IELTS

P R E P A R A T I O N

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WRITING TIPS
VI RTU AL EDU CATI O N

(2ND EDITION)
 Dear Student! Here is the information you
should familiarise yourself with before you
start writing. Read the information very
carefully.

#1 IELTS WRITING ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

T o mark writings, examiners refer to the guidelines called IELTS Writing Band Descriptors.
Both writings are marked out of 9 according to the following criteria:

• Task Achievement
• Coherence and Cohesion
• Lexical Resource
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy

We will explain what these criteria mean in simple words. So, what do examiners look at?

What do you need to do to get a high band score for Task Achievement?

1) Your ideas should be relevant. This means that if you were asked about one specific thing, for
example, about the way computers influence children’s academic success, don’t write about the
advantages and disadvantages of using computers in general. Stick to the point!

2) Your arguments should be extended. This means that a reader shouldn’t be an expert in this
topic, but your explanation should be as detailed as possible not to leave any questions after read-
ing your essay. This is what the majority of students have a problem with. If you cannot extend the
argument, don’t even mention the idea. Extend your argument or die! If you see (while making a
plan) that some idea is self-explanatory (this means that there is nothing to explain), don’t use the
idea. If you strive for a 7, of course.

3) You must state your position, and it should be clear throughout the essay. Sometimes students
make us laugh because in the introduction they completely agree with some idea, but in the con-
clusion they don’t.

4) Many examiners consider that you shouldn’t present a one-sided argument even if you com-
pletely agree with some idea. A one-sided argument occurs when only the reasons supporting

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a proposition are given by you, while all reasons opposing it are not presented. Some examiners
don’t attach too much importance to it. However, you never know who will mark your essay.

What do you need to do to get a high band score for Coherence&Cohesion?

1) Your essay should be well structured. It should include the introduction, 2 or 3 supporting para-
graphs, and the conclusion.

2) Your essay should be easy to read. If there are too many long and complicated sentences which
come one after another, the examiner will have to re-read some parts several times. As a result, you
will be marked down for Coherence&Cohesion.

3) Your reasoning should be presented in a logical way. Don’t jump from one idea to another.

4) You should use linking words and phrases such as ‘As a result’ or linking devices such as ‘This
will lead to...’ in order to help a reader follow your train of thought.

What do you need to do to get a high band score for Lexical Resource?

1) You should use topical vocabulary. This is vocabulary that is suitable for some particular topic
and cannot be used in any essay. For example, you can use the verb ‘to argue’ in all essays. This
means that it’s not topical. However, the expression ‘exhaust fumes’ is topical as it can be naturally
used only in essays about the environment or traffic.

2) The more complicated words, the better. But, again, don’t overdo. It is enough to use 2 or 3 un-
common words per paragraph to show how clever you are. If there are too many of them, your es-
say will not read well, and the examiner will just think you are trying to impress them. Uncommon
words are the words such as pernicious, noxious, a plethora of something, etc.

What do you need to do to get a high band score for Grammatical Range and Accu-
racy?

1) The fewer mistakes, the better. But don’t think that examiners read your essays with a magnify-
ing glass and pay attention to every minor mistake. Stop worrying about it. If your essay is of good
quality, but you wrote ‘people should to do’ once, this is not a disaster.

2) The more diverse and complicated structures you use, the better. We always say to our students
that examiners do not have a clairvoyant ability. So if you don’t show in your essay that you can
use a variety of grammatical structures, how can they know that you are a very knowledgeable
student and deserve a high score? They can assess just what they can see.

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 #2 IELTS WRITING TASK 2: QUESTION TYPES

T
•
here are 4 types of a Task 2 essay:

opinion essays
• discussion essays
• cause and effect essays (also known as problem and solution essays)
• a 2-part question (also known as direct question essays)

TYPE 1: OPINION ESSAYS

EXAMPLE: ‘Some people think that computers are bad. Do you agree or disagree?’

TYPE 2: DISCUSSION ESSAYS

EXAMPLE: ‘Some people think that computers are bad. However, others say that computers are
good. Discuss and give your own opinion.’

TYPE 3: CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAYS

EXAMPLE: ‘All large cities are polluted nowadays. What is the reason for that? What measures
should be taken?’

TYPE 4: 2-PART QUESTION

EXAMPLE: ‘All large cities are polluted nowadays. Do you agree or disagree? What measures can
be taken to solve this problem?’

#3 COHERENCE&COHESION: HOW TO
STRUCTURE YOUR ESSAY

Y our essay should consist of 3 parts:

1. Introduction
2. Main body (2 or 3 paragraphs)
3. Conclusion

In most cases, your essay will contain 4 paragraphs (the introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and the
conclusion). Opinion essays may contain 3 body paragraphs if you fully agree or fully disagree with
the statement. Look at the examples below.

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TYPE 1: OPINION ESSAYS
TOPIC: ‘Some people think that computers are bad. Do you agree or disagree?’

