Guides
IELTS writing, explained by the mark scheme
Worked samples, band criteria in plain English, and the specific sentences that cost you a band.
General Training letters
How to End an IELTS Letter: The Three Lines That Finish the Task
An IELTS letter ends with three things: a closing line, a sign-off and your name. Which sign-off you use is decided by the greeting, not by the topic.
IELTS Job Application Letter: A Full General Training Task 1 Answer, Marked
A complete job application letter for General Training Task 1, with the three bullet points answered in order and the reasoning behind each criterion.
IELTS General Training Task 1 Sample Letters, With the Marking Explained
Three sample GT letters, one per register, with the four criteria explained sentence by sentence so you can see where each estimate comes from.
IELTS General Training Task 2: How It Differs From Academic
Same four criteria, same 40 minutes, different prompts. One question written both ways, with the two answers compared line by line.
IELTS General Training Writing Topics for Both Tasks
A topic list only helps if you practise it in the right order. A four-week rotation for the General Training paper, with one letter marked line by line.
IELTS General Training Task 1: The Three Registers and When Each Applies
Formal, semi-formal or informal is the first decision in a General Training letter, and getting it wrong limits Task Achievement. A worked answer in each.
Complaint Letter About a Neighbour's Barking Dog: IELTS General Training Sample
A full General Training sample letter about a neighbour's barking dog, plus the complaint skeleton that also works for noise, parking, rubbish and building work.
IELTS General Training Formal Letters: Openings, Closings and the Three Bullet Points
In IELTS General Training, the three bullet points are the marking scheme. How to map each to a paragraph, plus greetings and sign offs that pair correctly.
IELTS Letter to a Neighbour: Formal, Semi-Formal and Informal Versions Compared
One situation, three registers, three letters. How to choose the right tone for a General Training letter to a neighbour, and what the wrong tone costs.
How to Start an IELTS Letter: Dear Sir, Dear Mr Smith, or Dear John?
The greeting you choose in IELTS General Training Task 1 sets the register for the whole letter. Here is how to pick it, and the sign-off that has to match.
Grammar and language
Tenses for IELTS Task 2: Pick the Tense From the Job the Sentence Does
In Task 2 the tense is decided by what the sentence is doing, not by the essay topic. A function table, a count of real samples, and one paragraph rewritten.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing: The Two Halves, on Real Sentences
The grammar criterion has two halves and most advice covers one. Here is what bands 5, 6 and 7 look like on real sentences, and which faults cost most.
IELTS Lexical Resource: What Band 5, 6, 7 and 8 Vocabulary Looks Like
Lexical Resource is a quarter of your writing band. Here is what each band step looks like on real sentences, and what actually moves you up one.
Contractions in IELTS Writing: What the Band Descriptors Actually Say
Most pages ban contractions outright. The public band descriptors never mention them, and in one task the blanket ban is what costs you marks.
IELTS Writing Synonyms: When Swapping a Word Costs You a Band
Synonym lists tell you what to swap, never when not to. Here is what the Lexical Resource descriptor rewards, with a real sentence repaired word by word.
Modal Verbs in IELTS Writing: How to Make a Claim You Can Defend
Candidates are told to hedge and also told hedging loses marks. Both are true. Your position must be firm; your evidence must be qualified.
IELTS Writing Punctuation: The Four Errors Inside Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Punctuation is named in the IELTS grammar descriptors at bands 4 to 7. Here are the four errors that appear in real answers, with the corrected sentence.
Do Spelling Mistakes Lower Your IELTS Writing Band? Where They Actually Count
Spelling is marked inside Lexical Resource, not on its own. What matters is how often you misspell and whether the reader has to stop.
IELTS Writing Vocabulary: Precision Beats Length
Long words lower your Lexical Resource score when they are the wrong words. Twelve pairs showing what accurate word choice looks like.
Academic Tone in IELTS Writing: Contractions, Slang and 'I Think'
Half of what candidates believe about formal IELTS writing is not a rule. Here is what actually costs marks, what is merely weak, and what is fine.
