A blog providing tips on how you can boost your IELTS writing score
1.Short, clear and to the point.
IELTS stands for the International English Language Testing System and is a standardized test that assesses your English language proficiency. It is widely used by universities and employers to assess non-native English speakers. The IELTS writing test is one of the four sections in the IELTS exam. In this section, you will be required to write an essay with between 150 and 250 words. The IELTS writing test is designed to assess your ability to write clear, coherent and well-structured English. In this article, we will be looking at some of the best ways to improve your IELTS writing score.
The IELTS writing test measures your ability to communicate in English. The IELTS test taker is required to write an essay that is 2,250 words in length, in response to an essay prompt of an issue or situation. The writing task is worth 50% of the IELTS test score. Here are the top 7 ways to boost your IELTS writing score: 1. Understand the essay format The IELTS test is made up of two different types of writing tasks. Task 1 is a single integrated writing question, asking you to write a letter, report or email of about 250 words. Task 2 is a single independent writing task, in which you are asked to write an essay of about 250 words. Task 2 is the one that you will be spending most of your time on, so it's always worth making sure you have a good grasp of the format. It’s worth noting that the format is slightly different in the Academic and General Training modules of the test, but for the most part you should be able to transfer this advice to both. ## Task 2: The essay format
Writing is a large part of the IELTS examination. Two of the four sections test your writing ability; the Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2. The IELTS writing test is not like a typical English exam (IELTS is not a test of your English, but a test of your ability to interact with English speakers). Instead of writing essays, you will be required to write two letters and a summary. You will need to provide enough information to explain the situation and your own opinion without writing long, winding paragraphs. The letters will be written in a formal style, so you will need to be careful not to mix up "you" and "I" or to use too casual language. You should aim to write at a level where a higher educated person would understand what you are trying to say. The IELTS writing test is also very structured, so it's important that you stick to the structure and format of the test. This means that you should be aware of the things that the examiners are looking for and try to produce the most content possible in the given time.
Mirror the structure of the stimulus.
The stimulus in an IELTS writing task is a short passage. In most cases, this stimulus will have a particular structure that you need to follow. You might have to write a letter, make a recommendation, or describe a situation. Whatever the topic, you will still have to follow the same basic structure as the stimulus. If you are writing a letter, for example, you will need to follow a formal structure. If you are writing about a science experiment, you might need to include a hypothesis and a conclusion. The key to a high score is to match the structure of the stimulus. This might seem like a lot of work, but the result is that you don’t need to think about how to structure your response. Instead you can focus on what you actually want to say.
There are some basic tips that can help you to write better essays for IELTS. For instance, you should try to mirror the structure of the stimulus that you are given. This means that you should try to answer the same questions that are asked in the stimulus. If the stimulus asks a question, you should answer it. If it gives an example, you should also try to give an example. This will help you to answer the questions accurately and give an essay that is easy to follow.
Make sure your sentence starters are relevant.
Relevant sentence starters are vital to writing a strong essay in IELTS, particularly for the topic sentence. A topic sentence should be very clear in its meaning and in the main point it is trying to make and it should be the centre of the whole essay. Think about it like this – a topic sentence is the first sentence in your essay and it serves as a link to all the other ideas in the paragraph. As a result, it really needs to be relevant to the other ideas in the paragraph. If your essay is on something like the environment and you start your first sentence with “My favourite colour is blue,” then you are going to lose marks. You might think this is obvious, but it is a common mistake that students make.
One of the most common mistakes students make when writing the IELTS Writing task 1 is the use of irrelevant sentence starters. The question is asking you to write an essay. That means you need to write an essay that is related to the topic and supports your argument. However, many students instead spend their time trying to think of a really good sentence starter that can grab the evaluator’s attention. This is a huge mistake. Consider the following example:
Don't be afraid to use the same phrase or sentence structure in the body of the text.
One of the most common mistakes in IELTS writing is repeating the same sentence structure in the body of the text. For example: "Firstly, ____________. Secondly, ____________. Thirdly, ____________." Or "In the first place, ____________. In the second place, ____________. In the third place, ____________." When you want to express the same idea three times, you can just repeat the sentence structure. For instance: "Firstly, ____________. Secondly, ____________. Thirdly, ____________." Or "In the first place, ____________. In the second place, ____________. In the third place, ____________."