If you FULLY AGREE, your essay will have 5 paragraphs.

paragraph 1: introduction
paragraph 2: say why you agree that computers are bad (IDEA 1)
paragraph 3: say why you agree that computers are bad (IDEA 2)
paragraph 4: say why computers may be good (some examiners think that it’s not important to add
this paragraph; some examiners say that you should never present a one-sided view)
paragraph 5: conclusion

If you FULLY DISAGREE, your essay will have 5 paragraphs.

paragraph 1: introduction
paragraph 2: say why you disagree that computers are bad (IDEA 1)
paragraph 3: say why you disagree that computers are bad (IDEA 2)
paragraph 4: say why computers may be bad (some examiners think that it’s not important to add
this paragraph; some examiners say that you should never present a one-sided view)
paragraph 5: conclusion

If you PARTLY AGREE, your essay will have 4 paragraphs.

paragraph 1: introduction
paragraph 2: say why you agree that computers are bad
paragraph 3: say why you disagree that computers are bad
paragraph 4: conclusion

TYPE 2: DISCUSSION ESSAYS

TOPIC: ‘Some people think that computers are bad. However, others say that computers are good.
Discuss and give your own opinion.’

Your essay will ALWAYS have 4 paragraphs.

paragraph 1: introduction
paragraph 2: say why computers are bad
paragraph 3: say why computers are good
paragraph 4: conclusion

TYPE 3: CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAYS

TOPIC: ‘All large cities are polluted nowadays. What is the reason for that? What measures should
be taken?’

Your essay will ALWAYS have 4 paragraphs.

paragraph 1: introduction
paragraph 2: describe the reasons
paragraph 3: suggest the solutions
paragraph 4: conclusion

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TYPE 4: 2-PART QUESTION
EXAMPLE: ‘All large cities are polluted nowadays. Do you agree or disagree? What measures can
be taken to solve this problem?’

Your essay will ALWAYS have 4 paragraphs.

paragraph 1: introduction
paragraph 2: answer question 1 (say whether you agree or disagree (it’s better to present two opin-
ions)
paragraph 3: answer question 2 (suggest the solutions)
paragraph 4: conclusion

AN IMPORTANT WRITING SKILL YOU

NEED TO MASTER TO GET A HIGH
#4 BAND SCORE FOR TASK ACHIEVEMENT:
IDENTIFYING THE ARGUMENT

W e can safely say that by far the biggest problem students face is Task Achievement. And
in many cases this is because they are asked to comment on one thing, but they seem
to comment on another topic that exists only in their imagination. This happens because
students don’t identify the argument correctly. As a result, they start writing about irrelevant
things. What is an argument? This is an idea that you are asked to comment on or discuss.

EXAMPLE
Topic: Some people believe that zoos where animals are kept in man-made environment should no
longer exist in the 21st century. Do you agree or disagree?
The argument here is ‘zoos should no longer exist’.

I would like you to take the following steps before you start writing an essay. See the example be-
low.

Topic: Children today are too dependent on computers and electronic entertainment. It would be
better for them to be outside playing sports and taking part in more traditional pastimes than
spending all day indoors. Do you agree or disagree?

1) Identify the argument and write it in simple words so that you could have it before your eyes
while you are writing an essay.
argument: IT IS BETTER FOR CHILDREN TO PLAY GAMES OUTSIDE

2) Make a short plan.

my opinion: I fully agree (I will have 3 supporting\body paragraphs)
para 1: I will explain WHY IT IS BETTER FOR KIDS TO PLAY OUTSIDE (idea 1)
para 2: I will explain WHY IT IS BETTER FOR KIDS TO PLAY OUTSIDE (idea 2)
para 3: I will explain why people may disagree that that it’s better for them to play outside (optional)

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While making a detailed plan and then writing your essay, always ask yourself this question: Why
is it better for kids to play outdoors? And answer ‘It is better for them to play outdoors because, for
example, 1) they will become physically fit (develop muscles, develop dexterity) 2) they will interact
with each other (develop communication skills) etc. This will help you not to digress from the main
topic.

AN IMPORTANT WRITING SKILL YOU

NEED TO MASTER TO WRITE A PER-
#5 FECT INTRODUCTION AND GET A HIGH
BAND SCORE FOR LEXICAL RESOURCE:
PARAPHRASING THE ARGUMENT

W e are going to take one more step to a perfect introduction. Let me remind you what the
argument is. This is an idea that you are asked to comment on or discuss.

ATTENTION: It is important to paraphrase the argument. This means to find synonyms and write
a sentence which will have the same meaning but will be written with the help of similar words.
Otherwise, you risk losing marks.

EXAMPLE:
Topic: Children today are too dependent on computers and electronic entertainment. It would be
better for them to be outside playing sports and taking part in more traditional pastimes than
spending all day indoors. Do you agree or disagree?

1) Identify the argument and write it in simple words so that you could have it before your eyes
while you are writing an essay.
argument: IT IS BETTER FOR CHILDREN TO PLAY GAMES OUTSIDE and TAKE PART IN TRADI-
TIONAL PASTIMES

2) Find synonyms to as many keywords as possible.

