IELTS Advice: band 9 essays

Some students (both in my classes and online) find it hard to believe that all of my essays are band 9. They are under the impression that you need to use "difficult" language to get a high score. This is how I respond:

• What is "difficult" language? Language is not mathematics; anyone can learn and understand a word or phrase.
• The most difficult thing is using words together correctly and naturally. Small words like articles and prepositions cause the most problems.
• If an essay has no grammar mistakes and a mix of long and short sentences, it's almost certain that it will get band 9 for grammar.
• If ideas are explained and developed in a clear, logical way, you will get a high score for coherence and cohesion.
• If you try to make your writing over-complicated, it will seem forced and unnatural.

Remember: if an essay is difficult to read, it's probably badly written. Good writing is surprisingly easy to read, and the arguments are easy to follow.

Comments

[pretty]

I firmly agree with you.Thank you for making this important advice too precise and easy to understand. I believe all aspirants of IELTS will get benefit from it.

[rajeesh]

hi simon,

i am from india

here,for essay, many friends ask me to write 3 sentences in introduction(including 2 general statements+thesis+your opinion),and 3 sentences in summary(restating thesis+summarising written data+future possiblity statement).

but, being a regular follower of your site,i am rather comfortable with your way of writing.

so, the comment is that short introduction+conclusions will not give you band7 in task2.

i have just 6 days left for my test ,and is really confused about this comments.

pls help..

[Oanh]

Hi Simon,
I think it is great when you show us your sample essays as well as speaking answers. I hope you will post more of them so that I can see how to apply your writing techniques mentioned in your previous lessons.

[sabah]

hi simon
yesterday,i wrote an essay for task1 i followed your advice.it took short time , it was easy to read and undrestand it and i used all data of the table. but when i read the example essay on Essential ILETS book,i was disappointed .it was totally different.it was a complacated essay.i dot know ,how i could know that which way is fine.becase that essay didnt follow the introdaction,sumarray and paragraphs' pattern.it was written all in one paragraph.

[Mh]

Hi Simon

I think most candidates who are likely started learning English from advanced level and did not care about basic rules , and also they are dealing too much with difficult Cambridge READING , want to apply those vocabularies and complex grammar in their essay, then I think it appears awkward as we are probably not at such level of writing . I think we forgot that Language is a means to communicate effectively not for showing off and using pompous words .

Thank you Simon for remeber us that simple rule and put us in right direction

[Maia]

Hi Simon,
I am Maia from New Zealand. I appeared ielts exam yesterday 26 of November. Task 2 question was really tough so i want to share question here.

economic growth all over the world is increasing and the number of rich people are increasing in both developed and developing countries. while study shows rich people in developing countries are happier than in developed countries. what do you think reason behind this and what lesson can be learnt from this?

[rajeesh]

hi simon,

please give me advice about the inclusion of striking point\highlight of the graph\table\linegraph,which is also an important aspect of task1 writing,as taught by many tutors here,in my place.

looking for your words..

[Hassan]

Hi Simon
I you could please answer some of my questions. I have some questions related to the use of million and USA in this paragraph that is written by international IELTS teacher:
1)In the following year apparel expenses of both Japan and USA grew even bigger to 12 and 10 Millions respectively.
and
This picture has 12 million pixels; 5 millions of them are black.
My question is it alright to use USA alone without the, and Millions instead of Million after a number.
2)The word "spent" could be a noun as in the sentence: The total spent for...
3)Could we use cloth to vary our writing insted of apparel
Thanks

[Simon]

Thanks Pretty!

...

Hi Rajeesh,

Believe me - main body paragraphs are the key to a high score. Long introductions and conclusions are just wasted words.

About highlighting the main points, I recommend this too. First you need to summarise the main points, then you need to select key details. Have a look through all of my writing task 1 lessons - there are many examples of summarising and selecting main points.

...

Thanks Oanh!

...

Hi Sabah,

Don't let sample essays that you see in books worry you. There are many ways to write a good essay. I'm sure yours is fine.

One thing that is definitely wrong is writing the whole essay as one paragraph - don't do that!

...

Hi Mh,

I couldn't agree more! Thanks for making a great point.

...

Hi Maia,

Thanks for sharing your question. Best of luck!

...

Hi Hassan,

Those sentences contain several mistakes! I think a student wrote them.

