The IELTS General Training Writing Test

The IELTS General Training Writing Test lasts for 1 hour and includes 2 tasks. Task 1 is a letter and you
must write at least 15 words. !ou should s"end a#out 2 minutes out of the hour for Task 1. Task 2 is
an essay and you must write at least 25 words. !ou should s"end a#out $ minutes for Task 2.
The Task for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
The IELTS General Training Writing Task 2 asks you to write a short essay of a minimum of 25 words.
The essay is usually a discussion of a su#%ect of general interest. !ou may ha&e to "resent and %ustify
your o"inion a#out something' gi&e the solution to a "ro#lem or com"are differing ideas or &iew"oints. It
is im"ortant that you consider finding IELTS "ractice tests' so that you can "ractice this "art of the
IELTS in order to achie&e your true "otential.
(arking for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
!our task will #e marked in four areas. !ou will get a mark from 1 to ) on Task res"onse' *oherence and
*ohesion' Le+ical ,esource and Grammatical ,ange and -ccuracy. !our final #and for Task 2 will #e
effecti&ely an a&erage of the four marks awarded in these areas. Task 2 writing is more im"ortant than
Task 1 and to calculate the final writing mark' more weight is assigned to the Task 2 mark than to Task
1.s mark. To get a good o&erall mark though' #oth tasks ha&e to #e well answered so don.t hold #ack on
Task 1 or gi&e yourself too little time to answer it "ro"erly.
Task ,es"onse
This mark grades you on the content of your essay. It marks whether you ha&e fully addressed all "arts
of task. The e+aminer wants you in your essay to ha&e a fully de&elo"ed answer to the /uestion gi&en
with rele&ent and e+tended ideas and su""ort. The su""ort is the facts that you use to #ack u" your
ideas. Su""ort is &ery im"ortant in Task 2. !ou need to #ring in facts from your own e+"erience in order
to su""ort your ideas.
*oherence and *ohesion
These two are interrelated which is why they are done together. *ohesion is how your writing fits
together. 0oes your writing with its ideas and content flow logically1 *oherence is how you are making
yourself understood and whether the reader of your writing understands what you are saying. -n
e+am"le of #ad coherence and cohesion would #e as follows2
1 We went to the #each #ecause it was raining.
3ro#a#ly the writer of this sentence does not mean 4#ecause4 as "eo"le don.t usually go to the #each
when it is raining. The writer should ha&e written2
2 We went to the #each although it was raining.
Sentence 1 has made a cohesion and coherence error 5as well as a &oca#ulary one6. 47ecause4 does
not %oin the ideas of the sentence together correctly and' as a result' the reader does not understand
what the writer wants to say. This is an e+aggerated e+am"le #ut it shows what I mean. Good cohesion
and coherence is not noticea#le as it allows the writing to #e read easily. Good cohesion and coherence
also includes good and a""ro"riate "aragra"h usage.
Le+ical ,esource
This area looks at the your choice of words. The marker will look at whether the right words are used
and whether they are used at the right time in the right "lace and in the right way. To get a good mark
here' the word choice should not only #e accurate #ut wide ranging' natural and so"histicated.
Grammatical ,ange and -ccuracy
8ere the e+aminer will mark your a""ro"riate' fle+i#le and accurate use of grammatical structures. (any
"eo"le are worried a#out their grammar #ut' as you can see' grammar is only one section of four used
to grade your writing. IELTS is much more interested in communication rather than grammatical
accuracy. It is' of course' still "art of the marking scheme and im"ortant as such.
3aragra"hing for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
This is a &ery easy thing to do #ut it can ha&e an enormous effect on the clarity of your writing. I ha&e
said this for Task 1 #ut for Task 2 it.s is e&en more im"ortant. In Task 2 you will #e writing more and it is
therefore more im"ortant to di&ide your writing u" into di&isions to make it easier to read.
