21+ Tips On How to Improve Your IELTS Writing Band Score

Are you gearing up for the IELTS and aiming to ace the writing component? Look no further! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through 21+ essential tips to answer your question on ‘How to Improve Your IELTS Writing Band Score.’ Whether you’re tackling the Academic or General Training module, mastering these strategies will help you boost your performance and achieve your desired results.

A multitude of IELTS learners ask me how to boost their IELTS score to Band 7.0 or higher. It’s not an easy question to answer. Fortunately, there are many tips you can make use of. Below, I’ll show you some areas to focus on in order to boost your IELTS writing skills.

Understanding the IELTS Writing Task

Before diving into the tips, let’s briefly discuss the structure of the IELTS Writing Task.

• IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic

This IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic requires candidates to write a formal essay in response to a given prompt. It assesses the candidate’s ability to present an argument or viewpoint, analyze information, and use appropriate academic language and style.

• IELTS Writing Task 1 General

In contrast, the IELTS General Writing Task 1 General module focuses on more everyday situations, such as writing a letter or an essay expressing opinions. It evaluates the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively in English for practical purposes.

• IELTS Writing Task 2

It requires candidates to write an essay in response to a given prompt or question. The essay should be formal in style and well-structured, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Effective essay planning, organization, and the use of appropriate language and grammar are crucial for achieving a high score in IELTS Writing Task 2.

21+ Tips On How to Improve Your IELTS Writing

We all know framing complex sentences with the right vocabulary selection isn’t easy, and so this question goes around our mind – How to improve writing skills for IELTS? Well with the tips mentioned below writing surely becomes much easier. So check them out:

1. Become a Criteria Pro

Thoroughly understand the four criteria used to assess your writing: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. For example, under Lexical Resource, the examiner evaluates your vocabulary range and accuracy of word usage. Knowing this, you can aim to use more varied and precise vocabulary choices throughout your response.

2. Master Time Management

Proper time allocation is crucial. For Task 1 (20 minutes), spend 2-3 minutes carefully reading and analyzing the prompt, 10 minutes planning and writing your response, and the remaining 5-7 minutes proofreading and making revisions. For the lengthier Task 2 (40 minutes), follow a similar time distribution, ensuring you leave enough time for planning, writing, and reviewing your essay.

3. Read the Task Twice (or More) 

Carefully read the task prompt multiple times to ensure you fully comprehend what is being asked. For instance, if Task 1 requires you to describe a line graph depicting global temperature changes from 1990 to 2023, reread the instructions and analyze the graph thoroughly to understand the specific data trends you need to address in your response.

4. Outline Your Thoughts 

Before you start writing, take a moment to quickly outline your main ideas and supporting details. For a Task 2 opinion essay on the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy sources, jot down your thesis statement, key arguments for and against, and relevant examples or facts you plan to include. This outline will help you organize your thoughts and ensure a well-structured response.

5. Develop Your Paragraphs

Ensure that each paragraph in your writing has a clear focus and logical flow. Begin with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea, followed by relevant supporting details, examples, or evidence, and conclude with a summarizing sentence that reinforces the paragraph’s central point. Well-developed paragraphs enhance the coherence and cohesion of your writing.

6. Start with a Bang 

Craft an engaging introduction that captures the reader’s attention right from the start. For a Task 2 essay on the benefits and drawbacks of online education, you could begin with a thought-provoking statistic or a rhetorical question to pique the examiner’s interest and set the tone for your response.

7. Flaunt Your Vocabulary

Demonstrate your lexical range and precision by using a wide variety of relevant and contextually appropriate vocabulary. Instead of repeating the word “increase” multiple times when describing an upward trend, use synonyms like “surge,” “soar,” “escalate,” or “spike” to showcase your advanced vocabulary skills.

8. Keep It Simple, Silly!

While using advanced vocabulary is encouraged, ensure that your ideas are conveyed clearly and concisely. Avoid convoluted or overly complex language that may obscure your meaning. For example, instead of stating “Fossil fuels have a deleterious effect on the ecosystem,” it’s clearer and more direct to say, “Fossil fuels adversely impact the environment.”

9. Mix It Up

Vary your sentence structures to enhance the overall quality and readability of your writing. Combine simple sentences (“The graph shows an upward trend.”), compound sentences (“The graph shows an upward trend, but it plateaus after 2020.”), and complex sentences (“While the graph shows an upward trend initially, it plateaus after 2020 due to the implementation of environmental regulations.”) to create a more engaging and cohesive response.