A, An, The: Articles for IELTS Writers Whose First Language Has None
Vietnamese, Indonesian, Uzbek and Russian have no articles. Here are the four rules that fix most article errors in IELTS writing, with corrected sentences.
The Ten Grammar Errors That Keep IELTS Writing at Band 6
Ten error patterns that appear again and again in band 6 writing, each shown wrong, then corrected, with the rule stated in one line you can remember.
Memorised Phrases Examiners Recognise Instantly
Template openers like "in this fast-paced modern world" are counted in thousands of essays. Here is why they cost you marks and what to write instead.
Worked essay topics
IELTS Traffic Congestion Essay: A Band 7.5 Answer and the Four Sentences That Capped It
Traffic congestion comes up in Task 2 as an opinion question and as a problem and solution question. One worked answer, and the sentences that held it back.
IELTS Advertising Essay: The Overgeneralising Trap, With a Full Answer
Advertising questions invite absolute claims, and the band descriptors penalise exactly that. Four sentences rewritten, plus one complete Task 2 answer.
IELTS Global Warming Essay: Answer the Question, Do Not Explain the Science
The commonest mistake on a global warming essay is explaining the greenhouse effect instead of taking a position. Three question shapes and a full answer.
IELTS Tourism Essay: A Band 6.5 Answer, and the Four Reasons It Is Not a 7
A real tourism answer estimated at 6.5, taken apart criterion by criterion. The vocabulary was never the problem, and the fix is four grammar habits.
IELTS Social Media Essay: A Full Task 2 Answer on Teenagers and Screen Time
A complete Task 2 answer on social media and teenagers, then the reasoning behind each criterion and the two sentences holding it below band 8.
IELTS Crime Essay: A Full Task 2 Answer on Prison and Rehabilitation
Crime is one of the most common Task 2 themes. A full worked answer on prison and rehabilitation, with the reasoning behind every paragraph.
IELTS Essay on an Ageing Population: Both Sides and a Full Sample Answer
Argument banks for both sides of the ageing population question, the vocabulary you need, and one complete Task 2 answer with the reasoning behind it.
The Legal Drinking Age IELTS Essay: How to Use Country Comparisons as Evidence
Candidates invent statistics under exam pressure. Country comparisons are better evidence, cost nothing to remember, and need no citation. Here is how to use them.
Was Life Better in the Past? IELTS Sample Essay and the Nostalgia Trap
The past-versus-present question invites vague generalisation, and vague generalisation caps your band. Here is the concrete-example discipline that lifts it.
Animal Testing IELTS Essay: Both Sides, With a Full Sample Answer
Argument banks for both sides of the animal testing question, a complete Task 2 sample answer, and the reasoning behind every paragraph choice.
Scoring and band descriptors
IELTS Task Response: The Criterion That Decides Whether You Answered the Question
Task Response is a quarter of your writing band and the only criterion that can collapse on its own. Here is what each band bullet asks for, on real answers.
IELTS Academic Writing Samples: Reading the Four Numbers Under the Band
A band label on a sample answer hides four separate numbers. Here is how to read an IELTS Academic writing sample criterion by criterion, on real sentences.
8 Band IELTS Essay: What the Four Numbers Behind an Overall 8 Actually Are
An overall 8 is not four 8s. Both band 8 answers in our sample library score 9, 8, 7, 7, and eleven different criterion sets reach the same result.
IELTS Writing Checker: What an Automated Check Can See, and What It Cannot
An error count is not a band. The public descriptors ask for range as well as accuracy, so a clean check and a low band are not a contradiction.
Band 6 in IELTS Writing Task 2: A Real Answer, Marked Criterion by Criterion
A full 295 word Task 2 answer estimated at band 6, with the four criterion bands it received and the three sentences that held it there.
IELTS Writing Band Score 7 Samples: The Criterion That Caps All Eleven of Ours
Eleven answers in our library are estimated at band 7. All eleven share one criterion profile, and what holds them there is not vocabulary size.