It’s a common misconception that you shouldn’t repeat words or sentence structures in an essay. You can actually use the same set of words or sentence structures to create an effective text. So, don’t be afraid to use the same phrase or sentence structure in the body of the text. However, this is not an open invitation to use the same phrase in every sentence. When you repeat a phrase or sentence structure in the body of the text, try to change the context. For example, you can say the same thing in different ways or you can use the sentence structure to mean something different.
So you’re writing a piece of writing and you’ve run out of ideas. What do you do? This is a common issue when you’re writing a piece of writing and you’re trying to come up with something to write about. I have found that the best way to solve this problem is to use the same phrase or sentence structure in the body of the text. The reason for this is because it’s simple and doesn’t distract from the message you’re trying to get across. It’s also a good way to avoid repeating yourself. I’ve found that a lot of people are afraid of repeating themselves in writing because they think it makes them look bad. But at the end of the day, it’s really not that bad as long as you’re not using the same phrase or sentence structure too many times.
Keep your paragraphs short and sweet.
This tip is all about making your paragraphs shorter and more readable. When writing your essay or letter, it is crucial to keep your paragraphs short. There is nothing worse than reading a paragraph that is filled with long sentences. Apart from the fact that the reader will get tired of reading, it will not be easy for him or her to understand what you are trying to convey. When you write a paragraph, think about the main idea and then identify the supporting points. Write these in a few sentences and then make sure they relate to the main idea.
There are many reasons for your writing score to be low. One of them is your length. The IELTS writing task 2 and task 1 essays have a word limit of 250 words and 750 words respectively. You are not allowed to go beyond the word limit and if you do, your writing score will reflect it. So how do you manage to get the number of words right in your essay? By keeping your paragraphs short and sweet. If you have been told to write your essay in six paragraphs, then you should at least have a small paragraph that has only 5-6 sentences. This will give you a total of 30-36 sentences. Remember: the minimum requirement is that you have to have at least 10 sentences in your essay. Also, make sure that you use a lot of connecting words like: furthermore, additionally, but, nevertheless, nevertheless, and so on.
Maintain a formal, academic tone.
It is vital to maintain a formal, academic tone in your writing because it displays a high level of the language proficiency you are aiming for. You need to show that you can write a variety of different academic texts, and you can’t do that if your writing is too informal. Look at the IELTS writing samples and the IELTS writing model answers to see what is expected of you. Use the sentences and phrases in the IELTS writing model answers as a guide to help you.
The IELTS writing test is all about you: your ideas, your opinions, your writing skills. But there are some small things you can do right at the beginning of your writing test that will help you to maintain an academic tone and show you can write well. In the IELTS writing test, the examiner is looking for evidence that you can write well. This means you should try to avoid using slang and idioms. It also means you should avoid colloquialisms, like "it is raining cats and dogs" or "we were burning the midnight oil". They are a bit like slang, in that they are informal, and so might make you seem less educated. Stick to simple language and be as formal as you can.
Don't forget to avoid "just", "also" and "in addition".
The "just," "also" and "in addition" traps. These three words are the most frequent words used by IELTS students in their essay. They are a bit tricky as they are not wrong, but they don't add anything to your writing. When you use these words, you are just saying "something like this already exists," so there is no reason to write your own version. These words are not wrong, but they don't advance your idea. When you've written your draft, read through it and look for these words. Try not to use them in your writing.
When you write in a test such as IELTS, you are expected to write in a more formal manner than writing in your everyday life. There are a few words that you would use in everyday language but you should avoid because the language examiner will understand that you use these words in a more informal manner. Instead of saying: "I have also visited the zoo". You should say "I have visited the zoo too". Instead of saying: "I have just finished writing my essay". You should say "I have just finished writing my essay too". Instead of saying "The elephant was also very big". You should say "The elephant was very big too". In addition to that, avoid using the word "just" when you write. You should not write "just" because it is not necessary. For example, you should write: "I did not go to the party because I was tired", not "I did not go to the party just because I was tired".
Conclusion
Writing an IELTS essay is not a walk in the park. Follow our tips and practice essay writing.