10. Punctuate Like a Pro

Pay close attention to punctuation rules to enhance the clarity and flow of your writing. Use commas correctly to separate clauses (“The line graph, which depicts global temperatures from 1990 to 2023, shows a steady increase.”) and avoid run-on sentences that can confuse the reader.

11. Link Like a Boss

Use appropriate cohesive devices and transition words to create a smooth and logical progression of ideas throughout your response. Words and phrases like “moreover,” “in addition,” “however,” “for instance,” “consequently,” and “nevertheless” can help you effectively connect your thoughts and arguments.

12. Showcase Your Critical Thinking 

In Task 2 essays that require you to present arguments or opinions, be sure to analyze and evaluate ideas from multiple perspectives. Provide well-supported examples or evidence, acknowledge counterarguments, and present a thoughtful and well-reasoned conclusion. For instance, in an essay on media censorship, you could analyze the arguments for and against censorship, citing relevant examples or case studies, before offering your balanced perspective on the issue.

13. Stay on Topic 

Ensure that your writing remains focused and relevant to the task prompt at all times. Avoid deviating from the main theme or introducing irrelevant information that may distract the reader from the central topic. If asked to describe a pie chart on energy sources, for example, resist the urge to digress into a detailed discussion of the environmental impact of fossil fuels unless it is directly relevant to the task.

14. Aim for Balance 

When addressing complex or multifaceted topics, strive to maintain a balanced perspective by considering multiple viewpoints or aspects of the issue. For a Task 2 essay on the advantages and disadvantages of remote work, you could acknowledge the benefits (flexibility, reduced commute time) while also exploring the potential drawbacks (social isolation, distractions at home) to present a well-rounded analysis.

15. Mind Your Tone

In academic writing tasks, adopt an objective and impersonal tone, avoiding overly personal or emotional language. Instead of using phrases like “I think…” or “In my opinion…,” present your arguments and evidence in a more formal and authoritative manner.

16. Wrap It Up Nicely 

Conclude your writing with a clear and concise summary that reinforces your main points or arguments. In an essay response, you could restate your thesis and key supporting ideas, followed by a final perspective, recommendation, or call to action that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

17. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread

Carefully review your written responses before submitting them. Check for typos, subject-verb agreement errors (“The data shows…” not “show”), inconsistent tense usage, and any other mistakes that may detract from the overall quality of your writing.

So were you able to find the answer to the question – How to improve writing skills for IELTS? If not, then the next section is going to add further knowledge about writing to your mental repository.

Grammar Tips On How to Improve Your Writing Skills

In IELTS Writing, Grammar plays a significant role in conveying your ideas clearly, accurately, and effectively. The fact that it is one of the core elements in answering your question on – How to improve your IELTS writing, gives you a full view of what all you should learn to improve your writing skills.

1. Vary your Sentence Length

Once you know the different types of sentences, you should practice using them. The most difficult one is the compound-complex sentence, but even if you don’t know that, you can still get a good score with a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences. The key is varying the length and type of sentence so it sounds natural.

This is an IELTS Writing Task 1 example of an opinion essay. Look at how we are changing it:

• Firstly, children watch too much TV. It’s bad for their health. It can make them addicted. They will spend too much time indoors. This can make them fat.

The sentences are all short and could easily be mixed together into more interesting patterns:

• Firstly, children watch too much TV, which is bad for their health. This habit can cause them to become addicted, resulting in them spending too much time indoors and thus getting fat.

2. Remember Collocations

Students preparing for the IELTS exam always want to study lots of vocabulary. This is understandable as vocabulary is important for understanding and making yourself understood. However, knowing a word’s meaning is very different from being able to use it. Learn a word in context and you will be able to apply it more easily. When you are learning vocabulary, pay attention to what words commonly go together.

Below are a few IELTS Writing Task 1 & 2 examples on different collocations:

Example of ‘Verb + thought’

• • Spare a thought

• Spare a thought for all those who are homeless on a cold night like this.

• • Hear one’s thought

• Have you given the new proposal any thought yet? We are keen to hear your thoughts.

• • One’s thought goes out to somebody/something

• Our thoughts go out to all those families who lost relatives in the disaster.

• • The thought occurs to someone

• The thought just occurred to me that it’s mum’s birthday tomorrow and we haven’t got her a card.

• • Gather one’s thought

• The President was taken aback by the question and took a minute to gather his thoughts.

