It’s worth two-thirds of your total writing score, and you have 40 minutes in which to write 250 (good!) words.
The IELTS writing test task 2 is the test that tends to cause the most concern to students as they prepare. But panic not, there are certain things you can do to ensure that you achieve the highest mark you can when you finally sit the IELTS tests.
Follow the advice in this article to help you to succeed!
Remember what the examiner is looking for
In the IELTS writing tasks, the examiner has to ensure that you have a broad vocabulary base in English, that you know the correct spellings of words (whether its UK or US spellings – just make sure you are consistently using one of these throughout) and that you have a good understanding and application of English grammar.
When writing and checking through your work, be sure to focus on these!
Write a quick plan
You’ve probably heard it from teachers, family and friends many times over the years before you take a test: “Just answer the question.” It might seem simple, but this is actually where people tend to lose the most marks the most easily when sitting exams.
Sometimes, students are so keen to show off what they know or the great language they have, that they forget to stay on topic in the writing task. Instead, they end up writing an essay that is not in line with the task they were asked to complete.
The best way to avoid this: WRITE A PLAN FIRST. You know that you need to write four paragraphs (an introduction, supporting paragraph 1, supporting paragraph 2 and conclusion).
So, be sure to think through the point you will make in each supporting paragraph, and make a quick note of this before you start.
DON’T try to memorise sentences or chunks of writing to use in the writing essay
The people at IELTS are pretty clever, and they have set up the tests to ensure that students cannot just regurgitate memorised chunks of writing in the test. For this reason, they give a very general topic in this task that is linked to society.
The focus of the task could be anything from education to health to transport to youth to the environment! In fact, it is so wide-ranging that there is no way you could use the same sentences across different essays. So don’t waste your time trying!
Keep to time
The writing test is one hour long in total. In this time, you need to complete two writing tasks. Writing task 1 is only worth one-third of the total marks, so it is recommended that you only spend one-third of the total time writing it – and that’s just 20 minutes.
Task 2 is worth two-thirds of the marks, and you should be spending 40 minutes on it. There are more marks to score from writing task 2, so you need to ensure you give yourself enough writing time to collect up those extra marks!!!
Now that you have some top tips for the IELTS writing task 2, check out our guide on how to write the very best task 2 essay!