The two tasks in 60 minutes
- Task 1 needs at least 150 words. In Academic, you describe a chart, table, diagram, process or map. In General Training, you write a letter, which may be formal, semi-formal or informal.
- Task 2 needs at least 250 words: an essay giving an opinion, discussing both views, explaining problems and solutions, or a mix.
Task 2 counts for more of your Writing band, so give it about 40 minutes and Task 1 about 20.
The four criteria examiners use
Every response is marked on four equal criteria:
- Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2): did you answer every part of the question, with a clear position and developed ideas?
- Coherence and Cohesion: is the response logically organised, with clear paragraphs and natural linking?
- Lexical Resource: is your vocabulary precise, varied and correctly used?
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: do you use a mix of sentence structures with few errors?
Your Writing band comes from these four. A brilliant vocabulary cannot rescue an essay that ignores half the question.
Common mistakes by Indian students, and how to fix them
These come up again and again, including among well-educated students in Mangalore and across coastal Karnataka. None of them is about intelligence; they are habits.
Memorised phrases
Openers like "In this modern era of globalisation" or "This is a burning issue in today's world" are easy for examiners to spot and add nothing. Replace them with a direct paraphrase of the question.
Over-long introductions
Some students spend 80 words on the introduction and leave the body paragraphs thin. Two sentences are enough: paraphrase the topic and give your position.
Indian-English usage
Phrases that are normal in Indian offices and WhatsApp groups can count as errors in IELTS:
- "revert back" (just "reply")
- "discuss about" (just "discuss")
- "do the needful" (say what action you mean)
- "out of station" (say "away" or "travelling")
- "prepone" (say "bring forward")
No overview in Task 1
In Academic Task 1, the overview is essential. Without a sentence summarising the main trends, it is hard to score above 5 for Task Achievement, however accurate your numbers.
Wrong tone in GT letters
A complaint letter to a landlord that begins "Hi" or a letter to a friend that sounds like a legal notice will lose marks. Match tone to the reader.
Writing for Mangaluru's destinations
Students here often aim for high Writing scores because of who they are writing for. Doctors applying through UK or Irish medical regulators, and nurses applying to registration boards in the UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, often face a minimum Writing band as well as an overall score. Writing is frequently the module that holds them back. Engineering students applying for master's programmes often need 6.0–6.5 in Writing; check the exact figure with your university.
If you write case notes, nursing care plans or lab reports every day, you already write clearly and concisely. The shift for IELTS Writing Task 2 is to argue and develop an idea for a general reader, not to record facts in clinical shorthand.
How to practise on IELTS Learning
- Choose from 104 Task 1 and Task 2 prompts for your track: Academic charts, tables, processes and maps, General Training letters, and every essay type.
- Write on screen with a word count and timer, as in the computer-delivered test.
- Get an AI-estimated band for each of the four criteria, with feedback on what to change.
- Rewrite the same essay using the feedback, then compare the two versions.
- Use English Improvement for grammar areas that keep appearing in your feedback, such as articles or subject-verb agreement.
AI feedback is fast and lets you practise often, but it is an estimate. Once a fortnight, book a 1-to-1 session with an IELTS teacher (about 20 minutes, from ₹299) to have an essay reviewed by a person and ask why something does or does not work.
A weekly Writing routine
- Monday: one Task 1, timed at 20 minutes.
- Wednesday: one Task 2, timed at 40 minutes.
- Friday: rewrite Wednesday's essay using the feedback.
- Weekend: one full Writing section (both tasks, 60 minutes) or a full mock.
Start with the free sample mock, which includes Writing with AI feedback. For more prompts and unlimited IELTS Writing practice, register here. Full Access is ₹999 for 2 months.