SYNONYMS:
better = beneficial
children = youngsters
to play sports = to participate in sports
to spend time = to dedicate time
traditional pastimes = conventional activities

3) Paraphrase the argument

PARAPHRASED ARGUMENT: It would be far more beneficial for youngsters to dedicate their time
to more conventional activities, whether it be participating in sports or reading books.

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ATTENTION: Only paraphrase a word if you are 100% sure it is appropriate to do so. You see, some
words don’t have paraphrases. A common mistake is that you always try to paraphrase ‘people’
with ‘humans’. ‘People’ should remain ‘people’ in the majority of cases.

ATTENTION: If you change the part of speech, for example, a noun to a verb (thereby changing the
word), you can count it as a synonym, and therefore use it for paraphrasing. Example: to construct
 construction

#6 COHERENCE&COHESION: HOW TO
WRITE A PERFECT INTRODUCTION

T he main purpose of the introduction is to clearly set out what your essay is going to be
about; therefore it should include 3 main parts: the background sentence, the argument
and your position or answers.

#1 Background sentence
You should explain why the issue is serious or important nowadays or say why some phenomenon
is common. It would be enough to get a 6 or 7. For example, the following is a background phrase
worth Band 6 or 7. ‘Nowadays we live in a society where success equals happiness; therefore many
people try to find the formula of success.’ + argument ‘Some people argue that….’

If your ambition is to get an 8 or 9, your background phrase should also try to attract the examiner’s
attention. In other words, your essay must stand out. This can be done by using a metaphor. For
example, ‘Nowadays attempts to find a formula of success are akin to those which were under-
taken by many a man in order to find the Philosopher’s Stone in the Middle Ages; as success is
what is deemed by the majority of people a measure of happiness. ‘As a result,’ + argument or ‘For
this reason’ + argument’. Here you emphasize the importance of the issue by comparing it with the
attempts to find the Philosopher’s stone. But don’t forget that it should read well and be really clear
for a reader. If you are not a natural born writer, you risk producing something unclear and weird.
So be careful with the first sentence!

#2 Argument
This is an idea that you are asked to comment on or discuss. And this is what you learned to
identify and paraphrase in previous articles of this e-book. For example, the topic is ‘Some people
believe that zoos where animals are kept in man-made environment should no longer exist in the
21st century. Do you agree or disagree?’ The argument here is ‘zoos should no longer exist’. Don’t
forget that it is important to paraphrase the argument. This means to find synonyms and write a
sentence which will have the same meaning but will be written with the help of similar words.

#3 Your position + short explanation (for opinion or discussion essays) or short answers to
the questions of the essay (for cause and effect essays or a 2-part question)
Your position should be really clear throughout your essay. You should either agree or disagree

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(depending on what your opinion is), or say that you cannot fully agree and shortly explain why you
have this or that opinion. For example, ‘I cannot but agree with this view (=100% agree) as doing
conventional outdoor leisure time activities is what can help children preserve their physical and
mental health’ (= short explanation which I will extend in the main paragraphs). Another example
is ‘I personally feel that recreation of a family tree is what gives people self-determination and
confidence, thereby making them more optimistic about their future’ (I answer why people do so.
This is the reason. And I say that it’s 100% good).

Important things to remember:

1) Your introduction shouldn’t be longer than your body paragraphs.

2) All the 3 sentences should form a connected text.

3) You can use a rhetoric question to connect the background sentence with the argument or the
argument and your opinion to provide a smooth transition from one thing to another. For example,
‘We live in a fast-paced world where people value their time so much that whenever they decide to
travel, be it for pleasure or business (background), they opt for the quickest and now cheapest way
of reaching their destination which is increasingly the plane as a means of transport. (argument)
Notwithstanding the needs of the travellers, is this trend as beneficial as it may seem on the sur-
face? (rhetoric question) I personally feel that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks (opinion).’

4) Although many IELTS tutors (even those who have a lot of subscribers on YouTube etc) recom-
mend to use such phrases as ‘In this essay I will consider both advantages and disadvantages’...
in fact, most examiners hate when people write something like this because every sentence must
have a meaning. Let’s take the sentence above. If your task is to discuss advantages and disad-
vantages, it’s clear that this is what you are supposed to do. Why write about your intentions? Write
about pros and cons. Let’s take another favourite of mine ‘in this essay I will give you my opinion
about this topic’ Really?) This is your essay. This means that you will present your opinion, not
somebody else’s. Another popular phrase from the list is ‘This essay will discuss...’ Try to avoid
phrases that are meaningless!

EXAMPLE:
Topic: Some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of
sports facilities. Others, however, say this would have little effect on public health and that other
measures are required. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Introduction: It is no longer surprising that improving public health is a recognized priority for
governments all over the world nowadays as health is an important factor that influences the level
of wellbeing in a society. Many people believe that sport is a panacea for improving civic health,
therefore they advocate the introduction of more fitness centres and sports grounds, but their
views clash with those of others who suppose that other methods have to be considered. However,
I personally feel that only if several methods are applied simultaneously, can people see tangible
results.

