Hi to all of you IELTS students who are looking to take your IELTS exam in the coming weeks or months. Below is just a quick summary of writing tips for Tasks 1 & 2 Academic Writing essays. I hope you find it useful and please don't hesitate to drop a comment, or even better, book a class with me so I can tell you more and get your score up to at a Band 7.0 IELTS- ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1: DESCRIPTION OF: LINE/MULTIPLE GRAPH, BAR/TABLE/PIE CHART, DIAGRAM, MAP DURATION: 20 MINUTES WORD COUNT: 150 WORDS MINIMUM (IDEALLY: 180 WORDS, NOT OVER: 200 WORDS) ESSAY PLANNING: • SPEND 5 MINS ON PLANNING • 25% OF MARKS ARE FOR ‘TASK ACHIEVEMENT’ • IDENTIFY THE MAIN FEATURES • COMPARE THE MAIN FEATURES • ANSWER THE QUESTION APPROPRIATELY • 25% OF MARKS FOR COHERENCE / COHESION • ORGANIZE IDEAS INTO A LOGICAL ORDER • SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS FOR EACH PART OF YOUR ESSAY • LINK EACH PARAGRAPH APPROPRIATELY ESSAY STRUCTURE: • PARAGRAPH 1: INTRODUCTION • PARAGRAPH 2: OVERVIEW • PARAGRAPH 3: 1st MAIN FEATURE • PARAGRAPH 4: 2nd MAIN FEATURE JUST 3 MAIN THINGS TO DO: • SELECT THE MAIN FEATURES • WRITE ABOUT THE MAIN FEATURES • COMPARE THE MAIN FEATURES IELTS- WRITING TASK 2 5 ESSAY QUESTION TYPES: • OPINION- AGREE / DISAGREE • DISCUSSION ESSAYS • PROBLEM SOLUTION ESSAYS • ADVANTAGES / DISADVANTAGES ESSAYS • DOUBLE QUESTION ESSAYS DURATION: 40 MINUTES WORD COUNT: 250 WORDS MINIMUM (IDEALLY: 280 WORDS, NOT OVER: 300 WORDS) USEFUL INFO: • WRITE AT LEAST 250 WORDS IN 40 MINS IN A FORMAL STYLE (<250 WORDS= < BAND 5.0!) • TASK 2 CONTRIBUTES TWICE AS MANY MARKS AS TASK 1 • IT'S HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO DO TASK 2 FIRST A 5 STEP STRATEGY OF MAIN THINGS TO DO: • ANALYZE AND IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE • PLAN YOUR ANSWER • WRITE THE INTRODUCTION • WRITE 2 MAIN BODY PARAGRAPHS • WRITE CONCLUSION 3 MOST COMMON MISTAKES: • NOT STATING AN OPINION • GIVING ARGUMENTS FOR BOTH VIEWS • NOT SUPPORTING YOUR OPINION WITH CLEAR REASONS WRITING TASK 2 PLANNING • DECIDE ON YOUR OPINION • AGREE / DISAGREE?