9ery often "eo"le use no "aragra"hing and the e+aminer is faced with a 4sea4 of writing with no #reaks
from start to finish. :or me' the #est writings are those where there are "aragra"hs se"arated #y an
em"ty line and also indented. In this way your ideas are se"arated clearly. It shows and gi&es
organi;ation to your writing and makes it more reada#le.
:or Task 2' ha&e a "aragra"h #reak after your introduction' and then for e&ery differing section of your
se"arate ideas with the su""orting e&idence. Then ha&e a final "aragra"h for your conclusion. !ou
should aim to ha&e < or $ "aragra"hs "lus the introduction and conclusion.
Look at this section on "aragra"hing. It is di&ided into 5 se"arate "aragra"hs di&iding the 5 different
areas that I want to "resent to you' the reader. The 5 areas are2
3aragra"h 1 Why "aragra"hing is im"ortant for Task 2.
3aragra"h 2 8ow to di&ide your "aragra"hing.
3aragra"h < Where your "aragra"h di&isions should occur.
3aragra"h $ The di&ision of "aragra"hs in this section.
3aragra"h 5 E+"laining the com"arison with this section and the one #elow to show how
"aragra"hing can work.
7elow I will re"eat "aragra"hs 1 = $ of this section on "aragra"hing #ut I am going to remo&e all the
"aragra"hs and line #reaks and make it a 4sea of writing4 as I said can ha""en a#o&e. I ho"e you feel
that this section is easier to understand than the one #elow>> 57y the way' I ha&en.t used line #reaks
through this entire tutorial as there would #e too many and it would #e too confusing6.
3aragra"hing 5#ad e+am"le section6
This is a &ery easy thing to do #ut it can ha&e an enormous effect on the clarity of your writing. I ha&e
said this for Task 1 #ut for Task 2 it.s is e&en more im"ortant. In Task 2 you will #e writing more and it is
therefore more im"ortant to di&ide your writing u" into di&isions to make it easier to read. 9ery often
"eo"le use no "aragra"hing and the e+aminer is faced with a 4sea4 of writing with no #reaks from start
to finish. :or me' the #est writings are those where there are "aragra"hs se"arated #y an em"ty line
and also indented. In this way your ideas are se"arated clearly. It shows and gi&es organi;ation to your
writing and makes it more reada#le. :or Task 2' ha&e a "aragra"h #reak after your introduction' and
then for e&ery differing section of your se"arate ideas with the e&idence. Then ha&e a final "aragra"h for
your conclusion. !ou should aim to ha&e < or $ "aragra"hs "lus the introduction and conclusion. Look at
this section on "aragra"hing. It is di&ided into $ se"arate "aragra"hs di&iding the $ different areas that I
want to "resent to you the reader. The $ areas are2 3aragra"h 12 Why "aragra"hing is im"ortant for task
22 3aragra"h 22 8ow to di&ide your "aragra"hing. 3aragra"h <2 Where your "aragra"h di&isions should
occur. 3aragra"h $2 -n e+am"le to show you how "aragra"hing works.
I ho"e you feel that the first section was easier to understand than this second one>>
Ideas to Think -#out for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
1 Timing
The e+am "a"er recommends that you s"end a#out $ minutes on this /uestion and this is a#out right.
,emem#er that Task 2 gi&es more to your final writing #and and so you should make sure that you ha&e
enough time after Task 1 to "ro"erly answer Task 2. Some students do Task 2 first in order to make sure
that Task 2 is answered well #efore they get onto Task 1. There is no "ro#lem with this #ut make sure
you write the 15 words to gi&e a good answer for Task 1 as well.
So' whate&er you decide to do a#out your a""roach to Task 1 and Task 2 in the writing "a"er' make
sure that you s"end a""ro+imately 2 minutes on Task 1 and $ minutes on Task 2. This should gi&e
you the right amount of time to "ro&ide good answers to #oth tasks.
3ractice from IELTS "ractice tests on writing #oth tasks in under an hour is an im"ortant "art of your
"re"aration for the IELTS e+am.
2 -nswering the /uestion.
-lthough this sounds &ery straightforward' "eo"le don.t often "ro"erly answer the /uestion set and
therefore don.t get the #and that they should e&en if the writing is &ery good.