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 #7 TASK ACHIEVEMENT: HOW TO MAKE
FULLY EXTENDED ANSWERS

E veryone says you should give extended answers to get a high band score for task achieve-
ment. But how extended should they be? Read the following information very carefully.
Let’s imagine that we are writing an essay about health. We’ll try to show you the difference
between bands using a simple example. At least, this example usually helps our students, so
we assume that it can help you as well.

Band 5: ‘Doing exercises is good for health.’

Comment: NO EXPLANATION. The answer is too general. What exercises? What does ‘good’ mean?
So it’s 5.

Band 6: ‘Doing exercises such as swimming and jogging is beneficial for health.’
Comment: NOT EXTENDED ENOUGH. We know what exercises are good but we still don’t know
why they are good. Although ‘beneficial’ looks a bit better than just ‘good’, it doesn’t bear a lot of
meaning.

Band 7: ‘Doing exercises such as swimming and jogging is beneficial for health. These exercises,
if done regularly, stimulate a person’s cardiovascular system, leading to something bla-bla-bla.
Another positive outcome is developing muscles + bla-bla-bla.
Comment: FULLY EXTENDED. You say what is good for health, give examples of this good activity,
explain why it is good, under what conditions, where and when.

Band 8+: ‘Undoubtedly, having ambitious plans helps people achieve success as they clearly see
the gap between what they have at some particular stage of life and what they want to get. This
helps them understand how much work should be done and what steps should be taken. This is
what helps them, first of all, make an action plan which they then implement step by step. As is
known, if people do some activity regularly according to some carefully thought out plan, the odds
are that they will get great results. Moreover, when people see that there is a lot of work that has to
be done before they can achieve their goals, they understand that it is too early to relax. Therefore
they work hard without wasting their time on irrelevant activities such as communicating in social
media or watching TV.

Now let’s analyse some real piece of writing.

EXAMPLE:
Topic: Some people believe that zoos where animals are kept in man-made environment should no
longer exist in the 21st century. Do you agree or disagree?

Main Body Paragraph 1: Undoubtedly, the main necessity zoos are created for is preserving rare
species of animals from extinction (idea 1). This includes research programmes aimed at breeding
and expanding the populations of these species as it is in zoos that animals receive medical care,
food and safety (explanation). One more beneficial function no one would dare to gainsay is pro-

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viding shelter and care to those that are either too young or too weak to survive in the wild (idea 2).
For this reason, we can certainly say that if it weren’t for zoos, the majority of vulnerable animals
would be doomed to death.

ESSAY ANALYSIS:
Comment: The first sentence presents the idea that zoos are important to preserve rare species
of animals from extinction. It’s good. Then the second statement gives some explanation of how
zoos can help to preserve rare species. This makes this paragraph more or less extended, so this
essay can score 6 for task achieve ment. Now let’s read the second sentence one more time care-
fully. ‘bla-bla-bla...animals receive medical care, food and safety…’ What kind of medical care? Why
is it important that they are fed in zoos? What does the author of this paragraph mean by ‘safety’?
Let’s read the third sentence. ‘bla-bla-bla… too weak to survive in the wild’. Again, what threats do
they have? Why does the author think that they won’t survive?

TASK ACHIEVEMENT BAND 6: So, task achievement is definitely better than 5 as the ideas are
relevant, and some of them are explained. But it’s not so good to score 7. We guess task achieve-
ment here would be 6. If both ideas and both paragraphs were like the first sentence, it would be a
very good 6 for Task Achievement.

#8 TASK ACHIEVEMENT: HOW TO AVOID

IRRELEVANT IDEAS

W e always recommend our students to TEST THEIR IDEAS in order to avoid writing about
irrelevant things. To get a high band score for Task Achievement, you should present
ideas that are RELEVANT and FULLY EXTENDED. We’ll tell you how to avoid irrelevant ideas.
Let’s take some of our students’ essays. Not to waste your time, we’ll post just relevant parts
of them. Don’t pay attention to grammatical errors. Focus on Task Response.

Topic: In some countries shops manufacture and sell their own products. Some people believe
that it is a positive development; others see this as a negative development. Discuss both views
and give your own opinion.

IRRELEVANT IDEA 1: The underlying motives of the partisans appear to be relatively obvious
due to such a benefit as the inevitable price reduction for an end-buyer usually provoked by the
on-site manufacturing facilities.

OUR COMMENT: Our student wants to say that products will be sold at a lower price. Let’s chal-
lenge this assumption. Who said that there would be lower prices? What if I start producing some
goods myself, choose better raw materials and set higher prices? I will earn the same amount of
money, but sell products of higher quality. What if I find the way to reduce some costs in order to
have a higher profit? So the price will remain the same. But, of course, I may reduce the price even

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if my company’s overheads and other expenses remain the same. As my products will be cheaper
than those of competitors, I may sell more and therefore have higher financial gains. But it doesn’t
depend on who produces the goods. Even if someone else produces the goods, I may set lower
prices in order to sell more. So, there is no connection.

