IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words

Prity Mallick

7 min read

Updated On Jul 07, 2025

Want to elevate your IELTS Academic preparation for a Band 8+? Master the IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words to boost clarity, precision, and improve lexical range while learning their different frequency levels.

What are IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words?
Importance of Using IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words
How to Use IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words for Achieving a Band 8+?
List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 1
List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 2-5
List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 6-7
List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 8-10

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You should prepare well to use IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words in your responses, as vocabulary plays a crucial role in achieving a high score.Learning these IELTS Academic vocabulary words enables you to comprehend complex texts, articulate your thoughts clearly, and present your well-structured arguments.

Words that are commonly used in academic texts and contexts, such as “analyze,” “evaluate,” “hypothesis,” “significant,” and “theory”, would be able to help you score higher in lexical resources. Remember that using comparative language in your answer would make you exam-ready.

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What are IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words?

The IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words are those words that would help demonstrate a higher level of lexical resource. Not only will you learn skills for reading comprehension but also improve your speed in academic passages for the IELTS Exam. The frequency words are based on the scale of 1 to 10 where level 1 are those words which are most frequently used while level 10 are the least frequent ones.

The table below shows the level and frequency of academic words along with their meaning.

Frequency Level	Meaning
1	Most frequent and widely used academic words
2-5	High-frequency academic vocabulary which are essential for most academic questions
6-7	Moderately frequent academic words but they are still useful for more advanced learners
8-10	Less common words yet relevant in specific academic or formal contexts

Importance of Using IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words

The IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words include those words that appear in essays, research papers, or other university-level conversations. In most casual everyday conversation, you use words such as good or nice. However, academic vocabulary words would help you stress the information which are significant and help you to analyze or evaluate. These words serve as one of the most effective resources for your preparation.

The following are some of the important aspects of using the IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words in your answer.

You will be able to provide precise arguments by using your words logically.
Helps in avoiding redundancy in your answer.
Easier to express intricate ideas.
Understanding complex passages becomes easier in IELTS Reading.

How to Use IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words for Achieving a Band 8+?

When you incorporate the IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words appropriately, it shows your ability to use a strong lexical resource. As you prepare, you must utilize a few strategies so that you achieve a higher IELTS Band Score of 8+. The following tricks can be used as you start your preparation.

Keep a vocabulary book where you write down the new words along with their frequency level. Not only that but you must learn how to use these sentences along with their meaning.
Do not memorize these words, rather learn them in terms of the context in which you can use them.
Use the concept of flashcards to learn these IELTS Vocabulary words as you attempt to answer questions.
Group the words based on the frequency level and also according to the topic in which these words can be used.
Try to use collocation and academic phrases related to these words so that you can use them in sentences in your writing and speaking sections.
You can also separate the IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words based on the IELTS Grammar concepts such as verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
Always review and self-assess on a regular basis so that you can rectify if you are making any mistakes so that you avoid repeating the same errors.
Record yourself speaking so that you can identify and point out if you use these words correctly in the IELTS Speaking questions.

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List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 1

The level 1 would help you in the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. Given below are some tables that contain level 1 of the IELTS Academic high-frequency vocabulary that you can use while preparing yourself for the exam.

assess	assume	authority	available
benefit	concept	analyse	similar
constitute	approach	area	context
contract	distribute	export	factor
create	economy	finance	data
formula	policy	specific	significant
theory	require	legal	research
define	distribute	indicate	structure
vary	define	legislate	respond
create	interpret	individual	principle
environment	identify	occur	proceed
derive	involve	major	process
establish	issue	method	section
estimate	labour	percent	sector
evident	income	period	source

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List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 2-5

Now that you know that there are different frequency levels as you use these vocabulary words, let’s check out the ones which fall under level 2-5. The table given below depicts those words which you can use as you prepare for the exam.

commission	valid	decline	integrate
exclude	consent	enforce	parameter
academy	consequent	deduce	mental
assist	ensure	ensure	participate
commit	framework	framework	partner
contrast	annual	demonstrate	interact
access	circumstance	entity	perceive
contribute	considerable	fund	range
distinct	demonstrate	equate	sequence
expand	entity	fundamental	ratio
text	version	equivalent	series
parallel	fund	design	perspective
community	apparent	generate	select
convene	civil	despite	phase
attitude	constant	error	react
compensate	equate	generation	shift
document	fundamental	goal	philosophy
achieve	constrain	grant	physical
attribute	equivalent	ethnic	regime
expose	clause	dimension	region
domestic	construct	evaluate	site
external	design	hence	register
acquire	generate	discrete	regulate
complex	appropriate	evolve	positive
coordinate	code	hypothesis	reject
dominate	consult	internal	potential
tradition	despite	illustrate	specify
component	error	minor	relevant
core	generation	invest	precise
draft	approximate	image	stable
facilitate	consume	investigate	predict
transfer	volume	immigrate	rely
adequate	contact	modify	statistic
compound	goal	impact	remove
corporate	welfare	monitor	status
aware	aspect	implement	strategy
correspond	grant	implicate	previous
feature	whereas	negate	reside
transit	ethnic	item	stress
adjust	dimension	imply	primary
administrate	evaluate	network	resolve
compute	hence	job	prime
credit	discrete	impose	resource
trend	evolve	journal	style
concentrate	exclude	justify	principal
criteria	contrast	label	prior
element	contribute	normal	subsequent
final	distinct	layer	restrict
affect	expand	notion	retain
conclude	convene	objective	substitute
culture	document	obtain	professional
emerge	expose	liberal	revenue
emphasis	domestic	obvious	sufficient
capacity	coordinate	licence	sum
conduct	dominate	occupy	project
cycle	core	link	summary
undertake	draft	locate	promote
category	facilitate	logic	proportion
confer	corporate	initial	survey
enable	correspond	maintain	psychology
focus	feature	option	sustain
alter	credit	injure	symbol
debate	criteria	orient	publish
alternative	element	outcome	scheme
challenge	final	output	purchase
energy	culture	margin	target
conflict	emerge	overall	pursue
decline	emphasis	maximise	task
enforce	cycle	mechanism	secure
amend	enable	instance	technical
chapter	focus	institute	seek
deduce	debate	medical	technique