Why IELTS Writing Is Your Lowest Score When Reading and Listening Are Fine
A 7 in reading and a 6 in writing is not a mistake in the marking. It is what happens when an answer key is replaced by four band descriptors.
Stuck at 5.5 in IELTS Writing: The Four Things That Hold the Score There
A 5.5 in IELTS Writing is four specific habits, one per criterion. Here is what each looks like in a real sentence and what the band 6 version looks like.
Off Topic in IELTS Writing Task 2: What the Band Descriptors Actually Say
Prep sites claim a hard band 5 cap for going off topic. The public descriptors are more specific than that, and the difference matters.
IELTS Writing Remark: How to Judge Your Script Before You Pay
A writing remark costs money and takes weeks. Here is how to read your own answer against the four criteria first, and when a remark is worth requesting.
Band 7 in IELTS Writing: What Separates It From 6.5
Band 7 is the cut off most candidates actually need. Here is what changes on each of the four criteria between a 6.5 and a 7.
Band 8 IELTS Writing: The Gap Between 7 and 8, Sentence by Sentence
Band 8 is not band 7 with harder words. One paragraph rewritten from 7 to 8, with every change named and matched to the criterion it moved.
How Your Overall IELTS Band Is Calculated From the Four Papers
Your overall band is the average of the four papers, rounded by a rule most candidates get wrong. Worked examples, and what it means for writing.
What a Band 9 IELTS Essay Looks Like, and Why Most Advice Is Wrong
Most essays labelled band 9 online are band 7 essays with longer words. Here is what the band 9 descriptors actually ask for, sentence by sentence.
The IELTS Band Score Table, and How Writing Is Marked Against It
The full IELTS band table from 1 to 9, what each band means, and the column nobody prints: what a writing answer at each band actually looks like.
IELTS Writing Score Calculator: How the Four Criteria Become One Band
The arithmetic behind your Writing band, written out in full, including the quarter point rounding rule that costs candidates half a band.
IELTS Band Scores Explained: What Each Number Actually Means
A band score is not a mark out of nine. It is an average of four judgements, rounded by a specific rule. Here is the arithmetic, with worked examples.
How Your IELTS Writing Band Score Is Calculated and Rounded
Four criteria, averaged, then rounded to the nearest half band. See the arithmetic on real score combinations, and where a quarter band changes your result.
The Four IELTS Writing Criteria, in Plain English
Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammar. What each one is really asking, and the one sentence that most often loses each mark.
Grammatical Range: Four Complex Sentence Patterns Worth Memorising
Range means a variety of accurate structures, not long sentences. Four patterns, each shown in a correct version and an overreaching one.
Lexical Resource: Collocation Beats Vocabulary Lists
A rare word used wrongly scores lower than a common word used precisely. Here is what Lexical Resource measures, with paired examples you can copy.
Coherence and Cohesion: Why Adding More Linking Words Lowers Your Band
Moreover, Furthermore and In addition will not raise your band. Here is what Coherence and Cohesion actually measures, and the four devices that do the work.
Stuck at Band 6.5 in Writing? The Four Habits That Hold the Score There
Band 6.5 in writing is rarely a vocabulary problem. Four specific habits keep the score there, and each one has a fix you can make this week.
How to Mark Your Own IELTS Essay Against the Four Criteria
A repeatable four pass method for marking your own IELTS essay, one criterion at a time, with the question to ask at each pass.
Task 1 mechanics
Cambridge IELTS Writing Task 1: Using the Practice Books So the Questions Are Not Wasted
Four tests per volume, sample answers at the back, and no mark for your own. How to use a Cambridge IELTS book for Task 1, with one overview rewritten.
The IELTS Task 1 Introduction: One Sentence, Four Facts
Pages disagree on whether the Task 1 introduction is one sentence or three. Here is what four scored answers actually wrote, counted word by word.