RELEVANT IDEA: The benefit of having in-house manufacturing facilities is that a company may
increase its profit by minimizing and controlling its expenses. So the price can remain the same or
decrease, but as we’ve said before, this will enable the company to earn more. It makes no differ-
ence for buyers, but it’s good for companies.

IRRELEVANT IDEA 2: Contrary to the previously given advantage, such a drawback as a limited
selection of goods is undoubtedly to be mentioned. Hardly can the manufacturing of an extensive
range of products be implemented single-handedly by an independent outlet.

OUR COMMENT: Who said that there will be a limited selection of goods? What if I invest a lot of
money and have an opportunity to produce a lot of different goods. We don’t have any information
to think that it won’t be a very large plant or factory. I may want to produce the same goods. So my
customers won’t even feel the difference.

IRRELEVANT IDEA 3: On the one hand, private label products are usually cheaper than others,
because the company doesn’t spend money for searching a variety of sales channels.

OUR COMMENT: If I sell goods produced by somebody else, I have to promote the goods somehow.
So I probably have to spend money on advertising. Also, if I want to sell more, I need to look for dif-
ferent sales channels. Likewise, if I produce some goods myself, I have to find the ways to attract
more customers to my shop and make them buy the goods. In either case, I’m interested in finding
the ways to promote the goods I’m selling. Again, it doesn’t depend on who produces these goods.

IRRELEVANT IDEA 4: Also, consumers know, that these goods are always available, because
it`s a company face, and they have no right to fail.

OUR COMMENT: It doesn’t matter who produces the goods. I always need to have what to sell be-
cause if I don’t, I will not earn anything. If I don’t have profit, why have a business?

IRRELEVANT IDEA 5: it requires additional expenditures in order to make product competitive.

OUR COMMENT: You don’t necessarily need more money. Who knows? Maybe you managed to
cut some costs, and this will be enough to buy some equipment etc. And even if you had to invest
some money in buying equipment and something else, you probably won’t do it every month. You
will probably do it only once. So it’s not a big disadvantage.

RELEVANT IDEA: But you will definitely have to put more effort in organising this process. You’ll
have to hire new staff, train them, buy equipment, maintain it regularly. You’ll have to control these
people. Yeah, you will definitely have more responsibilities. And this can be regarded as a disad-
vantage of this development.

Unfortunately, this list above is not exhaustive and includes only some irrelevant ideas that our
students try to present in their essays. If you write something like this, you’ll have BAND 5 for Task
Response. So, before you start writing, test your ideas like we did in this post.

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 #9 TASK ACHIEVEMENT: TO LIE OR NOT
TO LIE

S ome writing topics are tricky. And therefore sometimes it’s better to write that you dis-
agree with something (even if you agree) just because if you disagree, you can give inter-
esting and diverse ideas that you can fully extend.

Here is one of these tricky topics. ‘With all the troubles in the world today, money spent on space
exploration is a complete waste. The money could be better spent on other things. To what extent
do you agree or disagree?’

Personally I agree that money could be spent on other things. But to explain this view, I just can
say that nowadays the humanity faces so many problems such as...... but financial resources are
limited. That’s it. But this will give me Task Achievement Band 5.0

If I need a higher band score, I have to write at least 2 long paragraphs. But I don’t have ideas that
I can fully extend. So I will have to write that I disagree that money spent on space exploration is
a complete waste because I can say that 1) space exploration may help us solve a lot of problems
as we may find a source of natural resources, a planet to live on, etc. 2) space exploration can help
us prevent dangers coming from space and I can describe these dangers and the way to prevent
them.

So, even though I agree with this opinion, in the IELTS test I will write that I disagree.

#10 TASK ACHIEVEMENT: LENGTH OF

BODY PARAGRAPHS

H ow long should paragraphs in the main body of a Task 2 essay be if you want to get a
high band score? The band descriptor for task achievement band 6 states that ‘one idea is
more fully covered than the other’. What does this mean? This means one of the paragraphs
in the main body is obviously much longer than the other. Or one idea in the body paragraph
is more or less extended, and some other ideas have little or no explanation.

How can you make sure that one idea won’t be more fully covered than the other? Firstly, you
should always plan your essay carefully before you start writing, otherwise you risk writing a lot in
the first paragraph of the main body and very little in the second one. If this happens, don’t dream
about a 7 for task achievement. Secondly, you should always start from a Task 2 essay. When you
sit your real IELTS test, you have 60 minutes to write two essays. You should spend about 20 min-
utes on task 1 and 40 minutes on task 2. Our advice is to start from a task 2 essay because it is
worth more marks than a task 1 essay.

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Imagine you start from Task 1. (We’ll tell you what usually happens to people in the exam.) Like all
IELTS candidates, you will try to create a perfect essay, so you will inevitably spend more than 20
minutes on it. And even if you spend just 20 minutes, you will have 40 minutes for Task 2. NOT A
MINUTE MORE. I repeat, NOT A MINUTE MORE. As a result, you will write a good introduction, good
supporting paragraph 1.

