IELTS

THE ACADEMIC
WRITING PAPER

Bob LC
Table Of Contents
Introduction to the exam and marking 01

Part 1 02

Part 2 05

In general 11

About the author 12

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Introduction & Marking

 

The writing paper consists of 2 parts both of which need to be

answered within 1 hour.

Each part is assessed on 4 areas.

Task achievement/response – how
well did you answer the question in
terms of content.
Coherence and cohesion – logical
layout and the way the parts are
connected together (linking).
Lexical resource – variety of
vocabulary; try not to repeat words
from the question if you can help it,
Grammatical resource  and accuracy
– a range of grammar structures
correctly used.

Here are links to the IELTS writing descriptors, please note that there is one
descriptor for each part of the test but they are essentially the same!

https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/writing-band-descriptors-task-1.ashx?
la=en

https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/writing-band-descriptors-task-2.ashx?
la=en

# 1
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Part 1 

Part 1 is a descriptive writing

where the candidate is required
to describe a graphic which may
be a graph, pie chart, bar chart,
process, plans or maps and
sometimes a combination of 2 or
more. You are not required to
give reasons for the images, just
say what you see!

It is worth spending 3-5 minutes

reading and understanding the
graphic before you start writing! In
this time you should also decide how
you are going to group the
information and even some of the
language you might need.  Next spend
10 minutes writing and nally 2-3
minutes checking for simple spelling
and grammar mistakes.

# 2
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Part 1 

Here is a sample of a In the rst paragraph you normally

type of graph you explain the title of the graph in your
may see. own words. For example:
 
 
“This graph depicts levels of adult
literacy measured as a percentage in
the world and then in 4 of the main
areas in 2000. The results also
distinguish between men and women.”

# 3
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Part 1
The second paragraph is usually the main part where you show main patterns and draw
comparisons and contrasts.

“In the world in general there are more literate males than females. In Latin America and the
Caribbean there is a very small disparity of 2% and a relatively high level of literacy at around 90%,
whereas in other parts of the world there are greater differences. In Asia, 83 % of men are literate
 but only 68% of women. The differences are even more noticeable in Africa and the Arab States
and North Africa with male literacy rates of 69% and 72% respectively, but female rates are 51%
and 48% respectively. In the world as a whole, 11% of men are better educated than women, 85%
and 74% respectively.”
The third paragraph is usually the summary. An overview of the graph.

“It can be seen that throughout the world, men are generally better educated than women but the
differences in literacy vary between 2% and 24%. Levels of literacy between regions also varies
considerably.”

(approx 175 words)

# 4
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Part 2

Writing part 2

Writing part 2 carries more marks than part 1 but it is assessed in the same way. Please see my
earlier notes for the marking.
 

# 5
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Part 2
Part 2 is an essay where the candidate is expected to produce a reasoned argument supported by
evidence where possible. You are often given a statement and asked to explain how far you
agree/disagree with it or you are asked to examine both sides and give your opinion. It is a good
idea to explicitly give your answer, usually in the last paragraph. I have seen some good essays but
was left wondering at the end whether the writer agreed or disagreed with the statement.

You must write a minimum of 250 words but again I would suggest no more than 300. The
 
questions are generally set in such a way that they can be answered reasonable well at this word
limit.

The rst car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2050 there may be as many as 35
million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and laws
introduced to control car ownership and use. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

(adapted from ielts.org – sample test questions)

# 6
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Part 2
It is suggested that a 4 paragraph answer be produced for this question. The rst paragraph is to
restate the topic in your own words and sign post the rest of the essay.

“Since the rst motor cars were introduced in the late 19th Century, numbers of cars have risen
exponentially and it is now forecast that by 2050 the number of private vehicles on the road in the
UK may exceed 35 million. In this essay I will look at the possibility of utilizing alternative forms of
I public transportthere
n this question and of passing
are 2 partslaws
so ittowould
reduce
becar ownership.
logical to deal”with the 2 parts in separate
paragraphs.