The Passive Voice in IELTS Task 1: Where It Belongs and Where It Costs You
The passive belongs to process diagrams, not to Task 1 in general. Counted across four Academic sample answers, with a real agreement error rewritten.
The IELTS Task 1 Overview: One Sentence, and the Band It Decides
What an overview is, where it goes, and what all four Task 1 Academic samples in our library do in exactly the same place.
Does IELTS Task 1 Need a Conclusion? The Overview Already Does That Job
Task 1 needs an overview, not a Task 2 style conclusion. Here is what each one is, where it goes, and what writing both costs you.
Figures or Words? How to Write Numbers in IELTS Task 1
IELTS publishes no rule on digits versus words. What is marked is precision, so this is how to write numbers so the reader sees the data.
IELTS Task 1 Key Features: Which Numbers to Include and Which to Leave Out
Task 1 asks you to select key features, not to report every number. Here is one data set, three selections, and what each one costs you.
IELTS Task 1 Static Charts: What the Overview Says When Nothing Changes
A Task 1 chart with no years on it breaks every trend phrase you practised. How to spot one, what the overview becomes, and a full worked answer.
Which Tense for IELTS Task 1? Read the Dates, Not the Chart
The tense for Academic Task 1 is decided by the dates on the axis, not by the kind of chart. One decision table and the sentences candidates get wrong.
Is 150 Words Enough for IELTS Task 1? What the Word Count Actually Costs You
150 words is the floor, not the target. Here is what an under-length Task 1 answer costs, why 170 is safer, and how to count words fast in the exam.
Exam technique
IELTS Writing Tips and Tricks, Tested Against the Band Descriptors
Four of the most repeated IELTS writing tips describe the wording of the lower bands. Here is each popular tip checked against the published descriptors.
IELTS Writing Mock Test: How to Run One Properly, and What to Measure Afterwards
A full IELTS writing mock paper, the exact conditions to sit it under, and a marking routine for afterwards. The marking is the half that moves a band.
IELTS Task 2 Word Count: What 250 Words Actually Buys You
The 250 word minimum, what the public band descriptors say about length, and the measured word counts of seventeen Task 2 answers with their band estimates.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Linking Words: Why the Longest Lists Describe a Band 5 Answer
The public descriptors put over-use of cohesive devices at band 5. Here is the short list worth learning, and a count across seventeen samples.
Can You Use 'I' in IELTS Writing? Where First Person Helps and Where It Costs You
Task 2 asks for your opinion, so first person is allowed. The real question is how often, and which band criterion each choice touches.
Do You Indent Paragraphs in IELTS Writing? How to Make the Division Visible
Indent, blank line, or both? What the marking actually needs from your paragraph layout, on paper and on the computer test.
Should You Write IELTS Task 2 First? What the Order Actually Costs
Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1, so writing it first sounds obvious. Here is the band arithmetic behind the choice, and the risk in each order.
IELTS Writing: What to Check in the Last Four Minutes
Every guide says leave time to check your IELTS writing. None says what to look for. Here is an ordered checklist, cheapest and most costly errors first.
IELTS One Skill Retake for Writing: How to Decide, and What to Change First
Writing is the skill most candidates want to retake. How to tell whether a retake is worth booking, and what to change in the weeks you have.
The IELTS Task 2 Body Paragraph: Four Sentences, In This Order
A Task 2 body paragraph needs a topic sentence, a reason, an example and a link. Here is each sentence written out, plus the three ways the paragraph collapses.
IELTS Writing Practice That Actually Improves Your Band
Why writing twenty unmarked essays changes nothing, and a weekly practice routine that fixes one habit at a time instead.
IELTS Handwriting: What Actually Costs You Marks on Paper
Handwriting is not one of the four marking criteria. It still costs candidates marks, and the reason is simpler than most advice admits.
IELTS Writing: How the Paper Works and How It Is Marked
Sixty minutes, two tasks, four criteria. A single orientation page covering the format, the timing, the marking, and where the marks are actually lost.