Example of ‘Noun + preposition + thought’

• • A great deal of thought

• Shirley doesn’t devote a great deal of thought to her appearance.

• • freedom of thought

• Some places don’t encourage freedom of thought.

• • school of thought

• One school of thought contends that modern man originated in Central Africa.

• • train of thought

• Sorry, where was I? I’ve lost my train of thought.

3. Avoid using ‘Really, So, A lot, Very’

In IELTS writing, you need to write an essay, using “academic” language. So your goal should be to be reasonably formal/academic. To do so, you should not use imprecise language like really, so, a lot, very, etc

Many IELTS candidates think that achieving Band 8.0 in IELTS is very hard.

• Use a stronger word: Many IELTS candidates think that achieving Band 8.0 in IELTS is difficult
• Very good: top-notch, splendid, terrific, excellent, magnificent, fabulous, outstanding, etc
• Very bad: horrible, terrible, outrageous, distressing, awful, etc
• Very delicious: appetizing, delectable, flavorful, scrumptious, enjoyable, palatable, etc

Examples:

• Robot-driven car is really controversial

Change: Robot-driven car is controversial.

• A lot of IELTS learners share their great tips on IELTS writing, and speaking on the IELTS Material website.

Change: Many/A great number of/ A multitude of IELTS learners……

4. Do not use Contractions in Academic Writing

It’s better to write out the words like:

• Don’t > do not
• Can’t > cannot
• Mustn’t > must not
• Couldn’t > could not
• Wouldn’t > would not
• Isn’t > is not
• Haven’t > have not
• Hasn’t > has not

5. Avoid “There is/ There are”

When you write, try to write your ideas in a clear & concise way. There is/there are is extra words that are not needed. So just leave them out to make your sentences stronger and straight to the point.

• Example: There are many issues that students have to face at university.
• Alternative: Students face a multitude of issues at university.

6. Know the Sentence Types

It’s really important that you know the difference between a simple sentence and a complex sentence. You don’t need to know the terminology, but it is important that you can form full sentences. Knowing the sentence types means being able to avoid these cardinal sins of writing:

• sentence fragment

• run-on sentences

• comma splices

A. Sentence Fragments

This is the most common grammar error IELTS students make. A sentence fragment cannot be a sentence by itself. It does not even have one independent clause.

Remember: a simple sentence is an independent clause, which requires 3 things:

• A subject
• A verb
• A complete thought

Sometimes it seems to be a sentence, but if we examine it closely it lacks the necessary parts and thus cannot stand alone.

Examples:

• The doctor worked round the clock. Operating on the boy.
• As India has entered the WTO. The local entrepreneurs are faced with both challenges and opportunities.

Corrections:

• The doctor worked around the clock, operating on the boy.
• As India has entered the WTO, local entrepreneurs are faced with both challenges and opportunities.

B. Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence consists of two or more main clauses that are joined together without proper punctuation (comma, semi-colon, period, etc). We often speak in run-on sentences but our pauses indicate meaning; however, when we write we need to use punctuation to break up our sentences and impart proper meaning.

C. Comma Splices

Comma splices occur when two independent clauses are joined by a comma. Remember: a comma is not strong enough to join these clauses itself! You need a conjunctive coordinator to complement it, or else use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb.

Most importantly, to do well in the IELTS writing you don’t need to be a punctuation expert. Just knowing commas and periods is usually sufficient for a good grade.

Examples:

• Van Gogh is a world-famous artist his paintings can be found in many museums and art galleries.
• Allen Ginsberg is a renowned American poet, his most famous poem is Howl.

Corrections:

• Van Gogh is a world-famous artist whose paintings can be found in many museums and art galleries.
• Allen Ginsberg is a renowned American poet, whose most famous poem is Howl.

As you can see above, there is more than one way to fix these errors. Make sure, however, that you use the correct fix according to the sentence’s precise meaning as it will help you know how to improve grammar in IELTS writing.

Consistency is the key to improving your writing skills. By taking part in our best IELTS online classes, you can now learn through varying tips to score the highest.

By following these 21+ tips, providing detailed and well-supported responses, and practicing regularly, you’ll be well-equipped to achieve your desired IELTS Writing band score in 2024 and beyond.

Also, Check :

• How to prepare for IELTS?
• IELTS Writing recent actual test
• IELTS Writing Answer sheet
• IELTS map vocabulary
• IELTS Writing Task 1 Connectors