Top 9 IELTS Writing Tips and Tricks to Get 8 Band score

IELTS writing is one of the modules in the IELTS exam. Most of the students believe that Writing is one of the problematic modules to score. There are some basic requirements that an individual should follow to fetch their desire score in Writing.

Let us start with the necessary information for the writing module:

1. Make Sure to Understand the Structure of Each Type

There are around 8 different types of Task 1 and Task 2 asked in the IELTS exam. The student should have a thorough knowledge of every kind of task. IELTS coaching can help you to master your IELTS Writing Skills for each type.

Writing Module

Total Time limit: 60 min

Task 1: Report Writing (Academic) or Letter writing (General students) 

Task 2: Essay writing 

2. Band Descriptor- act as a Bible for IELTS Writing 

IELTS Writing is assessment is done based on four assessment criteria which students should be aware of.

Task achievement (Task 1)/ Task Response (Task 2) 

• Coherence and cohesion
• Lexical resource
• Grammatical range and accuracy

Students should have profound knowledge of these assessment criteria provided by the IELTS Examination Board, as it is observed that students generally ignore this. However, they should remember that unless they do not know what the examiner is looking for, they will not achieve their desired score. Do not hesitate to take help from IELTS coaching as they will help you understand this in detail.

3. Just Vocabulary won’t Work 

Vocabulary Plays a Major Role in IELTS Writing. However, you should be flexible enough to use that word in every form. It has been observed that many students just mug up a certain amount of words and try to fit that in the sentences even if it is not appropriate due to which impacts negatively on lexical resources criteria.

Just remember the term lexical means a set of words, so there are many other ways to enhance your score for a lexical resource, such as topic-specific vocabulary, collocation, changing word-formation appropriate choice of words etc.

4. Good Control in Grammar 

Grammar is the base of any language, and it plays a major role in the IELTS test, especially writing. IELTS is looking range of grammar structures in your IELTS Writing as per assessment criteria. You should avoid using only simple sentences as it is advanced level academic writing, so the IELTS examiner expects you to vary your language as many times as possible.

You should be flexible enough to use various structures such as Simple, complex, compound, conditional, active, passive etc. Apart from these, common mistakes are observed in punctuation, so you should also use punctuation effectively wherever needed. 

5. Ideas and Content 

Generating ideas for specific questions is also a major issue that students encounter, especially when the topic is new for them. The best option to tackle this issue is to read as much as possible. Reading will not only improve your knowledge, but also you will come across different topic-specific words. Try to discuss various topics with your friends and do brainstorming activity, which will also help you explore more.

Besides, you can get content for examples while reading certain magazines or newspapers and remember IELTS examiner love examples as they provide proper justification for your main points in the essay.

6. Understanding Question 

Getting the idea of a Question is an Essential Task in IELTS Writing, as many students tend to go off topic when they fail to understand the question. There may be some general statement in every writing question, and then a specific question asked, so you should remember that you must always answer the particular question asked at the end.

Also, have a habit of Reading Questions Frequently While Writing any new points to make sure that you answer that particular question only.

7. Divide your Time Effectively 

Time plays a significant role in the IELTS Writing Exam as you strictly have 60 min to complete this task. Managing time effectively will help you to score well. Give proper time for planning, writing, and proofreading; for example, you can follow as below

Task 2                                                                         

Task 1 

• Total time 40 min Total time 20 min
• Planning: 5 min Planning: 2 min
• Writing: 30 min Writing: 15 min
• Proofreading: 5 min Proofreading: 3 min

8. Formal Language 

IELTS writing is formal academic writing, so you must use only formal language while writing. Do not use idioms or pre-prepared phrases in your Task 1 or Task 2. Avoid using personal pronouns such as you, we, our, my, I etc. Also, avoid contractions such as don’t, can’t, won’t, etc.

9. Legible Handwriting 

There is no additional marking for good handwriting, but you should take care that it’s readable; as for illegible handwriting, they may give you a penalty.

For some students, writing is difficult to crack as it is considered one of the lowest scoring modules in the IELTS exam, so proper guidance is required in writing. Do not hesitate to take help from experts available such as IELTS coaching or Online IELTS coaching.