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There are then model answers on the following pages for different types of writing essays and different questions, with some brief guidance on each.
It is important to analyse model answers for IELTS writing essays because there are different types for writing essays, and these will require different ways to answer them.
However, as you will see from the guidance on this page, they can all follow the same basic structure.
These are some of the types of IELTS essay we will look at:
Not every essay will fit one of these patterns, but many do. You may get some of these tasks mixed up. For example, you could be asked to give your opinion on an issue, and then discuss the advantages or disadvantages of it.
The golden rule is to ALWAYS read the question very carefully to see exactly what you are being asked to do.
In IELTS writing essays is structured like any other essay; you just need to make it shorter. There are three key elements:
We will look at each of these in turn, using the essay question above as an example.
In writing essays you should keep your introduction for the IELTS essay short. Remember you only have 40 minutes to write the essay, and some of this time needs to be spent planning. Therefore, you need to be able to write your introduction fairly quickly so you can start writing your body paragraphs.
You should do just two things:
Here is an example introduction for the above essay question about IT:
The last two decades have seen enormous changes in the way people's lives are affected by IT, with many advances in this field. However, while these technological advances have brought many benefits to the world, it can be argued that these developments in IT will result in more negative impacts than positive.
As you can see, the first sentence makes sure it refers to the topic (IT) and uses facts about IT taken from the question. Note that these are paraphrased - you must not copy from the rubric!
The second part then clearly sets out the what the essay will be about and confirms the writers opinion (some questions may not ask for your opinion, but this one does).
View this lesson for more advice on writing IELTS essay introductions.
For IELTS, in writing essays you should have 2 or 3 body paragraphs - no more, and no less.
For your body paragraph in writing essays, each paragraph should contain one controlling idea, and have sentences to support this.
Lets look at the first paragraph for the essay about IT. writing essays is about the benefits and drawbacks of IT, so these will need to be discussed in separate paragraphs.
Here is the first body paragraph:
To begin, email has made communication, especially abroad, much simpler and faster, resulting in numerous benefits for commerce and business. Furthermore, theWorld Wide Web means that information on every conceivable subject is now available to us. For example, people can access news, medical advice, online education courses and much more via the internet. It is evident that these improvements have made life far easier and more convenient for large numbers of people and will continue to do so for decades to come.
In writing essays, the controlling idea in this first paragraph is the 'benefits of IT', and there are two supporting ideas, which are underlined. No drawbacks are discussed as the paragraph would then lose coherence.
Most of the essay will focus on the negative aspects of IT, as the writer says there are more negative effects in the introduction. So the next two paragraphs are about these.
The topic sentence in the next paragraph therefore tells us we are changing the focus to the negative points:
Nevertheless, the effects of this new technology have not all been beneficial. For example, many people feel that the widespread use of email is destroying traditional forms of communication such as letter writing, telephone and face-to-face conversation. This could result in a decline in people's basic ability to socialize and interact with each other on a day-to-day basis.
The final body paragraph gives the last negative effect:
In addition, the large size of the Web has meant that it is nearly impossible to regulate and control. This has led to many concerns regarding children accessing unsuitable websites and viruses. Unfortunately, this kind of problem might even get worse in the future at least until more regulated systems are set up.
Introduction in any essay is the ice breaker. So make sure you introduce your views first, because that is what they ask.
For example you would normally see in IELTS or LSAT writing module asking you to, discuss your opinion for the given topic or do you agree or disagree with the statement. So, always remember to tell examiner your views about the topic before you write the essay. Ideally you should express your views in first paragraph.
When you tackle the writing task you should see the information as is, and then write the way the statement is written. For example, sometimes you see the topic with lot of information about something and then they ask to discuss or put forth our opinion.
Q Some people believe that computers are more a hindrance than a help in today’s world. Other feel that they are such indispensable tools that they would not be able to live or work without them. In what ways are computers a hindrance? What is your opinion?
The topic wanted you to discuss the computer as a requirement in our society and also wanted you to criticize computers. In short it asks for the advantages and disadvantages of the computer. So, one strategy for writing this topic could be the paraphrase of the statement which is given in the topic in the introduction followed by your opinion in the same introduction paragraph.
Example:
“Some people believe that computers are more a hindrance than a help in today’s world while on the other hand some people feel that they are such indispensable tools that they would not be able to live or work without them. In my opinion, every technology has some advantages and limitations and one has to negate shortcomings and should benefit from the advantages.”
In above paragraph you see that the topic is paraphrased then followed by the personalized opinion which constitutes the introduction of essay.
Second paragraph will be your advantages of computer; the third paragraph will be explaining the disadvantages and the fourth could be your conclusion.
In the sample downloads you might have observed some words being used again and again. There is a reason for that. You see when you write essay for IELTS you have to exhibit that you can write well, so when you write some high quality words like apropos or accord etc, you show that you know the words which others do not. It means that examiner will be in a positive state of mind and will know that you have good English writing skills.
Off course if you didn’t write a good essay with good structure or arguments you will not get good bands for IELTS but if you do write acceptable essay and you use the key words that means you will get better bands as compared to if you do not use these words.
