IELTS Advice: if your writing score is lower

I often meet students who have no problem getting band 7 for listening, reading and speaking, but they get a lower score in the writing test. Why is this?

These seem to be the main reasons:

• They start writing without stopping to think first.
• Their essays lack organisation because they didn't do a plan.
• They don't develop their ideas in enough detail or depth.

The solution is to spend more time planning and organising your ideas before you start writing.

Comments

[Thip]

Hi Simon. This is absolutely my problem and it is true that I don't have a plan in my head. I should concentrate more with the planning as you suggesttion. Thank you.

[Crk]

Hi simon
I am confused whether to write controlling measures for consumerism and pollution only, or even write the causes of this threat(climate change) on the given question.

Climate change is now an accepted threat to our planet, but there is not enough political action to control excessive consumerism and pollution. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Would you please tell me what the question is asking for?

[Maya]

Hi Simon,

These are my problems too but the thing is if I start planning the whole thing,it takes time and am afraid that I might not finish the essay in time.

The other thing is, sometimes I lack good points to argue for and against the topic.In that case what do you suggest?

somehow I try to brainstorm and come up with some points which are not strong so what happens...less mark? please suggest.

[Christina]

Hi Simon,
I have the same problem as Maya. I got listening 8, academic reading 8.5, speaking 8, but only 6.5 for writing! in my recent exam. I was absolutely gutted and shattered as I need at least 7 for each category in the academic module. I started to think if i had done anything wrong in the task response department. I might've written in a style that made my ideas really difficult to get acrossed to the examiner. I only wrote one idea for each argument. Do you think its better to write two ideas for each argument? but sometimes I cannot find ways to expand on certain ideas as i cannot think of any examples or explanations. You Ebooks defintely helps heaps but I think the possible disorganization of my essay had costed my writing at least half a band as I know task response is of paramount importance. Even if you have a wide academic vocabulary and complex structures, you writing score wont be high if examiners get lost in what you are trying to convey.

[Christina]

Hi Simon,
Sorry I have another question. Could you do a lesson on common mistakes in task 1. Sometimes I feel good about my writing but then once they get corrected by teachers I dont feel good anymore. I'm wondering if there are any ways to avoid them. Writing task 1 is my weakness as you have to describe graphs in concrete terms. Do you have advice on how to get a high score for task 1? I have read most of your samples and picked out the words you use the most (rose to, by contrast, but, and, whereas) and blended them in with my writing, which makes writing them a lot of bearable. but im still not achieving my dreams of perfect 8s. How do you make it so easy when you dont even have to use difficult words and grammatical structures. I wish I had you talent so I can get 9 for all my writings. Apparently your organisation is excellent, which is something I want to learn about.

Your desperate student

[Christina]

I forgot to thank you Simon :)

[Kasia]

Hi Simon,

I received my results yesterday and I'm really happy because I improved my writing from 6.5 to 7.0.I need to obtain 7.5 from each domain and I've been struggling for almost 2 years to scucceed and score higher band than 6.5 from writing domain(I have no particular problems with other skills).
I found an IELTS tutor recently,you metioned on your site that it's necessary to improve your writing with the help of a teacher.Thank you for your IELTS writing ideas ,they're very beneficial :)I hope that soon I will achieve 7.5 from writing :)

[Azadeh]

Hi Simon,

I am confused about just,only,.. in reading questions
In some books mentioned, if the context of the question is the same as text, but it has just or only or all the question is False , other books says the answer is Not Given. would you please clarify for me?

Thank you so much

[Nafiseh]

Hi dear simon,
But I pesonally have got a big problem in reading.My score is normally:

Listening= 7 or 7.5

Reading = 5 to 5.5 , ocasionally 6

Writing = 6.5 and 7

speaking= 7.5, 8, 8.5 and one time 9

I do not know how to get 7 in reading.I even entered university and I did a Master degree to improve my reading,but it did not help and I have got my IELTS exam this coming Saturday. I would be grateful if you could give me some advice about reading.Thanks

[Samit]

Hi Simon,
I gave my Ielts at Daekin University. I got my result today. I am very disappointed with the result. I got Listening: 8.5, Reading: 8, Writing: 6 and Speaking: 6.5. I am not happy with their testing system. This time my writing was comparatively better then the last time so i was expecting at least 7. I will never give my Ielts from Daekin ever.

[Ebi Tahasoni]

Now this is a tricky thing you're talking about. Here in Iran, there's been a sudden drop in writing scores and NO ONE knows why! I got an academic nine in writing myself back in 2009 but then last year, my score was 7.5 (My other bands are still 9 and 8.5). Absolutely horrid! And I've been trained by the likes of Ms Dolby (IELTS Graduation-Macmillan) to assess writing papers and teach IELTS preparation classes. Don't know if they've changed something in, like, task response but then my students aren't getting as high either. This has been bugging me for a while. I wonder if you've got any specific comments on that dear Simon.

[fam]

hi simon,

may i ask for some suggestions on how can i improve my speaking. i need to have a band 7 and the last time i took the exam, i only got 6.5 and it is the only part that i did not get atleast 7.

thank you for the big help.

[Simon]

Hi Crk,

The question doesn't ask you to explain the causes of climate change, but consumerism and pollution are two of them.

The question is really asking you to give your opinion about whether or not we need more political action to control these two things.

...

Hi Maya,

Your essays will only improve if you plan them well. You should practise the planning stage at home without giving yourself a time limit. If it takes you 2 hours to write a well-planned essay, don't worry! Your aim will then be to gradually get faster.

...

