IELTS Writing: Complete Guide for Task 1 and Task 2
Learn IELTS Writing basics, scoring criteria, time management, and practical tips to raise your Task 1 and Task 2 band score.
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On this page you will find guides, lessons, practical examples, and high-impact tips to improve your IELTS writing band score. We cover the difference between Academic and General Training writing, the 4 official grading criteria, and the best way to manage your writing time.
What is the difference between IELTS Academic and General Training writing?
For Task 1, Academic requires writing a response to visual information (for example, a chart, graph, table, map, or process), while General Training requires writing a formal, semi-formal, or informal letter.
For Task 2, Academic and General Training are similar in format, but Academic prompts are often more formal in tone.
IELTS Writing Band Scores
IELTS Writing is graded with 4 criteria. Each criterion has the same weight:
- Task Achievement / Task Response: how fully and clearly you answer the prompt.
- Coherence and Cohesion: how logically your ideas are organised and linked.
- Lexical Resource: how accurately and naturally you use vocabulary.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: your sentence range, grammar control, and punctuation.
Your overall writing band is the average of the 4 scores, rounded to the nearest 0.5.
Calculate your IELTS writing score!
Use the calculator below to estimate your overall band score from your four sub-scores.
IELTS Writing Band Score Calculator
Enter your four criteria scores in 0.5 increments. The result is rounded to the nearest 0.5 band.
Formula: (C1 + C2 + C3 + C4) / 4
Raw average: 6.00
Rounded IELTS band: 6.0 (Competent user)
For official score descriptions, check the Official IELTS Writing Band Descriptors PDF.
How to manage your time in IELTS Writing
You have 60 minutes in total for Writing Task 1 and Task 2. Task 2 is worth more marks than Task 1, so you should spend more time on Task 2.
Recommended time split:
- Task 1: 20 minutes
- Task 2: 40 minutes
IELTS Writing tips that actually improve your score
- Keep your ideas simple and relevant.
- You do not get extra marks for highly complex or “impressive” ideas. The best ideas are often straightforward ones you can explain and support clearly.
- Avoid memorised templates, hooks, and cliches. Examiners are trained to spot memorised language such as “Nowadays, this is a hotly debated topic.” This does not improve your score.
- Over-memorised responses can be penalised heavily. In serious cases, they can lead to a very low score.
- In your introduction, paraphrase the question and clearly state your position.
- Do not overuse linking words. Use them naturally and only where needed.
- Prioritise accuracy over advanced vocabulary. Clear, correct language is better than forced “difficult” words.
- Do not waste valuable exam time counting every word one by one. Instead, practise with official IELTS answer sheets so you know roughly how many lines of your own handwriting are close to 150 and 250 words.
- Remember: words copied directly from the task prompt do not count toward your word total.