:irst of all read the /uestion &ery carefully in order to see e+actly what it asks you. 9ery often there will
#e more than 1 "art to the /uestion? sometimes e&en < or $ "arts. When you "roduce your answer you
must answer all the different "arts of the /uestion. 8ow much you "roduce on each "art de"ends on
how im"ortant you think it is.
!ou ha&e to write a formal academic English essay of the ty"e that would #e re/uired for teachers or
tertiary education courses. :ormulate and de&elo" an argument and show a "ersonal res"onse. Gi&e
your o"inions and #ack them u" with e&idence and e+am"les. !our answer should "ersuade' #e
consistent and de&elo" logically towards a conclusion' which answers all "arts of the /uestion.
-nother im"ortant #asic is to write at least 25 words. Writing less does not answer the /uestion' which
tells you to write at least 25 words. If you write less than 25 words' the e+aminer marking your "a"er
will gi&e you a ma+imum of 5 for -rguments' Ideas and E&idence or e&en less. It is no "ro#lem to write
more than the 25 words? there is no u"ward word limit on the essay. Time is your only constraint. Time
is your only constraint. Writing more than the minimum under the time limit re/uires "ractice on "ro"er
/uestions from IELTS "ractice tests.
The /uestion wants you to "roduce an essay. Therefore don.t gi&e a list of num#ered notes 5your
"aragra"hs should not #e num#ered6. Gi&e the e+aminer a "ro"er essay with an introduction' a main
#ody with your ideas and e&idence and a conclusion' all di&ided of course with the "aragra"hing
techni/ues discussed a#o&e.
< 3lanning
(any students that I ha&e taught ha&e regarded writing an essay "lan as a waste of time. The only
answer I can gi&e is that it de"ends on the indi&idual. If you are a good essay writer who can
automatically organi;e your ideas and structure in your head so well that you can "roduce a good
structured essay without "lanning' then I say that.s it.s fine not to write an essay "lan.
-lso if you.re really short of time and you need to get writing on "age' then you don.t want to waste time
on "lanning. 8owe&er' if none of these conditions a""ly' then 1 or 2 minutes thinking a#out your ideas
and how you are going to "resent them will not #e wasted. I.m not saying that you should s"end 1
minutes on this. @ust take a scra" of "a"er and %ot down some ideas that you are going to use in your
essay.
Then you can di&ide the ideas into < or $ "aragra"hs in a logical order. This shouldn.t take you long and
the structure that this will gi&e your essay will #e well worth the time that you s"end doing it.
The a#o&e skills do not come easily and it is im"ortant that you "ractice "lanning with "ro"er IELTS
writing /uestions from IELTS "ractice tests.
Writing The Essay
1 The Introduction
:irst of all' don.t re"eat any "art of the /uestion in your introduction. This is not your own work and
therefore will #e disregarded #y the e+aminer and deducted from the word count. !ou can use indi&idual
words #ut #e careful of using 4chunks4 of the /uestion te+t.
!our introduction should first say what you understand #y the /uestion. Then gi&e the main issue or
issues that you intend to #ring into your answer. 0on.t go into any detail? you can sa&e that for the later
"aragra"hs.
:inally' the /uestion often asks you to take u" a "osition o&er an issue. There is no right answer for
"utting your &iews at the start and then e+"laining this through the essay' or de&elo"ing your o"inion
though your essay and stating your final stance at the end. I "ersonally like the o"inion at the start of the
essay. Auickly and clearly answer the /uestion' making your attitude "lain. 0on.t gi&e any reasons.
-gain' that.s what the #ody of your essay is for. !ou don.t ha&e to do it this way though. !ou can wait
until your conclusion to gi&e your "osition as regards the /uestion.
2 The 7ody of !our Essay
!ou should aim to ha&e < or $ "aragra"hs in your answer. This is not e+act. !ou can write more or fewer
"aragra"hs' as your answer re/uires. ,emem#er you.&e only got a#out $ minutes to co&er all the
/uestion areas so don.t #e too am#itious and try to write too much.