Remember 5 words which you can use and memorize it so that you can use it in your essay. You may take those words from the sample essays in the IELTS sample download and see how I used it. Remember those words and know where to use them.
If you think you have problem in writing a lot about topic which you have less knowledge about, follow this technique,
Ideally, you should be in the middle of the argument when you have limited knowledge of the IELTS Writing Topic.
So in other words, IELTS Writing module can be easily cleared by keeping these basic points in mind when attempting the Task 2 in writing examination.
Paraphrase the content from second paragraph and third paragraph, providing the main reasons for your opinion.
To make the most of your writing test, you simply need to consider the following points:
Rule number 1 is to answer the question: read the question carefully and underline all the information you need to include. This works differently in the essay and the report.
In the essay, often you will find background information and the question itself. Make sure you answer the question
(eg “Do you agree?”) and do not write generally about the topic. If you copy another essay you have written on the same topic, you will lose a lot of marks.
In task 1, all the information you need to include is in the chart/graph: make sure you identify the key points before you start writing.
IELTS writing tips
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Here are 10 of my top IELTS writing tips. They focus on the writing process in the exam. Much the most important tip is number 1. If you are a band score 8.0 candidate, you may want to check out my other essay writing tips for more advanced candidates.
Rule number 1 is to answer the question: read the question carefully and underline all the information you need to include. This works differently in the essay and the report.
In the essay, often you will find background information and the question itself. Make sure you answer the question
(eg “Do you agree?”) and do not write generally about the topic. If you copy another essay you have written on the same topic, you will lose a lot of marks.
In task 1, all the information you need to include is in the chart/graph: make sure you identify the key points before you start writing.
It is important to finish both pieces of writing, but the way to do this is not necessarily starting to write immediately. If you do that, you may get half way through the writing and realise you cannot finish it. Only start writing when you know how you are going to finish.
In the essay this can mean up to 10 minutes and in the task 1 report it can mean up to 5 minutes. The more you think, the better and more quickly you will write. 2/3 minutes is almost certainly not enough. For more detail on this, try looking at Planning an IELTS essay – the 10 minute solution.
250 means AT LEAST 250 and 150 means AT LEAST 150. See my post on how many words for more detail on this.
The more words you write, you more mistakes you are likely to make. The more words you write, the less efficient you become and the quality will fall. The ideal is to aim for between 260 – 280 words in the essay and 160-180 words in the report.
If you copy whole sections of the question, the examiner will not include those words in your word count: 260 words can become 230 words if you are not careful.
Timing can be a problem. It is important to keep moving and stick to your timing. Don’t be tempted to spend more than 40 minutes on your essay – you need 20 minutes to answer task 1 properly.
The essay is worth twice the marks of the report. One idea is to do task 2 (the essay) before task 1(the report), just to ensure you finish the essay. You do need to spend at least 20 minutes on part 1 though. Do not try to answer it in 15 minutes.
It is important to check your writing for grammatical errors. You need to have a checklist before you enter the exam of what mistakes you typically make. For a little more detail on this, try checking this post about how to check your writing
You should also check your writing for unnecessary word repetition – you are graded on the variety of your language. You should note that this does not mean you need to use long, complex words, rather it means you should use precise words.
The examiner will not spend very long grading your paper. You need to create an immediate good impression and the best way to do this in my experience is to present a well-structured piece of writing with clearly laid out paragraphs. This way the examiner is going to be on your side. If, however, it looks disorganised, the examiner is not going to be impressed.
Use proper sentence formation.
use connectors in paragraphs.
use good vocabulary words
Think about the content and its structure before you start writing your essay. Try not to exceed the word limit. Check for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. And no matter what, don't panic.
Handwriting & Spelling... That's it...
Well The ESSAY for IELTS has two directions for you to choose either in the agreement or in the negation, What one must do is Write a paragraph in the support of topic and then in opposition ,finally at the end draw a Conclusion . To go further In both paragraphs One must have clear points to talk on , The use of connecting words Like Furthermore, however should be carefully installed . Spelling is another one to be noted. Always before writing think for 2 minutes what I am going to do i.e planning .
analyse each task properly and spend some time making notes
highlight or underline key words in the tasks to make sure that you focus on what you have to do
plan your answers
use paragraphs clearly; put one idea in each paragraph
do not repeat ideas using different words
do not copy whole sentences from the question – you will receive no marks for this
keep to the topic; do not write about unrelated subjects
manage your time; remember, Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1
Few points to keep in mind for writing module:
· analyze each task properly and spend some time making notes
· use paragraphs clearly; put one idea in each paragraph
· do not repeat ideas using different words
· do not copy whole sentences from the question – you will receive no marks for this
· keep to the topic; do not write about unrelated subjects
· manage your time; remember, Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1
· spend approximately 20 minutes on Task 1 and approximately 40 minutes on Task 2
· pay attention to the number of words required for each task; you will lose marks if you do not write at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 words for Task 2
You must have a clear idea about the topic in task two in particular task 2 has double the credit than task one so you should spare more time for that writing 5 to 7 paragraphs around depending on the issues discussed.
Make an outline before starting must have detailed ideas in favour and against with appropriate reasons and exeples, avoid personal illustrations using personal pronouns.