Then you will understand that you are running out of time... and what will happen? You will speed
up and your supporting paragraph 2 will be shorter than paragraph 1. This means it won’t be fully
extended. Maybe, if you spent a little more time, it would be enough to write a perfect paragraph
2. But you will hear the announcement ‘Stop writing now. Put down your pencil.’ Now imagine, you
start from Task 2, you have an opportunity to write a fully extended essay even if it takes a bit more
than 40 minutes. Then, of course, you have less time for Task 1. But it’s not a problem. It’s better to
have an ideal Task 2 essay than an ideal Task 1 essay. So, start from Task 2, make sure your Task
2 essay is good enough and then spend all the remaining time on Task 1.

I hope you got the idea! Try out this strategy. It does work!

#11 COHERENCE & COHESION: LINKING

WORDS AND DEVICES

L et’s get back to Coherence & Cohesion. Why do you need to use linking words and phrases
AND linking devices in your IELTS essay? You should do so as they help you to guide a
reader through your essay, connect ideas, sentences and paragraphs, which is VERY impor-
tant if you want a high score.

Band 4: Your essay has neither paragraphs nor linking words or phrases.

Band 5: You are able to use paragraphing. Your essay should be well structured. It should include
the introduction, supporting paragraphs, and the conclusion.

Band 6: Your ideas are given logically. You have adequate paragraphs. You use linking words and
phrases such as first of all, however, etc.

ATTENTION: you should avoid using informal linkers such as so, because, and, but, that’s why.

EXAMPLE:
Firstly, space exploration can help to combat a number of terrestrial problems existing nowadays.
At the moment the Earth is on the verge of depleting its non-renewable natural resources, and, un-
less alternatives are found, the world may come to a halt one day. Exploratory investigations into
the depths of the universe may find substances or new types of fuel that will prove to be either in
abundance or at least more cost-efficient. In addition, there may be planets in the universe with
conditions favorable to living beings helping mankind address the issue of overpopulation of the
Earth.

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 14
2ND EDITION
Bands 7-9: your ideas are given logically, you have paragraphs, you use less common linking
words and phrases* and you use linking devices**

*see examples below

• more common: therefore, consequently, thus

• less common: thereby
• more common: moreover, furthermore
• less common: more importantly
• more common: on the other hand (if we are going to write about something negative)
• less common: regrettably

**Examples of linking words and phrases VS Examples of linking devices

1) Firstly, bla-bla-bla = The first reason why this happens is that bla-bla-bla

2) As a result, bla-bla-bla = This will lead to bla-bla-bla.

3) For example, bla-bla-bla = A good example to illustrate this idea is bla-bla-bla

Linking words\phrases and linking devices have the same function. But if you look at the exam-
ples above, you will see that LINKING DEVICES provide a more NATURAL FLOW of ideas. Readers
will not ‘stumble over’ commas which obviously break this natural flow (look at the picture below
in which we tried to present this difference graphically).

an essay without linking sentences

an essay with linking sentences

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 15
2ND EDITION
ATTENTION! Never use ‘such as’ and ‘for instance’ in the same sentence. Both of them have the
same purpose. And this is to give an example.

:( I like vegetables such as tomatoes and potatoes, for instance.

:) I like vegetables such as tomatoes and potatoes.
:) I like vegetables. For instance, I often eat tomatoes and potatoes

ATTENTION! One of our favourite linking phrases which is suitable for almost every introduction
is ‘FOR THIS REASON,...’

This linking phrase expresses the consequence or result from what is implicit in the preceding
sentence. So it’s the best linking phrase to logically connect the background sentence and the
argument (thesis statement) of the essay.

For example: ‘Over the last several decades computer games have extended their tentacles to al-
most all young children all over the world, causing harm to.... . For this reason, many people believe
that it is better to (do something) in order to (do something). Personally I feel that + your opinion.

EXAMPLE 1:
We live in a business environment where profit is the main measurement of a company’s success.
In an attempt to maximize financial gains a number of companies have decided to have their own
in-house manufacturing facilities, which is deemed by many people as an efficient way of doing
business. There are, though, people who feel that this business strategy has a baleful effect. I
personally feel that this approach can be both beneficial and disadvantageous depending on a
number of circumstances.

EXAMPLE 2:
One of the benefits of domestic manufacturing is undoubtedly a possibility to have far more con-
trol both over the production process and employees. This means that line and production man-
agers will report on their performance, quality of the raw materials and equipment used. This will
allow a company to maintain the excellence of each product and continuously improve its quality
and features. By outsourcing, it has to hire an on-site supervisor. Otherwise, the odds are that the
owner of the shop will not be aware of whether the goods were manufactured to standard. We can
certainly regard cost reduction as another advantage of each company having their manufacturing
facilities on-site. This gives them an opportunity to purchase raw materials directly from manu-
facturers, thereby eliminating the amount of profit earned by intermediaries. Management costs
can be reduced as well. Further, an enterprise can streamline its management operations, ship
products to customers faster and reduce its logistics costs.

