Writing
Two tasks in sixty minutes, marked on four equally-weighted criteria, with Task 2 worth twice Task 1. In a mock on IELTS Acer, an examiner grades both essays and writes feedback on each.
Every essay is scored on four criteria of equal weight, and your task band is their average. Knowing which one is holding you back is the whole game. Most candidates try to fix vocabulary when the problem is task response.
Task 2 carries double the weight, so the recommended split is twenty minutes on Task 1 and forty on Task 2. Overrunning on Task 1 is the most expensive time mistake in the exam, and it is extremely common because a chart description feels safer to start with.
Task 2 asks for at least 250 words. Going far beyond that is not rewarded. A 400-word essay usually contains more errors and weaker organisation than a tight 280-word one.
Academic Task 1 asks you to select and report the main features of a graph, table, chart, map or process, and to make comparisons. It does not ask why the data looks that way, and speculating about causes costs marks rather than earning them.
General Training Task 1 is a letter. Match the register to the recipient, cover all three bullet points, and use the appropriate opening and sign-off. Those are the marks most often thrown away.
In a mock on IELTS Acer you write Task 1 and Task 2 on computer, inside the same 60 minutes you get on exam day and straight after Listening and Reading. That matters: an essay written fresh at your desk says little about the one you will write in the third hour of the exam.
An examiner then grades both tasks and writes feedback on each essay. Your result appears once your centre publishes it, so you leave with a band and a clear list of what to fix next.
Writing thirty essays and reading thirty pieces of feedback improves very little. Writing ten, and rewriting each one after reading the feedback, improves a lot. The rewrite is where the correction becomes a habit instead of a note.
At least 250 words. Around 260 to 300 is a practical target. That is long enough to develop your points and short enough to stay accurate and leave time for checking.
You are penalised under Task Achievement or Task Response. Write at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 for Task 2.
An examiner. Both tasks are read and graded by a Writing examiner, who writes feedback on each essay. Listening and Reading, by contrast, are marked automatically.
If the question asks for your opinion, yes, and it must be clear and consistent from the introduction to the conclusion. A position that shifts halfway through lowers your Task Response score.
Sparingly, for structure only. Examiners recognise memorised chunks that do not fit the specific question, and content that does not answer the prompt is not credited.
Book a mock test: write Task 1 and Task 2 on computer under exam timing, and have an examiner grade both, with feedback on each essay.
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