IELTS Conclusions: What to Do With the Last Ninety Seconds
Your conclusion has one job and about ninety seconds to do it. Here are three real conclusions to the same question, marked, with the reasoning shown.
Paraphrasing the IELTS Question Without Changing Its Meaning
Copying the prompt earns nothing, and a broken paraphrase costs Task Response. Here are the safe transformations, with worked examples of each.
Do IELTS Examples Have to Be True? Using Evidence You Cannot Cite
You cannot look up a statistic in the exam. Here is what an IELTS example is actually for, and the honest framing that supports an idea without inventing data.
The Five Minute IELTS Essay Plan
Five minutes of planning is not five minutes lost. Here is the minute by minute plan that decides your position and your two body paragraphs before you write.
How to Write an IELTS Introduction in Two Sentences
Paraphrase the question, then state your position. That is the whole job. Here is the bloated version, the two sentence version, and why the short one scores.
IELTS Writing Time Management: Why Task 1 Should Take 20 Minutes and Usually Takes 30
Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1, so every extra minute spent on Task 1 is borrowed from the half of the paper that matters more.
Paper or Computer IELTS: Which One Is Better for Writing?
Word count, editing, legibility and planning space all change between the two formats. Here is how to decide which suits your writing, before you book.
Can an IELTS Essay Be Too Long? The Cost of Writing 400 Words
There is no upper word limit in IELTS writing, but a 400 word essay still costs you marks. Here is the real trade, and the length that manages it best.
Task 1 charts and diagrams
Bar Graph in IELTS Task 1: The Three Shapes, and Where the Marks Actually Go
A bar graph arrives in three different shapes in IELTS Task 1, and each one changes what you group. With the marks traced on a real published answer.
Describing Trends in IELTS Task 1: Two Patterns, and the Grammar That Costs the Marks
Every change in a graph can be written two ways. Here are both patterns, and the four grammar errors that cap Lexical Resource in real scored answers.
IELTS Band 9 in Writing Task 1: What the Arithmetic Actually Requires
Band 9 in Task 1 needs three nines and at most one eight. Here is the arithmetic, the four criteria behind it, and which one really blocks it.
IELTS Writing Graph Tips: The Six That Survive the Band Descriptors, and Four That Do Not
Most graph tip lists repeat advice the public band descriptors contradict. Here are the six worth following, each tied to the bullet it moves.
IELTS Task 1 With Two Charts: One Overview, Two Body Paragraphs
Two visuals in one Task 1 question need one report, not two. The paragraph plan, the linking sentence, and a full sample answer with the reasoning.
IELTS Task 1 Exercises: Practise One Skill at a Time
Task 1 is four separate skills. Here are short drills for the overview, data selection and comparison language, with model answers for each.
IELTS Task 1 Practice: Six Questions With Marked Answers
Six Task 1 practice questions, one answer written out in full, and the four things a marker looks for in it. Academic and General Training.
IELTS Task 1 Topics: What Actually Comes Up, and How to Prepare for Each
Task 1 topics repeat as chart families, not as subjects. Here is every family that comes up, with a worked opening paragraph for each one.
IELTS Task 1 Sample Answer With Every Criterion Explained
One Academic Task 1 answer, the four criterion estimates behind it, the exact sentences that decided each one, and the same answer rewritten a band higher.
IELTS Task 1 Sample Answers Across Six Chart Types
Six Academic Task 1 chart families, one sample answer each, with the four criterion estimates and the exact sentences that held each answer back.
IELTS Academic Task 1: What Is Different From General Training
Academic Task 1 is a data description, General Training Task 1 is a letter. Same forty minutes, same criteria, two different jobs. Here is the split.
IELTS Writing Task 1: Every Question Type, With a Marked Answer for Each
The six things Task 1 Academic can show you, what each one is really asking for, and a marked sample answer you can read the reasoning behind.
How to Describe Any Process Diagram in IELTS Task 1
A repeatable method for process diagrams: count the stages, name the input and output, choose passive or active, then sequence. With a full sample answer.