COHERENCE AND COHESION: AVOID

#12 USING INFORMAL LINKERS, USE FOR-
MAL AND NEUTRAL LINKERS INSTEAD

T he following informal linkers should be avoided:

but, because, because of, so, to, and, what’s more, also, besides (this), that’s why

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 16
2ND EDITION
The following formal and neutral linking words and phrases should be used instead.

Informal linkers:
despite the fact that, despite this, on the contrary, notwithstanding, nonetheless, for (=because),
on account of, owing to, so as (not) to, in addition, furthermore, moreover, consequently, hence,
accordingly, thus

Neutral linkers:
even so, even though, although, though, however, despite, in spite of, while, whereas, nevertheless,
yet, on the other hand, since (because),
as (=because), as a result of, in case, due to, in order (not) to,
in order that, so that; not only, but also; as well as (this), as a result, therefore, for this reason

#13 GRAMMATICAL RANGE AND ACCURACY:

GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES

Band 3:
OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION (taken from the IELTS writing Task 2 and Task 1 band descriptors (public
version)): attempts sentence forms but errors in grammar and punctuation predominate and dis-
tort the meaning

OUR EXPLANATION: when you read a sentence, you can understand its meaning, but almost all the
grammatical structures are used incorrectly

FOR EXAMPLE: ‘I writting to ask you about then, that I reading in the newspaper about make new
apartments near my house.’ It is rather difficult to understand, but still you can see that the main
idea was supposed to be ‘I am writing to ask you about the information that I read in the newspa-
per concerning building a new apartment block near my house.’ A much better way to express the
same idea would be ‘I’m writing to give my views about the plans to build an apartment block near
my house, which I read about in your newspaper.’ This would definitely be Band 5 or even 6.

Band 4:
OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION (taken from the IELTS writing Task 2 and Task 1 band descriptors (public
version)): uses only a very limited range of structures with only rare use of subordinate clauses;
some structures are accurate but errors predominate and punctuation is often faulty

OUR EXPLANATION: This means that there are many grammatical errors, but unlike Band 3 (where
almost all the sentences are incorrect), there are about 50-60% of structures that are used correct-
ly. Almost all the sentences are short, but some sentences may be long and more or less complex.

FOR EXAMPLE: Nowadays many people try lead healthy lifestyle. That’s why they go to gym and
not eat fast food that is bad for their health.

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 17
2ND EDITION
So, as we see there are some correct chunks such as ‘many people try’, or ‘they go to...’ But there
are still many mistakes such as ‘try lead’ instead of ‘try TO lead’ or ‘not eat’ instead of ‘don’t eat’

Band 5:
• simple tenses
• basic modal verbs
• degrees of comparison
• there be
• quantifiers such as many and a lot of

SAMPLE SENTENCE 1: Nowadays many people try to lead a healthy lifestyle. That’s why they go to
the gym and do not eat fast food that is bad for their health. (this sentence is simple but correct)

SAMPLE SENTENCE 2: Many people think that it is better to work from home. (also simple, but
correct)

SAMPLE SENTENCE 3: People should use public transport to reduce the level of pollution in cities.

SAMPLE SENTENCE 4: This issue can be solve by ... or Children has never played computer games
as much as now... (here are attempts to use modals + passive and the present perfect tense, but
these are used incorrectly; the correct sentences would be ‘this issue can be solved’ and ‘children
have never played...’

Band 6:
appr. 50% simple structures + appr. 50% complex structures

• active tenses
• passive tenses
• modals + modals in the past
• comparisons: as... as..., the... the...., far + comparative degree, by far + superlative degree
• gerund + infinitive
• both... and...
• either ... or \ neither ... nor...
• not only.... but also...
• conditionals 0, 1, 2
• + some grammatical errors are ok

EXAMPLE:
However, computer technologies are becoming more and more important nowadays since we use
them each and every day at work and for personal needs so it is good to march in step with the
contemporary world. So we have to be good computer users and since it is a very fast-growing
area it is good to learn it as soon as possible. It is not a good idea not to let children play at the
computer at all.

Band 7:
appr. 60-70% complex structures from the list above + appr. 30-40% simple structures
+ almost all sentences should be error-free

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 18
2ND EDITION
EXAMPLE:
A necessity to deal with a soaring number of insurmountable problems in various spheres of life
has resulted in a schism within the world community concerning the allocation of financial re-
sources. Partisans of investing money into exploration of outer space are accused of being squan-
derers who neglect far more urgent problems such as incurable diseases, food shortages, and
environmental pollution. However I strongly doubt that space exploration is a luxury which is not
worth investing money into as the humanity can benefit from it greatly in the near future.