In the #ody of your essay you should do se&eral things. !ou need to e+amine all "arts of the /uestion.
,emem#er there is often more than 1 /uestion contained in the essay /uestion te+t. !ou need to look at
all that is asked and look at #oth sides of e&ery issue. IELTS essay /uestions usually ask you something
which has two or more "oints of &iew' and you need to consider #oth sides of e&ery argument no matter
what your o"inion is.
Look #elow at the e+am"le. The /uestion asks whether or not you #elie&e whether societies should use
ca"ital "unishment. There are' of course' two "oints of &iew2
516 ca"ital "unishment should #e used and
526 ca"ital "unishment shouldn.t #e used.
Let.s say for e+am"le that you don.t #elie&e that ca"ital "unishment should #e used #y societies. Bo
matter what "oint of &iew you ha&e' you should look at #oth sides' though naturally your writing will
fa&our the "osition that you ha&e taken. Gi&e the reasons why you don.t #elie&e in ca"ital "unishment
#ut then look at the o""osing &iew and say why you don.t acce"t it. In this way you will show the reader
your "owers of analysis when looking at such an issue.
0on.t forget that when you ha&e finished looking at this issue there is a second "art of the /uestion to #e
analysed too.
-s we said earlier' your ideas need to #e su""orted #y e+am"les and it is in the #ody of your essay that
they should a""ear. :or e&ery idea that you "resent try and gi&e an e+am"le from your own e+"erience
that shows that your idea is right.
-n e+am"le from your own e+"erience means something that you know from your life' from your
country.s news or history or anything that you ha&e read anywhere. !ou can actually in&ent e+am"les if
you need as long as they seem realistic and #elie&a#le. The e+aminer is "ro#a#ly not going to research
anything you write a#out.
The e+am"le #elow should illustrate what we ha&e #een discussing here.
< The *onclusion
This doesn.t need to #e a long "aragra"h. !ou need to sum u" your "oints "ro&iding a final "ers"ecti&e
on your to"ic. -ll the conclusion needs is three or four strong sentences' which do not need to follow
any set formula. Sim"ly re&iew the main "oints 5#eing careful not to restate them e+actly or re"eat all
your e+am"les6 and #riefly descri#e your feelings a#out the to"ic? this "ro&ides an answer to all "arts of
the /uestion. -n anecdote can also end your essay in a useful way.
-n E+am"le of the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
It.s &ery difficult to &isuali;e and understand all the things that I ha&e said a#o&e. !ou need to "ractice
with good /uality /uestions from IELTS "ractice tests. 8ere I will try and "ro&ide you with an e+am"le
/uestion and then go through the stages of thought to show you how to a""roach an IELTS General
Training Writing Task 2 essay.
8ere is a "ossi#le /uestion that would #e ty"ical for a Task 2 essay /uestion.
40o you #elie&e that societies ought to enforce ca"ital "unishment or -re there alternati&e forms of
"unishment that would #e #etter used14
:irst of all you need to consider the /uestion. What does it ask1 Straight away' you can see that it asks
2 things.
It wants to know if you #elie&e that society should use ca"ital "unishment 5c"6 and it also wants to know
if you can offer any alternati&es to ca"ital "unishment. !our answer should gi&e a #alanced &iew of #oth
"arts of this /uestion. What is im"ortant to reali;e is that there is no correct answer here. !ou can
"resent any "oint of &iew as long as you can su""ort it.
So' in your "lanning stage you should ha&e a roadma" for the introduction' each "aragra"h and the
conclusion. 8ere is my #rief "lan for the essay.
Intro
What c" is. Where it.s used. 5not my country6. 0iffering o"inions.
I don.t #elie&e in c".
There are alternati&e "unishments.
7ody
Inhumane = we shouldn.t sink to the le&el of criminals.
We can get con&ictions wrong? "risoners can #e released if there.s an error. (entally ill. E+am"les.
-lternati&e "unishments2 life means life? hos"itals for criminally insane. *osts more #ut society has a
duty to care.