You need to write "the USA".
"10 millions" is wrong.
You could use "clothing".

[Hassan]

Hi Simon
Thank you for the correction you did with respect to my questions.
This pargraph was taken from the "Target band 7" book by Simone Braverman page 38.
Now I think that who will follow his method of writing and tips will target band 3 and not 7.
Thank you

[Simon]

No problem Hassan.

[rajeesh]

thanks simon

[Martin]

Hi Simon,

Great points!

I always tell students that using memorized phrases can in fact make sentences/paragraphs/essays look very awkward most of the time. Also, examiners are experienced enough to easily tell when students are trying "too hard".

Although I am also trying to make students understand about these points, there are (unfortunately) still lots of students who are reluctant to believe that "difficult words/expressions" are NOT necessary to get a high score. Instead, they would waste so much time memorizing those "beautiful vocabularies" and they tend to forget about the importance of being able to speak and write in a natural way.

Best,
Martin

[Simon]

Hi Martin,

It's not easy to get the message across to everyone, and it does frustrate me at times. However, it's encouraging to see that many students ARE 'converting' to our approach!

[Hassan]

Hi Mr, Simon
First of all, thanks for your excellent website.
Second, I need some pices of youre advice.
I hade an essay and in that essay i hade 2 or 3 spelling mistake but i think my essay was so good. I also wrote "..., etc" in my essay. Examiner gave me bound 5.5.He told me "etc" is an informal word and if I write whithout any spelling mistake and informal word, IELTS examiner will give me 6 at first and then scruting collocations and phrases and so give me 7 or more.
I was wondring if youd mind clearly explaining how IELTS examiner dedicate scores.

[Simon]

Hi Hassan,

It's too complicated to explain in detail, but the basic scoring system is that you get 4 marks for each essay:

1. Task response - how well do you answer the question?
2. Coherence - are the ideas organised in a logical way?
3. Vocabulary - do you use a range of words and phrases to express your ideas? (words/phrases related to the topic, not linking words)
4. Grammatical accuracy - mistakes and range of sentence structures.

It's not really true that you get a 6 if there are no spelling mistakes - it's more complicated than that because the examiner considers all kinds of grammar and vocabulary mistakes, not just spelling.

[Martin]

Hi Simon,

I was thinking that maybe you could include some info on the basic scoring system for each module under the "About the exam" section. I guess this would be useful for students who are seeking explanation about their scores and hopefully try to improve once they identify their weaknesses. Just an idea.

Cheers,
Martin

[Simon]

Thanks Martin. Yes, it's something I've been meaning to do.

[rasim]

hello Simon.
First of all, i've been following your website for three days and it's really impressive. Thanks for your great effort.
Secondly, i would like to ask you a question about proficiency exams.
Which one is more easy to achieve, IELTS-6.5 or FCE-C ?
By the way, i'm an upper-int level student and i have 3 months.

Take care.

[Simon]

Hi Rasim,

I think I answered your email. I'm afraid I don't know enough about FCE to be able to compare. Sorry. I'm glad you like the site though!

[Kai]

Hi Simon,
Your blog is simply great, I learnt a lot in few days by just reading the blog and your ebook.
Your suggestions are valuable.
I will appreciate it if you could suggest a strategy to improve my writing.
I learnt English informal way, some basic grammer I learnt in school (20 years back), but after that moved to english speaking countries. My english improved from talking to native seakers, watching movies/tele, talking to my son in english and ofcourse, mainly from reading a lot (reading is my hobby). But now I took IELTS three times and I got around 8 (7.5-8.5) in other componants including reading (7, 8, 8). However, I got below 7 band every time(6.5, 6 and even 5.5 once) in writing and I need band 7 in each. All this is before I came to learn about this blog.

In addition to the other suggestion I really like your advise, to be cosistant in plan, which I guess will save me lot of time.

Another thing is that reading your blog and analysing my writing I got the impression that I am not good at using articles and prepositions.

Do you think keep on practicing writing, checked by english teacher and learning from mistake is best method to imorve my writing or you suggest to enrol in a basic english course?

Thanks in advance.

These might help many mature age learners like me in similar situations.

[Simon]

Hi Kai,

I don't think you need to go to an English course. You are already doing the right things, and I think the best idea is to do what you said: "keep on practising writing, get it checked by an English teacher, and learn from mistakes".

