About the IELTS General Training Writing Format
The IELTS General Writing Test will be conducted in four sections. There are two tasks that appear in this test. You need to complete both tasks. In task 1, you should write a letter of 150 words in 20 minutes, and in task 2, you should write an essay of a minimum of 250 words in 40 minutes. The questions asked in tasks are from general sources like magazines, books, and guidelines. You get a total duration of 60 minutes to finish this writing test.
Marking Criteria
The general writing test scores for Tasks 1 and 2 are calculated based on four criteria.
Task Achievement and Response
This refers to effectively addressing all key points and completing the task requirements by elaborating ideas and supporting them with suitable examples.
Coherence and Cohesion
This means how well your text is structured. To increase the coherence and cohesion score, you should learn paragraphing. Ensure to get clear ideas from paragraphs. You should use cohesive devices (ex., connectors, pronouns, conjunctions) and linking words.
Lexical Resource
This describes how good you are at vocabulary. It is good to use a range of vocabulary to increase the lexical resource score and avoid errors in word formation and spelling.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
This describes how good your grammar is. To increase the Grammatical Range & Accuracy score, you must use various types of grammatical structures and tenses. It is suggested to avoid sentence errors and manage punctuation.
Tasks in IELTS General Training Writing
There are two tasks in writing tests for IELTS. Let us describe each task in detail below.
General Training Writing – Task 1
In IELTS General Writing task 1, you should write a 150-word letter to the person mentioned in the question. On the basis of the situation in question, the structure and format of the letter are changed. You get 20 minutes to write an essay of a minimum of 150 words. The writing task 1 comprises 30% of your writing score.
What's involved?
In task 1, you get a situation and you need to respond to the situation in the form of a letter of 150 words. On the basis of the task, the letter will be personal, formal, or semi-formal in style. The question paper tells you what information needs to be included in the form of bullet points.
What skills are tested?
This task evaluates your ability to write a letter that is accurate and well-organized in its style.
How much do I have to write?
You must write a letter of at least 150 words
General Training Writing – Task 2
In task 2 of the writing test, you should write an essay to respond to a discussion, opinion, or argument in question. In the general test, the essay will be less formal. You should write a minimum 250-word essay in 40 minutes. This task has twice the weightage of marks in task 1.
What's involved?
You should write a semi-formal/neutral discursive essay of 250 words in this task. In task 2, the instructions give information about the argument, the problem, and the opinions. The instructions also tell you about the details that you cover in the essay.
What skills are tested?
This task evaluates your skills to write a clear, accurate, and organized argument. It also shows you how accurately you explain essays with examples and integrate your ideas.
How much do I have to write?
You should write an essay of at keast 250 words.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How to get 8 bands in the IELTS General writing test?
You should demonstrate your high proficiency in coherence, vocabulary, and grammar to get an 8 band in the writing test. Moreover, it is suggested to focus on addressing tasks, organizing ideas, and using a range of sentence and vocabulary structures. You should also improve your writing by focusing on accurate punctuation and spelling.
What is the format of a writing test?
The format of writing tests comprises two tasks. In task 1, you were asked to write a semi-formal, formal or informal letter on the basis of the given situation. Letters need to be written in 150 words. You should write an essay of 250 words in Task 2.
How much time is given to complete the IELTS General writing test?
You get a total of 60 minutes to finish writing tests. You get 20 minutes for task 1 and 40 minutes for task 2.
How to write an IELTS Letter in a writing test?
You should identify what kind of letter you need to write and the aim of the letter. It is suggested to use opening and closing for the letter. Then, you should divide the letter into paragraphs.
What is Task 2 in the IELTS General Training test?
Task 2 in the writing test is a question that you answer in the form of an essay. You should write an essay in the form of an argument, discussion and statement. You need to finish an essay in 40 minutes and write a 250-word essay.
