IELTS WRITING TIPS

• Do lots of research
• Read more than you write
• Understand what the band descriptors really mean
• Mental ceiling may prevent you from trying to get a higher score
• Improving takes time and practice
• I have checked God knows how many essays (500? 1000?) and now I understand exactly what examiners do/think, so I trained myself to do what they expect. A lot of the things I do happen subconsciously.

Before I start:

• Read carefully and highlight the key points.
• Plan my ideas (5-7 minutes)

My Essay

Introduction: (3-4 min)

• Do not overthink the paraphrase part
• Clear position
• Introduce main ideas briefly
• Nothing special

Main body paragraphs:

• 3 MB paragraphs with one paragraph introducing a possible point for disagreement and then refuting it with a strong counter-argument
• I check the paragraphs with the criteria from band descriptors in mind.

Conclusion: (1-2 min)

• Clear position
• Summary of main ideas
• Do not include any new ideas
• Nothing special

Editing and proof-reading:

• This phase is a must for bands 8.0-9.0
• You can’t afford silly mistakes with spelling, word formation, punctuation, tenses, prepositions and etc.