Band 8:
Band 7 structures + emphatic structures:

• cleft sentences
• inversion
• conditional 3, mixed conditionals

+ 1-2 minor grammatical errors (with articles, for example)

INVERSION:
‘Only if such information is available in advance, will there be time to take measures to prevent any
possible collisions or exposure of people to solar radiation.’
‘Never before have people been bombarded by as many advertisements as now.’
‘Only by working hard can people achieve success.’

Mixed conditionals:
‘Had it not been for emergence of the telephone, nowadays people would still have to arrange face-
to-face meetings in order to discuss whatever issues they have.’

Cleft-sentences:
‘Planting trees is what should be done so as to neutralize dire effects of carbon dioxide emissions.’
‘It is swimming that is considered by far the most effective exercise.’
‘To boost sales is the reason why companies advertise their products.’
‘It was not until the plane was invented (past simple) that people started (past simple) being able
to cover long distances almost in no time.’

Band 9:
Band 8 structures + NO grammatical errors

EXAMPLE:
More importantly, only if people are aspiring, do they have a chance not to be enchained by sloth-
fulness. In truth, that people try not to waste their precious time and be as active as possible is due
to the fact that they realize the importance of moving towards their goal despite insoluble issues
that may arise. Being single-minded is also inexorably linked to being able to take responsibility
and risk as no extensive goal can be achieved unless people risk applying innovative methods of
work or investing substantial amounts of money into their ventures. For instance, if Steve Jobs
had not been goal-oriented, he would never have dared to challenge the status quo in the world of
computers and, therefore, humanity would not have been granted an opportunity to possess styl-
ish personal computers instead of odd-looking cumbersome devices.

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 19
2ND EDITION
 #14 GRAMMATICAL RANGE AND ACCURACY:
PUNCTUATION

I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.
(Oscar Wilde)

What does this mean? This means that punctuation is a nightmare for everyone, not only for non-
native speakers. However, you should know the rules to get great results in IELTS writing! Accord-
ing to band descriptors, you can get Band 7 if you ‘have good control of grammar and punctuation’.
This means that commas matter!

COMMA Rule #1:

Use a comma before FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, SO to connect two independent clauses. In
IELTS writing you’ll mostly use AND, YET, FOR

EXAMPLE:
I’m a student, AND this is my final year at school.

NO COMMA
1) We do not need a comma if we have only one independent clause, and the conjunction connects
the two verbs.

EXAMPLE (taken from IELTS Speaking Assistant application):

I want to major in Journalism as I LIKE writing essays AND WANT to work for some famous maga-
zine or newspaper. (part 1 topic 1 ‘Do you work or are you a student?’)
2) Some writers omit the comma before a coordinating conjunction if the two independent clauses
are short.

EXAMPLE:
She left but I stayed with him.

COMMA Rule #2:

Commas are used in pairs to enclose phrases that interrupt a clause.
EXAMPLE: I decided, and I really wanted it, to go to Paris.

COMMA Rule #3:

Use a comma when you contrast 2 things. In IELTS you’ll mostly use WHEREAS, ALTHOUGH (when
it can be replaced by ‘but’), and WHILE (when it means ‘whereas’).

EXAMPLES:
1) I like my job, WHEREAS my colleagues say it’s boring.
2) I like to study, ALTHOUGH I really hate to wake up early.
3) I always wake up early, WHILE my husband doesn’t.

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 20
2ND EDITION
NO COMMA:
1) We don’t need a comma if ALTHOUGH is used in the sense of ‘despite the fact that’
Example: I like my job ALTHOUGH I often have to work overtime.
2) We don’t need a comma if WHILE means ‘during the time when’ or ‘at the same time as’

EXAMPLE: My husband was sleeping WHILE I was cooking breakfast.

‘We are going to learn to cut and paste kids’. Or ‘We are going to learn to cut and paste, kids’.
COMMAS MATTER ))))))

#15 LEXICAL RESOURCE

O ne more thing to focus on is Lexical Resource. What do different bands mean?

Band 5: general words such as want, need, help, money etc.

Band 6: topical vocabulary (these are the words that are used when discussing specific topics or
subjects) such as exhaust fumes if you write about pollution or academic performance if you write
an essay about education.

Band 7: less common vocabulary (topical vocabulary + more complicated synonyms of the words
from Band 5). For example, ‘financial resources’ instead of ‘money’, ‘assist’ instead of ‘help’

Bands 8-9: uncommon vocabulary (some words that you will only find in the articles on
economist.com or in the tests called GRE or SAT. For example, pecuniary instead of financial or
words like predilection, dire, noxious, innocuous.

#16 COHERENCE&COHESION:
WRITE A CONCLUSION
HOW TO

I n the conclusion you should restate the topic as well as your opinion using synonyms. You
can also give your recommendation and\or prediction.

EXAMPLE: ‘To sum up, despite the fact that there is a dilemma of whether having more wellness
centres and sports grounds or other measures can boost civic health (restated argument), I am
convinced that applying both methods simultaneously is what could lead to tangible results’ (opin-
ion).

IELTS
LISTENING TIPS 21
2ND EDITION
 IELTS WRITING TIPS YOU WISH YOU FOUND EARLIER

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