IELTS Academic Writing Test Format

Task 1

This task has some visual information in form of a Graph, Table, Chart or Diagram. It might include describing the stages of a process, explaining the data or describing an event or object. You have to describe, summarize, or explain the information in your own words.

Write at least 150 words in about 20 minutes.

Skills Assessed

• Ability to identify the relevant and important information from the given Graph, Table, Chart or Diagram & present it in a structured manner

Task 2

In this task, you are provided with a point of view, argument or a problem. You must write an essay presenting a solution to the problem, express views and ideas, justify your opinions, evaluate argument or present contrast evidences in a formal style.

Write at least 250 words in about 40 minutes.

Skills Assessed

• Ability to present ideas, arguments or opinions and to justify the point by supporting with relevant examples using appropriate language

Scoring Criterion

The IELTS Academic Writing Test is scored on the following criteria:

• Task Achievement
• Coherence & Cohesion
• Lexical Resource
• Grammatical Range & Accuracy

Task Achievement refers to how relevantly you cover the main points to fulfil the requirement set in the task.

Coherence is linking ideas in a proper sequence and Cohesion is making suitable use of cohesive devices (e.g., connectors, pronouns, conjunctions) to link ideas logically.

Lexical Resource determines your range of vocabulary.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy assesses accurate usage and wide range of complex structures.

General Tips

• Make use of sufficient range of Vocabulary
• Write content relevant to the subject provided
• Use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms
• Avoid use of informal language
• Pay attention to the number of words required for each task; you will lose marks for less words

IELTS writing samples and writing answer sample can be of great help. You can even practise writing by choosing topics on your own and submitting it to sites providing Writing Correction Service . Practising in this way would definitely help you acquire the skills that bring you high score .