Hi Christina,

I think you have described the problem that I was talking about in this lesson. As I said to Maya, you need more practice: slow down, spend more time planning, and focus on ideas.

For task 1, maybe you should forget about vocabulary and grammar, and focus all of your effort on organisation and the CLARITY of your descriptions. I'll try to do a 'common mistakes' lesson soon. Here's one of them:

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/01/ielts-writing-task-1-the-most-common-mistake.html

...

No problem Kasia. Congratulations on getting a 7 in writing. It's not easy!

...

Hi Azadeh,

It probably depends on the specific context. Can you give me 2 examples that you've seen? (one false, one not given)

...

Hi Nafiseh,

I can't really help without knowing what your specific problems are. I think you need to take a few lessons with a private teacher who can analyse your mistakes. If you don't know what the problem is, it's difficult to find the solution.

...

Hi Samit,

Sorry to hear about your result. I wish you better luck next time.

...

Hi Ebi,

I'm afraid I can't advise you on that one. As far as I know, nothing has changed in the marking system, and I haven't noticed a drop in scores here in the UK.

[Simon]

Hi Fam,

You are very close to a 7, so I don't think you need to do anything really different. Maybe just express your ideas in a bit more detail. I'm sure you'll do better next time.

[Nafiseh]

Hi dear Simon,
Thank you very much for the useful advice and your valuable time answering my question.

[Azadeh]

Hi Simon,

1-Text:

Research shows over 70 percent of the dry land in agricultural use in Africa has deteriorated over the last 30 years.

1- Question:

Just over 70 percent of the dry land in agricultural use in Africa has deteriorated over the last 30 years.

Regarding to Reading skills by Sam Mc Carter-Norman Whitby page 9
the answer is Not Given

But I think it should be false

[Mh]

Hi Simon,

In your old lesson ( Band 9 paragraph) you wrote this sentence
"Another advantage of zoos is that they employ large numbers of people, therefore PROVIDING job opportunities and income for the local area"
why did you use Gerund form of provide when I transalted tomy own language it does not make sence. Can I remove therefore in this sentence?
Best regards,

[Azadeh]

Hi Simon,

-Text

It seems even less likely that such a test could be totally free of cultural imbalance somewhere.

- Question

The development of culturally neutral test is unlikely

The answer is true, but less likely and unlikely are not synonym.

Thank you so much

[fam]

big thanks for your reply simon.

[syidah]

hi simon.
i got a big problem in writing both task 1 and 2...i only got band 5 in my previous ielts for writing...because of writing i only got 6.5 in overall ielts...and now i have to retake the ielts on 16 and 18 february..what to do now??it is possible for me to improve my writing task in a week???and how???i'm still wondering how to improve it..help me simon!!!based on my experience, the main difficulties is in developing idea..

[Simon]

Hi Azadeh,

1. Personally I think that's a bad question. I've never seen a real IELTS question that tries to test you on the difference between 'over' and 'just over'. I suppose the writer would say that it's 'not given' because we don't know "HOW MUCH OVER" - so we don't know if the answer is 'just over' or 'a lot over'. However, I would ignore that question because it's confusing.

2. "even less likely" DOES give the same overall meaning as "unlikely". Remember that "unlikely" does not mean "impossible" - it just means "not very probable" (the same meaning as "even less likely").

...

Hi Mh,

It's very normal to use the gerund in that way in English, so don't rely on a translation to tell you whether or not something is used correctly. Try to look for similar uses of the gerund (maybe do some Googling to see what you can find).

...

Hi Syidah,

First, go through as many of my writing lessons as you can, and make sure that you use my techniques (how to structure your essays etc.). Then you need to find someone who can check your essays - the only way to improve is by finding out what your problems are first.

[Mitsu]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for this great web site. It really helps me every day.

In my essay, I always finish the introduction then start writing the conclusion on the last page of the answer sheet, then move on to two body paragraphs. This method gives me some flexibility in volume of each paragraph but as a result, there are several blank lines between these four paragraphs. What do you think about this tactic?

Warm regards

[Simon]

Hi Mitsu,

If that technique works for you, keep doing it! Just make sure the conclusion is easy for the examiner to find (e.g. on the same page as some of the main body).

[Mitsu]

Hi Simon,
It doesn't seem it's working. I thought my essays were worth band 6 or 6.5 but the result was 5, unfortunately. :(
I seemed to have used the answer sheet too sparsely and it resulted in deduction, I suppose.

[Simon]

Hi Mitsu,

Sorry to hear that you didn't get the score you wanted. Maybe you should try a different way next time.

[Manaa]

Hi Simon,

I received my IELTS result today, and my result disappointed me again!
R-8, L-7.5, S-7.5, W-6.5!
I think it must be my writing task 1 that spoiled my score! ε(๏̯͡๏)з

I am not sure what to do now?
Shall I request for my IELTS recheck (that takes 4-6weeks!) or book date for next exam?

[Manaa]

Oops...
Rechecking takes min 6-8 weeks (not 4-6 weeks) right?
Just wondering... how much possibility is there for change in score? Should I try my luck?

[Simon]

Hi Manaa,

I'm not sure how long re-marking takes. It's probably quicker to take the test again though. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[Manaa]

Thanks Simon.
Thanks Simon!

Since IELTS test is quite hectic, and also expensive, I think I would like to go for rechecking and wait for its result. ٩͡[๏̯͡๏]۶

I've heard somewhere that about 30% candidates apply for re-marking and only 30% out of them might get lucky!

So, Can you please tell us how much probability might be there for any change in result?

Thanks very much once again! ✿◠‿◠

[Simon]

Hi Manaa,

I'm afraid I don't have any information about the probability. Good luck anyway!