If you follow the essay-writing advice here on the site, I'm sure you'll get a better score next time. Getting a (private) teacher to check your essays is a really good idea.

[Kai]

Thanks Simon.

[Anjali]

Hi Simon
Happy New year!
I have really found your website as well as your ebook extremely useful! I took my IELTS exam in December 2011. I got an overall score of 8 and an individual score of the following: Listening 8, Speaking 8.5, Reading 8.5 and in Writing 7.5.
In spite of this, I am resitting the test on 7th January, as I require an 8 in the writing section as well. I realized that my main issue in the writing task was that I took nearly 40 minutes to answer task 1! So any advice for Saturday?

[Simon]

Hi Anjali,

After reading your last sentence, it's easy to give advice: don't spend 40 minutes on task 1! Task 2 is worth two thirds of your writing score.

Don't study anything new for Saturday; just review what you've already done. Good luck!

[siya]

hi simon
in my last exam i got 7 L,8 R,5.5 W and 6.5 S
today i got result of my 17th dec which is 7 L,6.5R,6 W and 6.5 S
in last exam in writing i followed your formate of writing which is useful for me.
Honestly i want to tell you that i was always getting 6.5 in writing without following specific stucture but when i started to follow proper stucture from books and online after that i am reciving 6 and 5.5 why?
I have to submit my result of 7 each in all module by march and i too much tensed.
please give answer of this that how many hours i should spend for each module?is pressue on the day of exam to get 7 cause touble?

thanks a lot

[Simon]

Hi Siya,

The structure you are using (if you are following my advice and the advice from IELTS books) is certainly not wrong, so it isn't losing you any marks.

Maybe you need to stop worrying about structure now - keep following the advice, but don't treat structure as the key to a high score. The next step is to work on IDEAS - essay structure and grammar are useless if you don't have good ideas to answer the question. If you want a high score, you need to develop good arguments and express your ideas and opinions well.

At this stage, it would be a good idea to find someone who can check your essays. I'm sure that structure isn't the problem, and that a good teacher (or a native speaker) will show you that your ideas, vocabulary and accuracy can be improved.

I can't tell you how many hours to spend - just do as much as you can in the time you have, but don't get too stressed! Try to be confident and do your best. Good luck!

[siya]

Thanks simon.Your help i will follow.I am in Australia and i got some recommendation for online check so should i do that or only follow personal teacher.

[Simon]

Hi Siya,

If you have a private teacher, you shouldn't need to use an online checking service.

[asha]

hi,simon
i saw this site yesterday,it is very good thanks for providing this information.now iam preparing for ielts,last time i got overall band score 5.5; in w:5.5; r:6; s:5,L:5. do i need to join any basic english course? please give an advise to me.i need 7 band in each module.how should i prepare for that?is one month
time sufficient if i spent daily 6hrs time on preparation?

thakyou simon

[Doniyor]

hi !!! what i should do to get a band between 6.5 and 8 ? plzz Mr. Simon can u tell me the best way to achieve scores just like that ?

[divya]

hey sir,
when there are questions like agree or disagree how we need to write them ? can we partially agree or disagree to the question...

[Muhammad]

Hi Simon
My problem is how to get ideas. Sometimes I see topics that I wouldn't be able to write about even if I was asked to use my mother tongue. This has frustrated me. ihave started to read different topics for Bbc which has topics per category.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot
Muhammad

[Prateek Parashar]

Hi Simon,
I need 7 bands in each module but I could not get it till now even after giving IELTS exam 7 times. Only once I could score 7,7,7 but 6 in reading.
Do you have suggestion for me how to increase my band score in writing and reading ??
Thanks in advance.

[Prateek Parashar]

I hope you can understand my situation and would help me !!

Regards.

[shanta]

Hi Simon,

I sitting for ielts for the first time and my biggest problem is writing as i left school ages ago writing an essay is just difficult for me. I will be sitting for the exam on 6 April 2013 and am really worried.
My main issue is I dont know what to write. Do you think by go thru the past year papers would give me an idea on what to write for certain topis.

[Sana]

Hi Simon ,

I really need an advises from you my ielts exam is on the 18th of may and its my last chance to study in uk or I should go back in my home country .

Could you please help me on ielts writing part by showing me examples essays.

Thank you so much

Sana