IELTS Task 1 Table Questions: Choosing What to Ignore
A table can hold forty numbers and you have 150 words. Selection is the skill being marked. Here is the rule for choosing, with a full sample answer.
IELTS Map Questions: Describing Change Over Time Without Repeating Yourself
Map answers collapse into "was built, was built, was built". Here is the change-verb bank and the direction scaffolding that fixes it, with a full sample.
IELTS Pie Chart Sample Answer: How to Group Percentages Instead of Listing Them
The same pie chart answered twice, once by listing every slice and once by grouping them. See exactly which sentences cost a band and why.
IELTS Bar Chart Sample Answers: Band 6 vs Band 8, Sentence by Sentence
Two answers to the same bar chart, one weak and one strong. Compared sentence by sentence, with the reason each version scores what it scores.
IELTS Line Graph Sample Answer: The Overview Sentence That Decides Your Band
One line graph, four different overview sentences ranked from weakest to strongest, with the reason each version scores what it scores.
The Water Cycle Diagram in IELTS Task 1: A Full Band 8 Answer, Explained
A complete IELTS Task 1 answer for the water cycle diagram, plus the sequencing and passive voice patterns that transfer to any process question.
Task 2 essay types
The IELTS Thesis Statement: The One Sentence Task Response Is Looking For
A thesis statement is the sentence where you answer the question. Here is one for each Task 2 question type, and the test that tells you it works.
The Counter Argument in IELTS Task 2: When It Raises Your Band, and When It Costs You One
A counter argument is not a band booster. It helps only when you answer it, and the Task Response descriptors explain exactly why an unanswered one hurts.
IELTS Problem Solution Essay Sample: A Band 7 Answer With Every Mark Explained
A complete problem and solution answer, the four criterion estimates it received, and the two flagged sentences rewritten against the descriptor bullets.
IELTS Discuss Both Views Essay Sample Answer: Why Each Paragraph Scores What It Scores
A complete discuss both views answer, then the same body paragraph weakened twice, so you can see which band descriptor each change actually moves.
IELTS Writing Task 2: How Many Paragraphs, and How to Decide From the Question
Four paragraphs or five? The number is not the rule. Here is how the question type decides it, and what the marking criteria actually check.
Is This a Positive or a Negative Development? The IELTS Essay That Needs a Verdict
This Task 2 question asks for a judgement, and most answers only describe the change. The verdict sentence, two legal structures and a worked answer.
IELTS Cause and Effect Essays: Why Candidates Answer the Wrong Question
A cause and effect question is not a problem and solution question. Read the wording, build the plan it dictates, and see a worked answer with its paragraph plan.
IELTS Opinion Essay Questions, and How to Take a Position
Opinion questions punish fence sitting under Task Response. Here is how to recognise them, and how to hold a position for 260 words.
How to Read an IELTS Task 2 Statement Before You Plan
Misreading the Task 2 statement is the most expensive error in the paper. Here are the five misreadings, and a two minute check that catches them.
IELTS Writing Model Answers, and How to Use One Properly
Most candidates read model answers and learn nothing. Here is a model with its structure taken apart, and a method for reverse engineering any other one.
IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essay: A Marked Answer, Sentence by Sentence
A full band 7 answer with every paragraph marked against the four criteria, and the three sentences that would move it to 8 named exactly.
IELTS Task 2 Topics With Model Answers, Marked
Twenty Task 2 questions sorted by what they ask you to do, one full answer, and links to answers you can read next to the band they were given.
IELTS Opinion Essay Topics With Full Answers
Twelve opinion essay questions, one complete answer written out in full, and the reasoning behind the band each part of it would earn.
IELTS Task 2 Sample Answer With the Band Explained
One full Task 2 answer, the four criterion estimates behind its band, the sentences that earned each one, and the single change worth half a band.
What IELTS Writing Task 2 Asks You to Do
One question, 40 minutes, 250 words, and two thirds of your Writing band. What the instruction is really asking for, and how the four criteria read it.