(any countries fa&our it and they say it works. 3risons too full. Cillers deser&e nothing less. Some
crimes deser&e it. Bot my morals though.
*onclusion
I don.t agree. We can do other things. -&oid mistakes and make modern society a humane one.
The a#o&e is a #asic "lan of how I want to write my essay. It.s not rigid. I can change my ideas and
format as I write if I feel I can do #etter.
I can also add things that I.&e forgotten as the essay goes on. It.s normal of course for you to ha&e new'
good ideas as you write and the skill is to get them into your essay without u"setting the #alance of the
essay. 8ow do you do this1 It.s "ractice again. !ou won.t get good at writing essays and ada"ting your
writing well without "ractice with rele&ant /uestions from /uality IELTS "ractice tests.
So' #elow is an e+am"le essay using the "lan a#o&e as a #asis.
E+am"le Essay for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
*a"ital "unishment is the killing of a criminal for a crime that he has committed. 3re&iously most
countries em"loyed this method of "unishment #ut nowadays it is much less widely used. I "ersonally
do not #elie&e that societies today should use ca"ital "unishment and I also #elie&e that there are
alternati&e "unishments that can #e used.
(y main argument against ca"ital "unishment is that I #elie&e we do not ha&e the right to kill another
human #eing regardless of the crime. I don.t #elie&e in the old religious ma+im of 4an eye for an eye.4
(odern societies shouldn.t turn to such #ar#aric "unishments.
-nother argument against ca"ital "unishment is that "eo"le can #e wrongly con&icted and e+ecuted. If a
man is in "rison' he can #e released if later "ro&ed not guilty. If he is dead' there is nothing that can #e
done. In the DC' a grou" of su""osed terrorists were con&icted of murder in 7irmingham in the 1)Es.
They were "ro&ed innocent a#out 15 years later and released. If they had #een e+ecuted' innocent
"eo"le would ha&e died.
There are alternati&e "unishments a&aila#le. :or #ad crimes "rison life sentences can #e gi&en with
criminals im"risoned for the rest of their li&es. -lso a lot of horrific crimes are committed #y "eo"le who
are mentally sick. These "eo"le are not res"onsi#le for their actions and can #e ke"t safely and
"ermanently in secure hos"itals. !es' this costs a lot more #ut I #elie&e it is the duty of society to do this.
There are arguments for ca"ital "unishment. (any "eo"le feel its threat sto"s serious crime and that
criminals deser&e nothing less. It.s chea"er and kee"s the "risons managea#le. I can understand this
"oint of &iew #ut I cannot agree with it.
So' in conclusion' I don.t #elie&e in ca"ital "unishment' as there are less #ar#aric alternati&es a&aila#le.
We can a&oid horrific mistakes and make modern society a humane one.
:inal *omment for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
I ho"e that this essay shows how to a""roach the Task 2 /uestion and illustrates the ideas that I ha&e
written a#o&e.
:inally I will lea&e you with the message that I always do. To really im"ro&e your skills at writing essays'
you need to "ractice. Get some essay titles from good /uality IELTS "ractice tests' sit down when you
get the chance' gi&e yourself $ minutes and write some essays. Try and do it as I ha&e directed with a
cou"le of minutes for "lanning' as this will train you to make a #etter=constructed essay in the long run.
!ou can get essay titles "ro#a#ly from surfing the internet or you can use the IELTS "ractice tests at
ieltshel"now.com which are a&aila#le to download on this site at a fraction of the cost of #ooks in the
sho"s. In addition to e+am"le /uestions in our IELTS "ractice tests' we "ro&ide you with e+am"le
essays on all our /uestions' for #oth Tasks 1 and 2. Good luck with the IELTS -cademic Writing Test>
7elow are links to the other free IELTS General Training tutorials. We strongly recommend that you
"ractice for the tests with good IELTS "ractice tests. Ff course' we would like you to use ours as we
#elie&e ours are e+cellent and the chea"est on the market' #ut any good IELTS "ractice tests will do.