The IELTS Academic Writing module measures your ability to write in clear, formal English, as is generally demanded in an academic

context. You are assessed according to the following criteria:

Task Response - how accurately to address the task Coherence and Cohesion - how organized your writing is Lexical Resource - the range of your vocabulary Grammatical Range and Accuracy - the correctness of your grammar

You have an hour to complete two writing tasks. You must complete both tasks to get a score. You need to organize your ideas, write accurately, and use rich vocabulary. It is recommended that you divide your time in this way:

Task 1 150 words 20 minutes Task 2 250 words 40 minutes

IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING - TASK 1 In the first task, you must write a report based on pictorial information. This means you may need to describe a graph, chart, or diagram. It may be a bar chart, pie chart, line graph, or some other graphic representation. You might also be asked to describe the process illustrated by the diagram. This involves describing the data accurately, pointing out trends and relevant information, and using appropriate vocabulary. To understand how best to answer this type of task, read through the model answers provided in IELTS guidebooks. Examiners will score your answer based on your ability to group relevant information, link ideas in complex sentences, and use appropriate vocabulary to describe trends. This is not as difficult as it sounds. By reading through several sample answers, you can extract the vocabulary you need and also learn a variety of sentence structures, to present your information in a formal, academic manner. For the highest marks, also pay close attention to your spelling and copy given words and phrases correctly. IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING - TASK 2 In this task, you need to write an academic style essay on the single topic given. You have no choices here you must write only about the one topic so prepare yourself with strategies to write a well-organized essay on a variety of subject areas. You may need to offer a solution to a problem, express an opinion or comment on ideas or arguments presented. Your essay should be about four or five paragraphs in length, with an introduction, body and conclusion. It should not be a list of bullet points, but a properly organized essay, written in full sentences. You need to state your thesis, provide evidence or reasons to support your argument and write a

strong conclusion. Use topic sentences to clearly identify the main theme in each paragraph. You could use the guide below to structure your essay:

Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4

Introduction Body Body Conclusion

Restate the topic, indicate your position Main idea, examples Main idea, examples supporting supporting idea, idea,

Summarize ideas, restate position

IELTS Writing Tips

Work with a teacher. Write several sample essays and have them corrected by a teacher. You cannot prepare for the writing section of the IELTS alone, as you have no way of receiving feedback on your errors. If you are short on money, at least invest in a teacher or class to prepare for the writing and speaking sections of the IELTS, and then do the listening and reading sections on your own by working with a good preparatory IELTS guidebook. Read the questions very carefully. Often the question will ask you to do three or four different things, aside from the main question. Jot them down and make sure you address all of them in your answer. The IELTS examiner will be checking for this. Practice writing tasks within the given time limits. It really doesn't matter if you can write a beautiful answer in two hours. Always recreate the conditions of the exam as closely as possible, when doing any kind of practice exercises. Plan before you write. Even though you feel under pressure for time, spend the first few minutes planning your writing. Decide what you're going to say and how you'll expand on it. When you know what to write, you can concentrate on how to write it best. Experiment with the great variety of outlining and mind-mapping techniques to help you sketch out a plan quickly. Write in an organized way. When you've planned in advance, you'll end up with a more organized, logical piece of writing, which will earn you higher marks. There are many ways to be organized linear, circular, etc. but in the end the final product must be cohesive. Stay on topic. You will be penalized if you stray off topic. This is where the initial few minutes of planning can help you a great deal. Divide your writing into paragraphs. It is confusing to be faced with a block of writing, with no divisions. You wouldn't expect to read a magazine article or book like this. Always divide your writing into paragraphs. Write clearly. This is not the time or place to experiment with new vocabulary or idioms. Use simple, clear English to get your ideas across in a powerful way. Write legibly. Though marks are not granted or taken away for poor or messy writing, the examiner should be able to read what you have written without undue difficulty.

Spell correctly. Yes, this does affect your score so avoid careless mistakes. A careless mistake is when you have spelt the same word in various ways in the same piece of writing or when you misspell a word which is already given in the exam topic and all you have to do is copy it correctly. That's not okay. Watch for this when you're practicing and resolve to overcome it. Don't use slang. This is the time to show off the best English you know. Find the correct way to express your thoughts and convey your ideas, without resorting to slang. Be aware that certain expressions, such as "kids" instead of "children" and "guys" or "gals" instead of "men" or "women", also fall into the category of slang and should be avoided. Don't use contractions in the Academic Writing tasks. In English, contractions are used in informal writing, and the Academic tasks demand formal writing. Use rich vocabulary. You have learned English for many years and this is the time to use what you know. Stay away from over-used adjectives such as "good" or "bad". Instead, use more dramatic, expressive words, such as excellent, wonderful, superb, or adverse, horrible, terrible, etc. Choose the more precise word over the more general one. This will make your language come alive, in speech or in writing, and earn you higher marks. Don't write more or less words than you need to. Writing too many will take too much time, and there is a greater possibility of making mistakes. Writing too few is worse it will cause you to lose marks. In the essay, don't repeat major chunks of the question in your answer. Instead, state what you understand of the questions and what you plan to include in your answer.

Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3

Introduction Body Body

Restate the topic, indicate your position Main idea, examples Main idea, examples supporting supporting idea, idea,

Paragraph 4

Conclusion

Summarize ideas, restate position

IELTS Writing Key Words & Expressions

By learning to use common phrases and set expressions, you can add variety and interest to your writing. You will also be able to write more quickly and effectively during exams, when time is limited. Of course, you won't need to use all of the expressions on the IELTS. Ideally, you should be comfortable using at least three or four expressions from each group below, so they come to mind easily during the IELTS. It is also helpful to have someone call them out so you can test your spelling. Unfortunately, students sometimes make spelling errors even in these commonly occurring expressions. Practice sufficiently so you don't lose points unnecessarily on something that's within your control. KEY WORDS for IELTS WRITING Stating Your Opinion
In my opinion, In my view, From my point of view, It seems to me that From my perspective It appears that I realize I imagine According to me, To me, I think I believe To my way of thinking I suppose I understand I feel

Giving Examples

For example, such as

For instance, In other words,

as that is To illustrate

like namely To paraphrase

Comparing

Similar to in common Either...or Neither...nor Just as

As...as also In the same way, At the same time resemble

Contrasting

However, On the contrary, Differ from Although Otherwise Alternatively,

But On the other hand, Nevertheless Though Instead Even though

Generalizing

Generally,

Generally speaking,

Overall, In general, It seems to me that All in all, Essentially, All things considered

On the whole, By and large, I believe Basically, As a rule, For the most part

Expressing Certainty

Certainly, Doubtless, Definitely,

Undoubtedly, No doubt, Of course,

Expressing Partial Agreement

More or less, Up to a point, In a way,

To some extent, Almost, So to speak,

Showing cause

Due to Because of

Because Owing to

Showing effect

Therefore, Consequently, Thus, thereby Hence,

As a result, For this reason, So, Eventually, The reason why

Marking time

First, Second, Third, Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, During To begin with Simultaneously Since Afterwards When

Last Lastly, Then, First of all, Before After While At the same time After this / that Meanwhile Following this As soon as

Adding Information

Furthermore Also Moreover Likewise Besides Even

In addition And Similarly As well as Too Whats more

Expressing condition

If In case Provided that

Whether Unless So that

Concluding

To summarize Lastly, To conclude with,

In conclusion Finally, In short,