IELTS Writing Task 2: The Five Question Types and How Each Is Marked
Five question types, five different jobs. What each one is asking for, the structure that fits it, and a marked sample answer for each type.
IELTS Two-Part Questions: Answering Both Halves Properly
A two-part IELTS question asks two things. Answer one and Task Response is capped near band 5. Here is the checklist and a full worked example.
IELTS Problem and Solution Essays: Matching Every Solution to a Named Cause
Most problem and solution essays lose marks because the solutions do not answer the causes raised. See the mismatch, then the rewrite that fixes it.
Discuss Both Views and Give Your Opinion: The Three Paragraph Plans That Work
Where does your opinion actually go in a discuss both views essay? Three legitimate layouts, with the marking consequence of each one.
To What Extent Do You Agree? How to Answer Without Sitting on the Fence
Partly agreeing is allowed and is often the strongest answer, but only if you name the degree and hold it. Here is the committed version next to the mushy one.
IELTS Opinion Essay Sample: A Band 8 Answer With the Thinking Shown
A full IELTS opinion essay, then the plan that produced it, then the three positions you can take on any prompt and when each one is easiest to defend.
IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essay: Structure, Sample and the Question Trap
Two different IELTS questions hide behind the same words. Answer the wrong one and Task Response is capped. Here is how to tell them apart, with a full sample.
Task 2 topics
IELTS Health Essay Topics: The Question Type Matters More Than the Subject
Health prompts sorted by question type rather than listed, and what the published descriptors say about preparing topic vocabulary for them.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Ideas: What to Write When You Know Nothing About the Topic
The blank page is not a knowledge problem. Four fixed lenses that produce two body paragraph ideas from any Task 2 question, worked on a hard prompt.
IELTS Academic Writing Topics for Task 1 and Task 2
What actually comes up in IELTS Academic writing, split by paper, with a worked opening sentence for every Task 1 chart family.
Recent IELTS Writing Task 2 Questions, Sorted by Theme
Recent Task 2 questions fall into about nine repeating themes. Here is how to sort any question in thirty seconds, and what to prepare for each theme.
Recent IELTS Task 2 Questions, With a Worked Plan for Each
Nine recent Task 2 question shapes, each with a five minute paragraph map you can copy into your next practice essay.
IELTS Academic Task 2: What the Prompts Assume You Can Do
Academic Task 2 prompts are written in abstract, impersonal language, and they expect the answer back in the same register. Here are the patterns that carry it.
IELTS General Training Writing Topics for Task 1 and Task 2
General Training topic lists are usually Academic lists in disguise. Here is what the GT paper really asks, split by task, with the differences named.
IELTS Task 2 Topics That Keep Coming Back
Task 2 questions repeat in themes, not in wording. Here is what each theme asks you to argue and the vocabulary that carries from one question to the next.
Recent IELTS Task 2 Questions, Grouped by Type
Task 2 questions repeat in five shapes. Here is each shape with real question wordings, the position it demands, and the paragraph plan that fits it.
Recent IELTS Writing Task 2 Questions and How to Plan Each One in Five Minutes
Twelve recurring Task 2 question shapes, each with a five minute plan instead of a full essay. Planning is the skill that transfers to the unseen question.
IELTS Technology Essay Topics: Getting Beyond 'Technology Has Advantages'
Technology essays attract the most generic answers in the exam. Here is how specificity earns marks, with a worked band comparison you can copy.
IELTS Environment Essay Topics: Ideas, Vocabulary and a Band 8 Sample
The environment theme repeats in six question shapes. Here are the arguments, the collocations that lift Lexical Resource, and a full sample answer.
IELTS Education Essay Topics: Arguments and Vocabulary That Actually Score
Education is the most common Task 2 theme. Here are the arguments on both sides, the collocations that lift Lexical Resource, and the phrases to drop.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics: The Nine Themes Every Question Comes From
Task 2 questions are not random. Nine themes cover almost all of them, each with its own arguments and vocabulary. Learn the themes, not the questions.