“The UK needs a better public transport system to encourage people to stop using their cars. In
recent years governments have been diverting funds away from public transport which has
resulted in increasing costs to consumers and poorer transport conditions. The government needs
to reverse this trend to improve conditions and reduce the costs. A bus can carry up to 50
passengers, if you look at many cars these days they are driver only so by using one bus you could
remove a maximum of 50 cars from the road this would make a dramatic difference to the volumes
of vehicles on the road.  Although initially expensive, over a period of time the government would
recoup its costs in many different ways including indirectly by reduced costs to the economy
caused by a freer road network for the transport of goods and materials.” # 7
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Part 2
In the  2nd paragraph I dealt with one part of the argument so in the 3rd paragraph I will deal with
the next part.

“  The government needs to combine a new, improved public transport network with laws to reduce
the numbers of cars on the roads, either by providing incentives to use public transport whenever
possible or disincentives to use personal vehicles. Some large cities have introduced the idea of
congestion charging so that vehicles travelling into the area have to pay an extra tax. This can
reduce the numbers of cars and raise revenue for local government as long as it can be ef ciently
collected without causing more traf c jams. There is the technology in place to do this now but it is
inevitable that sometimes people don’t have this technology available and this will cause delays.”

# 8
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Part 2
The nal paragraph is a conclusion but as I said remember to explicitly give your answer.
“I strongly agree that if the government starts investing in an ef cient public transport system and
combine this with widespread congestion charging and other disincentives to using personal
vehicles that the number of vehicles on the road can be effectively restricted and reduced.”

 
(approx 360 words – probably too many!)
I  n this question there are 2 parts so it would be logical to deal with the 2 parts in separate
paragraphs.
 
“The UK needs a better public transport system to encourage people to stop using their cars. In
recent years governments have been diverting funds away from public transport which has
resulted in increasing costs to consumers and poorer transport conditions. The government needs
to reverse this trend to improve conditions and reduce the costs. A bus can carry up to 50
passengers, if you look at many cars these days they are driver only so by using one bus you could
remove a maximum of 50 cars from the road this would make a dramatic difference to the volumes
of vehicles on the road.  Although initially expensive, over a period of time the government would
recoup its costs in many different ways including indirectly by reduced costs to the economy
caused by a freer road network for the transport of goods and materials.” # 9
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Part 2
Again you need a technique for approaching this. First of all you need
to make sure you understand the question and make a plan for your
writing. There are not many people that can write an effective essay in
their own language without making a plan, never mind in a foreign
language. You can use this planning time to put some ideas down on
paper in brief note form and order them. You can also make a note of
any words you want to use.
 

Planning is not optional!

If you get to the end and realize you have forgotten something important you wanted to say, it is
too late. You should allow at least 5 minutes for this part, maybe as long as 10 minutes. Then you
should spend 25-30 minutes writing and once again make sure you have 5-10 minutes at the end
to check spelling and grammar. 

# 10
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In general
With both types of writing it is important to practice writing to length and time as well as note
taking and skimming at the end to look for errors. Try to get a teacher or a more experienced writer
than yourself to look at your writing and give constructive criticism on how you can improve.

When you are reading articles in the reading paper (or other good quality sources of language!),
look for expressions and phrasing that you can use to improve your writing.
 
 
Keep a note of these new expressions and phrases where you write and make yourself use them
next time. It is only by forcing yourself to use them that they will become a more natural part of
your writing.

# 11
 About the author

I have been teaching since 2001 and in that time I have

taught students of all levels from all around the world
 
both teenagers and adults.
In 2014, I taught my rst IELTS course and discovered
 
that this is a way that I can help people to obtain their
objectives in life.
 
Since that time I have focused mainly on IELTS although
I do teach General English too.
 

If you are interested in taking lessons with

me, please contact me through my website.
 
https://ieltsonline.co.uk/