Martin
Oetegenn teaches on IH London’s IELTS Preparation course, below he offers expert advice to help IELTS candidates get the score they need.
Students often tell me that they have no time to plan for
the IELTS writing task 2, but planning can seriously improve your score.
The ideas in your writing and how you organise them can have a significant
impact on your final score.If you’re not sure how to do it, here are some tips.
Sample IELTS Writing question
Read the question below and
write down any ideas you have. Try not to spend more than 5 minutes.
Some
people believe that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of
high school programmes (for example working for a charity, improving the
neighbourhood or teaching sports to younger children).
To
what extent do you agree or disagree
Planning your answer
Now look at the two plans below. Which one do you think is better?
You choose b) right? Here’s why b) is better…
Although plan a) has some good ideas, they are not
organised into paragraphs and there are no examples. This means the writer will
have to stop and think a lot when they write.
They won’t have much time to focus on their vocabulary and grammar or to check their writing for mistakes – this is so important if you want a good score.
Plan b) is divided into 3 main ideas. Each idea can be used as the main
focus of a paragraph, which is a good way to organise your ideas.
Because there
are at least 3 examples for each paragraph it should be easy to write 250
words.
So next time you write, make
sure you spend at least 5 minutes on your plan – It really makes a difference!
More IELTS preparation guides
We have more tips and advice to help you get the IELTS score you need:IELTS at International House London
IH London
is the largest IELTS test
centre in the UK, with tests taking place three
Saturdays each month throughout the year.
Our
language school also offers IELTS preparation
courses to help
candidates reach the IELTS band they need.
