you memorise answers and try to write them in the exam, your grammar and vocabulary will probably be very good, but it will be very obvious to the examiner that you have memorised an answer. This is considered copying and the examiner can give you a band score of 0 for this.
2. The examiner will always know, so it is really not worth the risk.
3. It is worthwhile looking at good sample answers and using some of the functional language and structure from these, but please don’t copy it word for word.
Start Task 2 before Task 1
1. Task 2 is worth two thirds of the total marks of the IELTS writing exam and task 1 is worth one third. You should take both as seriously as each other, but because task 2 is worth more marks and takes longer, I advise my students to do task 2 first.
2. When you mark lots of IELT exams, you notice that lots of students fail to finish task 2. I think many people try to write the perfect task 1 answer, or take too long trying to understand the data in task 1 and this leaves them with very little time to finish task 2.
3. Timing is key in all parts of the IELTS exam so you should practice under exam conditions before you do the test.
It’s Not an Intelligence Test
1. One of the biggest complaints I hear from students about the IELTS writing test is that they don’t understand the questions and they can’t think of any good ideas.
2. The IELTS writing test is not a test of your intelligence, it is a test of your ability to express relevant ideas in English. Your ideas do not have to be the most amazing ideas in the world, just ones that are relevant to the question. When you go to university, your ideas have to be intelligent’, but in the IELTS test they just have to be relevant and answer the question.
3. For each question there are probably 10-20 ideas that could get you a band 9; there is no one perfect idea that will get you a high score.
4. When you are thinking of ideas for your answer, you should pick the ones you can use. What I mean by use is the answers you can explain and extend with examples. As stated above, you can’t just list lots of ideas, you have to pick 2 or three and then fully support them with explanations and examples. It does not matter how good the idea is, if you can’t fully support and extend it, don’t use it.
Only Use Cohesive Devices Appropriately
1. I post lots of band 9 IELTS task 2 sample answers on this site and I am often surprised when students tell me that they are not band 9. The main reason they think this is You haven’t used enough cohesive devices.
2. Below are lots of examples of cohesive devices:
– Comparison: also, equally, similarly, likewise, compared with
– Addition: and, also, furthermore, too, what is more
– Exemplification: for example, for instance, to illustrate, such as, namely
– Sequencing: First, second, next, then, after
– Result: so, therefore, as a result, thus, because
– Contrast: in comparison, in contrast, instead, on the contrary, conversely
– Qualifying: but, however, although, except, unless
– Reformulation: in other words, put more simply, that is to say, rather, in simple terms
– Highlighting: in particular, especially, mainly, particularly, above all
– Transition: turning to, with regard to, with reference to, as far as X is, concerned
3. The problem with these is they are overused by most students. Some people think that the key to a good score is using as many of these as possible, when in fact it will only harm your score if your use them incorrectly.
4. Similar to my rule for grammar, only use them if you are 100% sure what they mean and how they are used.
Keep It Simple
1. The examiners know that you have only 40 minutes to write an essay and you are doing it in a foreign language. They do not expect you to write to the same standard that you would if you were given lots of time to think about the questions, research your answer, write a first draft, have it checked and then correct all of your mistakes. The examiners are not expecting an essay of that standard so don’t try to over think it. Just show them in a simple way that you have understood the question and you can express yourself in English. That’s it.
