Understanding IELTS: Writing

Aruna mentions the Covid-19 situation and test centes being closed around the world. While that situation continues, IELTS have introduced an online test in some countries to support and help test takers move forward with their plans and applications for studying abroad during these challenging times. You can find out more here.
Aruna also mentioned the interesting discussion started by Yobaida Afrin Ara Eti on the pros and cons of automatic spelling and grammar checkers, and you can join in here. He also mentioned the Cambridge website recommended by Katharina B, Dasha Koval and others, Write & Improve. Try it out - it can really help you with identifying and fixing common errors.

You can find and join in the discussion on academic writing and other types of writing here and you can find Neil’s feedback and advice on writing introductory sentences here. He encouraged everyone to look through and comment on the full Task 1 answers, and this one by Georgiana Apostol is a good place to start.

One final point - in Week 1 we have been focusing on Task 1 for the Academic test, and people who are interested in taking the General test have been asking about resources. If that’s you, here are some useful resources to help you prepare:

Practice General questions, model answers and examiner comments
LearnEnglish Writing Skills, including formal and informal letters
Guide to formal and informal letters
A letter of apology
A letter of complaint
Coming up in Week 2

Next week, we’ll look at Part 2 of the Writing test - writing an essay. We’ll discuss how to brainstorm, plan and write a strong, well-organised and effective essay. We’ll also look at the examiner’s assessment criteria for task response as well as for coherence and cohesion. You’ll then have a chance to try writing your first complete essay.

If you want to get started straight away, go to the To do list for Week 2.

Remember, you can always use the To do icon at the top of the page to see what’s coming up or go back to previous weeks and catch up.

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IELTS Indicator - an online test to support you during the COVID-19 situation
Due to the Covid-19 situation, IELTS testing is suspended at the moment in many countries. In the meantime, the IELTS partners (the British Council, IDP and Cambridge Assessment English) have introduced IELTS Indicator, an online test which can be completed at home while IELTS testing is unavailable. You can find out more here.

Study online with the British Council
Continue improving your English language skills and building your confidence with the British Council’s online courses, including options for online group classes, one-to-one online tutoring and subscription to self-access courses from Beginner to Advanced levels.

I am a TESOL teacher. I did the course in 3 days and found it very helpful and informative. As a retired University Professor, I obviously have a lot of experience of academic writing and also of marking students' work. However, doing the course taught me that my general academic knowledge and experience is not enough - as a TESOL teacher I also need a very good understanding of the precise requirements of the IELTS tasks.

When I did my TESOL training, which was very good I think, we did not cover preparing students for IELTS examinations. Yet in the voluntary work I have done since retiring I have come to realise that IELTS looms over people like a thundercloud. It is a shame as sometimes it gets in the way of more enjoyable language learning.

As an aside, I am not sure that I entirely agree with the content of the tests. For example, I have always taught students that when describing data, they should define and stick to one term for a variable and for the levels of that variable. e.g . use gender/male/female and do not switch to sex/ man/woman. I also think that in scientific papers it is a good idea to use a template to report findings - ie repeat the same form of words over and over again. It can make complicated results easier to follow and after all a scientific paper is not meant to be a piece of prose, it is an exercise in communication. Obviously, one would expect more varied structures and vocabulary in other types of academic writing. Finally I always taught students to use simple constructions, simple words and short sentences where possible.

I'm really glad I did this course and may now do the other ones (reading, listening and speaking). Thank you so much for the content and your helpful advice. I thoroughly recommend the course to other TESOL teachers who have no or limited experience of IELTS.

There is no doubt that we are living these days in  a different world, there are a lot of things that may be effect of our children's development such as ,television ,friends and music.

I'm believing that the major factor influencing a child's development these days is  the family because of the family is the first source and the direct factor which deal with the children when they was born and during they grownup.

for examples when the kids are seeing to their parents ,smoking , drinking alcohol, etc,they are traying to do the same acts.

     On another hand the Family may provide the children with many positive things like Reading, Respecting Law, Morality and Respecting others.

       Although Family is the main factors influencing a child's development ,We can't deny the most important of other factors like the Internet especially the internet Applications, Television programs especially horrible kids films, actions kids films, and so on.

 I thought that modern things may be make a fluence children , because of a lot of snapshots of Murder ,bloods, horoball fitting , a lot of things about staling money and another negative actions was found in T.V kids films.

         Finally we have to make a balance between a liberty and morality ,so we shouldn't let our kids paling all the time by the internet games, watching the television ,but we can schedule ding time for theme, So the basic question is How can we doing that?

  That question may be easy, you can said I'll make a time for watching T.V , a time for reading …,and so on, but  actually it is may be really hard to doing that because of the  the difference attitude between on children and another.

So all of that I think we need all the time to learn a bout How we know our children's personality?

Firstly, kudos to the course makers and providers, lead educators and other staff involved in making this understanding IELTS course such a grand endeavor to aid its learners in their pursuit of a good band score in their IELTS exams, and I am not hyperbolizing when I say that, with due practice and dedication, the course takers could, and possibly would, overshoot their own expectations and goals, therefore reaching a destination that they will definitely be more than pleased with.

Also, I am thoroughly content with this course, especially given that it is free, which is honestly quite mind boggling for me, as this course has equipped me with the requisite arsenal of skills and techniques to be confident going into the examination hall on my test date, not feeling too anxious or scared, but rather exited for how the exam is going to turn out. Might I also add that I haven't even finished the course yet.

So I highly recommend others to check this course out, especially if you plan to sit for the IELTS exam sooner or later, and otherwise too, as this course will benefit anyone who wishes to improve their writing skills. I mean, if you've got some time on your hands, there should no harm in gaining some practical knowledge and insight into this much sought after skill, right?

I have enjoyed getting acquainted with the structure of the IELTS Writing exam, it will definitely make my work at school more systematic.
Teachers who work with students studying English çan offer them different ways to express views and opinions. It was done in the course. How was it done?
The structure of the IELTS writing test is clearly introduced. We (participants of the course) could practise both parts of the exam tasks.
The approaches to planning the work are shown in the course. We planned our assignments thoroughly.
The ways of coherence and cohesion are introduced in the course. Useful links given to the participants can help us make our writing perfect.
The most important grammar aspects of formal writing were observed.
It is great that each part of the course is followed by the test.
The course is clearcut on the one hand as you have to follow strict rules of the exam and entertaining on the other hand as the materials included in it are varied. I would like to express deep respect and gratitude to the supervisors and tutors of the course. Thank you.

I have enjoyed getting acquainted with the structure of the IELTS Writing exam, it will definitely make my work at school more systematic.
Teachers who work with students studying English çan offer them different ways to express views and opinions. It was done in the course. How was it done?
The structure of the IELTS writing test is clearly introduced. We (participants of the course) could practise both parts of the exam tasks.
The approaches to planning the work are shown in the course. We planned our assignments thoroughly.
The ways of coherence and cohesion are introduced in the course. Useful links given to the participants can help us make our writing perfect.
The most important grammar aspects of formal writing were observed.
It is great that each part of the course is followed by the test.
The course is clearcut on the one hand as you have to follow strict rules of the exam and entertaining on the other hand as the materials included in it are varied. I would like to express deep respect and gratitude to the supervisors and tutors of the course. Thank you.