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IELTS writing Guide

To get good bands in writing it’s very important to know “on what grounds” the test takers are being tested.

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It doesn’t matter how good a test takers English is. If they don’t know what the examiners are looking for, they will not be able to present it in front of them. My note will give you an in depth knowledge on IELTS Writing task.

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There are two formats
Academic Writing and General writing.

  • Time allotted 60 minutes and no extra time.

  • There are two tasks in writing.

  • Minimum of 150 words are required for Task 1 and 250 words are required for Task 2

 

ACADEMIC WRITING

Task 1- is a chart. It can be a bar graph/ Pie Chart/ Line Graph/ Table Graph/ Flow Chart/ A process. It can also be a combination of more than one chart containing figures and details.

Task 2- is an essay topic. The topics in academic basically focus about a specific research area it can be environment/ education/ science/technology and so on..

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GENERAL WRITING

Task 1- a short letter of 150 words. It can be a formal, informal or semiformal style.

Task 2- an essay topic about day to day life i.e. society, children, family, lifestyle, food, education, fashion and so on…

DIFFERENT TYPES OF IELTS ESSAY TOPICS

Let’s now have a look on different types of IELTS essays that can be asked in the exam.

  • Agree or disagree

  • Discussion

  • Compare and contrast

  • Cause and effects

  • Problems, reasons and solutions

  • Miscellaneous

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Some essays can be categorized as Argumentative, Persuasive and Discursive and so on.

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Now let’s move to the structure of the essay.

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IELTS essay can be written with minimum of 4 and maximum of 5 paragraphs. The structure and number of the paragraphs depends on the question. Hence; it is very important to read and understand the question before writing.

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The following types of question are asked in the IELTS Exam

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TYPE 1. If the question is ‘to what extent do you agree or disagree?’ or ‘what is your opinion?’ in these types of essays it is very important to write your view point/ opinion on the statement of the question; if not done so, then candidate will be losing marks on the task achievement.

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TYPE 2. When the questions are “Discuss” or “discuss both sides” or “Discuss both the sides and come to a conclusion”; in such an essay it is advised to discuss both the aspects of a statement given and then conclude it. It will be a big mistake to leave one aspect and agree altogether with the other. Remember it is not agree disagree type essay. But there is no need to write thesis in such questions in introduction.

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TYPE 3. If the question is “compare and contrast”, the test taker is expected to write similarities and differences. 

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TYPE 4. When the question is some people believe …………….. Others say that……, in such types of question it is important to understand the examiner is looking for other’s views and your views. So; if you end up the essay by writing only others view then your task achievement will not be fulfilled.

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