IELTS Aid (Practice Essays)

This blog will explain how to achieve a good score in one of the band descriptors in the first IELTS Academic Writing task. According to the public band descriptor, a high score is given if: the output fully satisfies all the requirements of the task; clearly presents a fully developed response (Band 9)  covers all requirements of the task sufficiently; presents, highlights and illustrates key features/bullet points clearly and appropriately (Band 8)  covers the requirements of the task; presents a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages ; clearly presents and highlights key features/bullet points but could be more fully extended (Band 7) How to get your desired band score? Follow the instructions in the task carefully.  Here's a step-by-step guide. 1. You must paraphrase the given topic sentence. Don't forget that using the same words from the task topic is not allowed. 2. SUMMARISE the information by selecting and reporting the main fe...

Writing can be intimidating and demotivating. Most people try to shy away from doing writing tasks. However, this should not be the case. Here's a list of common mistakes seen in writing task outputs. 1. Using the same words from the task topic Writing an introduction usually takes much time for IELTS test-takers. This is because they are told to paraphrase the topic as their introduction. Many candidates probably have a list of common words used in both the writing task 1 and 2 and the synonyms for each of these words. Due to the overload of vocabulary, or lack thereof, IELTS takers contemplate too much on how they would start. As time passes though panic will overcome their feelings. As a result, they had no other choice but to use the same words from the task topic. Solution: Change the word forms if you have not enough synonyms. Learn to make use of the other forms of words -noun, adjective, adverb, etc.- you have shortlisted in your vocabulary study. Just remember tha...