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List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 6-7

Not only the writing sections but also in the speaking and IELTS Listening modules where you will encounter such IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words. To spot them, especially in the audio recording, you need to gain familiarity with these words, as they often appear in academic discussions and lectures. The table below suggests the list of level 6-7 IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words.

abstract	ultimate	display	ideology
assign	aggregate	dispose	minimum
contrary	finite	expert	intervene
display	aid	explicit	ignorance
dispose	capable	diverse	ministry
expert	flexible	convert	mode
attach	underlie	domain	motive
explicit	empirical	cooperate	isolate
diverse	allocate	extract	neutral
accurate	confirm	couple	incentive
convert	decade	dynamic	nevertheless
thesis	unique	federal	incidence
domain	channel	fee	incorporate
topic	utilise	edit	lecture
acknowledge	enhance	file	index
author	foundation	eliminate	infer
cooperate	chemical	finite	inhibit
trace	definite	flexible	initiate
extract	cite	empirical	innovate
adapt	deny	decade	input
transform	equip	enhance	insert
comprehensive	furthermore	foundation	overseas
comprise	classic	definite	media
couple	gender	deny	paradigm
dynamic	visible	equip	instruct
federal	globe	furthermore	intelligence
transmit	estate	gender	migrate
fee	voluntary	globe	rational
transport	grade	estate	phenomenon
adult	differentiate	grade	recover
edit	guarantee	differentiate	simulate
file	hierarchy	guarantee	sole
advocate	discriminate	hierarchy	somewhat
bond	exceed	discriminate	release
brief	contrary	identical	precede
eliminate	submit	interval	presume
quote	priority	tape	scope
publication	subsidy	survive	reverse
successor	reveal	prohibit

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List of IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary for Level 8-10

In the Reading Module, understanding high-frequency academic vocabulary is essential for answering questions accurately and efficiently. Similarly, in IELTS Writing, using a diverse and precise vocabulary can enhance the quality of essays, leading to higher band scores. Below are some of the IELTS Academic High-Frequency Vocabulary Words for level 8-10.

tense	chart	duration	mature
exhibit	enormous	crucial	insight
terminate	found	currency	overlap
commodity	vehicle	fluctuate	inspect
accommodate	anticipate	encounter	panel
assure	denote	format	mediate
controversy	via	forthcoming	paragraph
distort	violate	enormous	integral
theme	append	found	medium
accompany	clarify	denote	integrity
accumulate	depress	depress	intense
attain	virtual	erode	passive
compatible	appreciate	detect	intermediate
converse	erode	deviate	persist
exploit	vision	device	refine
thereby	visual	devote	plus
compile	coherent	ethic	so-called
convince	detect	guideline	portion
complement	arbitrary	diminish	pose
automate	coincide	eventual	reinforce
drama	deviate	highlight	relax
adjacent	collapse	military	practitioner
duration	contemporary	minimal	sphere
behalf	device	minimise	reluctance
bias	colleague	intrinsic	predominant
conceive	devote	invoke	preliminary
trigger	ethic	mutual	straightforward
crucial	assemble	implicit	restore
bulk	commence	nonetheless	subordinate
undergo	whereby	incline	restrain
concurrent	guideline	norm	revise
currency	widespread	notwithstanding	revolution
albeit	diminish	nuclear	supplement
fluctuate	eventual	levy	rigid
uniform	highlight	induce	prospect
cease	contradict	inevitable	protocol
confine	displace	likewise	route
encounter	exhibit	infrastructure	suspend
format	controversy	inherent	scenario
unify	distort	odd	schedule
ambiguous	converse	offset	qualitative
forthcoming	exploit	ongoing	team
conform	convince	manipulate	radical
analogy	drama	manual	random

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To acquire the needed skills for getting the desired band scores, it is essential to practice regularly with these IELTS academic high-frequency vocabulary and words and grasp the contextual usage while using the precise language to express your ideas coherently. Giving attention to these aspects can greatly boost your prospects of succeeding in the IELTS exam.