Typical mistakes students make while writing an IELTS essay

No matter what IELTS version a student is taking, keep it formal and avoid slang and informal words.

In the IELTS exam, essays are expected to be written in a semi-formal to formal style, depending on the task.

Steer clear of slang, contractions, and overly informal expressions. Stick to a clear and precise language suitable for academic writing.

When guiding your students in Writing Task 2, emphasize the significance of presenting a clear stance as it directly impacts their final band score. Encourage them to decisively choose and consistently maintain their position throughout the essay.

If the position is unclear, the depth of analysis may be compromised, affecting the overall strength of the argument.

Topic: "Should governments impose higher taxes on sugary drinks to reduce obesity?"

Unclear Position Example:

“While it is important to address the rising rates of obesity, there are various factors to consider before implementing higher taxes on sugary drinks. On one hand, such taxes could discourage excessive consumption and potentially reduce obesity rates. On the other hand, there are concerns about the impact of these taxes on low-income families and the economy as a whole. Therefore, it is crucial to weigh the pros and cons carefully before making any policy decisions.”

The examiner may find it difficult to determine whether the writer supports or opposes imposing higher taxes on sugary drinks, leading to a lack of coherence in the argument.

The band score descriptions provide detailed criteria for each level of proficiency in the writing section. This includes aspects such as task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy.

In Writing Task 2 it is crucial to stress the need for a simple structure with an introduction, body, and conclusion. If they don't stick to this structure, their essays might be confusing, and their scores could suffer.

Topic:  "Should governments impose higher taxes on sugary drinks to reduce obesity?"

Introduction:

• Introduce the topic of taxing sugary drinks to tackle obesity.
• State your position on whether governments should impose higher taxes on sugary drinks.

Body Paragraphs:

• Support higher taxes on sugary drinks due to health risks and potential reduction in consumption.
• Address economic concerns but emphasize long-term health benefits and cost savings.

Conclusion:

• Summarize arguments supporting sugary drink taxation.

Cohesive devices are expressions like ‘For instance‘, ‘To conclude‘, ‘despite this‘ and ‘in addition‘. They tell the reader what we are doing in a sentence and indicate what the relationships are between the different clauses, sentences, and paragraphs.

Make sure that every sentence does not begin with a cohesive device and try to limit yourself to only 2-3 per paragraph.

Grading an essay becomes exasperating when the writing displays excellent grammar and vocabulary but fails to grasp the essence of the question.

“Computers are being used more and more in education and so there will soon be no role for the teacher in education.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?”

Remember, the aim is not to showcase knowledge about the topic broadly; instead, the examiner is evaluating the candidate's ability to precisely answer the given question.

Many Task 2 questions have two parts and some have two separate questions.

If a test taker writes 8 sentences about one question  and only two sentences about the other, both parts of the question haven’t been really covered.