The Best Tips To Improve Your IELTS Writing Score
Photo by Students who are not native English speakers but wish to study in the U.S , Australia or U.K have to attempt the IELTS test that stands for International English Language Teaching System.
The test is created by the professionals to test your complete range for English language and is known to be trusted by most professional bodies around the world.
The IELTS test basically tests four of your abilities which include speaking, reading, writing and listening.
The scores are in the form of bands ranging from 1 to 9.
It is extremely difficult to score a complete 9 but if you are really good at the English language even when you are not a native speaker, the maximum you can score is about 8.5 or so.
Each of the four sections is graded with a band and the average score of all the bands combined determines your final test score.
So, out of the 4 parts that the test is divided into, one of them is a writing test.
The writing test must be completed in 60 minutes at max and it consists of 4 sub-divided sections or criterion namely, task achievement, coherent and cohesion, vocabulary and grammatical range and accuracy. 25% of your progress is taken from each sub-section to grade the final band in the IELTS writing test.
In the writing test, there will be two tasks for you to complete such as Task 1 and Task 2.
A super quick tip here, it will be better if you complete the Task 2 first in which you have to write an essay for a certain word count — approximately 150 words to 200 words — as the Task 2 has more marks value as compared to Task 1.
Now that you understand the basic information about the IELTS writing test, following are a few tips you can thoroughly look in to so you can score a higher band or at the very least, an average band which is around 7.0.
These ten ways are helpful and effective for you to improve your IELTS writing test in no time if you concentrate and follow the tips that are mentioned.
The Essay
In the second task of the writing test, you will be asked to write an essay. This is not some average essay but rather the one on an elementary level.
Through this essay, the checker will determine your English writing skills so you need to follow a few tips as the essay is the most important part out of the entire writing test.
Before you begin writing, it is highly important to assess the prompt first. You need to write exactly what is asked of you rather than beating about the bush and scattering your words all over the place. Build a structure first.
The introduction of your essay must have the key points you will discuss in the body paragraphs. There should be about 2 body paragraphs as it is ideal for the minimum word count i.e. 150 words.
You can write the strongest paragraph first then the weakest and the stronger one before the conclusion. That way, you will leave the impact of a good essay on your checker.
This is only possible if you read the sample essays first and practice writing multiple times before the test. Time management is everything because you can be penalized if you do not complete your test within time.
Different Sentence Types
There are a couple of sentence types that you can use in your essay rather than just sticking to the same type of sentence.
If you do that, your essay would not have as much of a flow as it is required. Different sentence types include simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, passive sentences, question sentences, and conditional sentences.
It would be great to use a balanced ratio of all the sentence types to keep the essay flowing smoothly, however, the only sentence type you can use excessively is the complex type.
Complex sentences are those which have more than one ideas mentioned or discussed in a sentence. Your sentence accuracy will gain you a 4 however, if you use multiple sentence types, you can score a 5.
So, it is essential to use all sentence types however, the complex sentences mainly consist of the conjunctions, attaching three or more ideas together through conjunction to form a longer sentence such as although, because, before etc.
One key point is to be direct and clear about what you are trying to write. Making it too complex is not a good thing either.
Use Strong Verbs
Stronger verbs can form sentences which have more impact and meaning. This part can somewhat test your vocabulary skills.
The more direct and authentic the verb is, the better. However, there are some verbs you must avoid, such as to be, to get, to have and to go.
In replacement of one of these actions, you can use a better word, for example; instead of using ‘to go’, you can use the word travel or move.
Similarly, instead of using the verb ‘to get’, you can use many potent words such as acquire, obtain or receive.
Formal Style
In the IELTS writing test, you cannot write your essay as if you are talking to someone. Avoid informal or conversational tone on all costs.
Your essay must be formal and direct, discussing major points. You must avoid using phrasal verbs too as again, the more authentic and direct your verbs are, the better.
So, to score a higher band in your IELTS writing test, you must avoid two things; phrasal verbs and an informal style.
No Contractions
Contraction words are addictive to use even when you are not a native English speaker.
The contraction was initially put into form because they can create a better flow in your conversation or when you speak in English generally.
Contractions are also known to be informal because you can directly address the person or a group of people using contractions.
However, if IELTS writing test, you should never use the contractions or the first or second pronouns or possessive.
For example, I, you, me, your, unless you are writing the conclusion in which you are allowed to elaborate your opinion on the subject matter. The rule stays the same for contractions nevertheless. Instead of using contractions, you can shift more of your focus on using collocations.
Collocations are a group of words that are used together in a sentence. For example, higher education, the legal system, etc. Collocations with strengthen your essays.
Simplicity & Accuracy
Now, this is a very small but direct tip that can help you improve your IELTS writing within no time. It is easy to understand, remember and then follow.
Keep your essay as simple and direct as you can. There should be structure, key point, introduction consisting of those key point, second, third and fourth paragraphs which will serve as the body of your essay must explain what happened, what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and then, at last, your suggestions or opinions in the conclusion on how it needs to be done.
Must make sure that your conclusion reflects on your introduction and the essay is put together very well.
Word Repetition
It can be difficult to use all the words that are in your memory at one time unless you practice daily and have a very extensive vocabulary.
In your IELTS writing test, there is a separate section to attempt for vocabulary which means that one way or another, you must sit down with a dictionary and memorize word with their literal as well as conversational meanings.
Word repetition is obviously going to create a bad impact on your overall test score. If you practice learning and memorizing new vocabulary words, this problem will be automatically solved for you.
Practice is of utmost importance all throughout the tips that are mentioned in this blog so that is out of the question from the very start.
You must be passionate, motivated and focused on scoring a great band score on your test, the rest is up to how hard you work.
The Conclusion
The conclusion of your essay holds a lot of importance because not only are you summarizing all of the information you wrote above in the essay but you are also given a chance to explain your personal views on the subject.
Again, you cannot use an informal style in the conclusion either except for first and second pronouns.
An extra tip here is that there is no need to add new facts or information in your conclusion because you will not have further space or word count left to explain your new point.
So just stick to the bullet points you wrote about in your body paragraphs and carefully construct the conclusion with different sentence types, authentic verbs, correct grammar tenses, and solid information.
It is totally possible for your checker to grade your score based on your conclusion as that one last paragraph can summarize everything that was discussed in the essay so pay attention to your conclusions.
Lexical Resource
In your IELTS writing test, the section where your vocabulary skills are tested is called lexical resource. In lexical resource test, you will be asked to use vocabulary that is related to or closer to the topic that is given.
For example, if the prompt you are given is about food then your vocabulary must have words related to food such as healthy diet, nutrition, food scientists, etc.
Using the vocabulary that fits just right with the topic you are given is ideal and you can score well if you use this tip.
However, practice is everything so make sure you memorize at least five or ten words each day for a much higher vocabulary range to be able to use the correct vocabulary with the prompt you are given in the IELTS writing test.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
This part of the test will determine your grammar and tense usage. This is the key point that can score your band like a jackpot if it is attempted right.
Your checker must be able to understand our point all throughout the test so scoring an 8 or 9 in grammar is very necessary.
Grammatical accuracy and grammatical range can affect a lot on your test so in order to boost up your grammatical range and accuracy, you must practice learning the rules thoroughly or you can attempt the entire test multiple times before your final test just to be fully prepared.
Do not use any abbreviations anywhere in your test unless an abbreviation for a specific company or United Nations (UN) is given as your topic.
Extra Tip: Remember to proofread. When you are done with all the parts of your IELTS writing test, you must proofread your test paper before submitting it.
You may be able to detect a few mistakes you unconsciously made here and there.
