WRITING
Writing is a complicated process. Three best attributes of good writing are: Correctness, Precision and Elegance. Clear and fluent writing is very impressive. The act of writing involves giving expression to one’s ideas in simple and unambiguous language. The process of writing consists of three stages – Pre-writing, Writing and Post writing.
The Pre-writing consists of forming a clear statement and an outline. Brain storming is an important first step in it. Techniques like mind-mapping or branching of ideas, next stage.
The actual process of writing:
The standard format has three parts: Introduction, the body and the conclusion. It is important to introduce the subject, set the direction of the writing, capture the imagination of the reader and bring it to an impressive conclusion. Post writing requires careful scrutiny of the text for polishing it. The time tested strategy for writing is 20% time taken for pre-writing, 40% for writing and 30% for post-writing activities.
Timing
60 minutes
Tasks
There are 2 tasks. You are required to write at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 words for Task 2.
Test Parts
There are 2 parts.
Academic Reading
In Task 1, you are presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and are asked to describe, summarise or explain the information in your own words. You may be asked to describe and explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object or event.
In Task 2, you are asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem.
The issues raised are of general interest to, suitable for and easily understood by test takers entering undergraduate or postgraduate courses or seeking professional registration. Responses to Task 1 and Task 2 should be written in an academic, semi-formal/neutral style.
General Training Writing
In Task 1, you are presented with a situation and are asked to write a letter requesting information or explaining the situation. The letter may be personal or semi-formal/neutral style.
In Task 2, you are asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. The essay can be slightly more personal in style than the Academic Writing Task 2 essay.
Topics are of general interest.
Skills assessed
In both tasks, you are assessed on your ability to write a response which is appropriate in terms of:
- content
- the organization of ideas
- the accuracy and range of vocabulary and grammar.
Academic Writing
In Task 1, depending on the task type, you are assessed on your ability to organise, present and possibly compare data; to describe the stages of a process or procedure; to describe an object or event or sequence of events; to explain how something works.
In Task 2, depending on the task type, you are assessed on your ability to present a solution to the problem; to present and justify an opinion; to evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or an argument.
General Training Writing
In Task 1, depending on the task type, you are assessed on your ability to engage in personal correspondence in order to; elicit and provide general factual information; express needs, wants, likes and dislikes; express opinions (views, complaints etc.).
In Task 2, you are assessed on your ability to provide general factual information; to outline a problem and present a solution; to present and possibly justify an opinion; to evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or an argument.
Marking
You are assessed on your performance on each task by certificated IELTS examiners according to the IELTS Writing test assessment criteria (Task Achievement/Response, Coherence, and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy). The public version of the assessment criteria can be found at ielts.org/criteria.
Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score.
Scores are reported in whole and half bands.