IELTS Writing: A Guide to Task 1 and Task 2

Who should make Writing a priority?

• Candidates whose Writing band lags behind their other three skills
• Candidates who relied on memorised phrases and scored lower than they expected
• Candidates who struggle with the Academic Task 1 graph summary or the General Training letter format

How do Task 1 and Task 2 differ?

You write two tasks in 60 minutes. Task 1 is the shorter one and asks for at least 150 words: in Academic you summarise a graph, table, map or process in objective language; in General Training you write a letter of at least 150 words in a tone that suits the situation. Task 2, in both versions, is an essay of at least 250 words in which you argue for a point of view and support it.

Task 2 counts for more of your Writing score than Task 1. That is why weighting your time towards Task 2 (roughly 20 minutes on Task 1 and 40 on Task 2) is usually the safest approach.

IELTS Writing assessment criteria

Writing is marked against four official criteria, and each one carries equal weight in your band. Being strong in one criterion but weak in another drags your overall band down, so you need to work on all four at the same time.

• Task Achievement / Task Response: answering everything the question asks, fully and in enough depth
• Coherence and Cohesion: a logical flow of ideas and accurate use of linking words
• Lexical Resource: range, accuracy and appropriate use of vocabulary
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: variety of sentence structures and grammatical accuracy

What separates bands 6.0, 6.5, 7.0 and 7.5?

In band 6.0 writing the ideas are usually clear, but their development stays superficial and grammar mistakes are frequent. At 6.5 the ideas connect more coherently and the vocabulary becomes more varied. Band 7.0 is the level at which the task is fully addressed, errors don't get in the way of meaning and linking words are used naturally.

At band 7.5 and above, ideas are developed in greater depth, and vocabulary and grammar are used flexibly and largely without error. Seeing these differences in concrete examples makes it clear what has to change for you to move up a band.

How does feedback work in Writing?

The process works like this: you write the essay, then receive marked-up corrections against the four criteria; you compare your answer with a model answer and rewrite the same text using the suggestions. Writing the same task twice is the step that closes the gap between seeing a mistake and fixing it.

• Writing the essay (Task 1 and/or Task 2)
• Criterion-based correction
• Comparison with a model answer
• Revising and rewriting in line with the suggestions

The risk of memorised phrases

Ready-made openings and linking phrases picked up online rarely raise your score; more often they lower it. Examiners recognise memorised language easily, and mechanical wording that doesn't fit the topic pulls down your Task Response and Coherence and Cohesion scores. Rather than asking you to memorise templates, we work on helping you build your argument clearly, with reasons, in your own sentences.