IELTS test format: Academic Wrtiting Task 2

In the second writing task you have to write 250 words, the range should be between 240 words and 275.

A topic is presented to you and you have to write about it. There is no right or wrong answer to this but you do have to produce an essay that follows a cohesive and coherent argument.

Make sure before you start writing the essay that you have fully understood the question, that you have understood all parts of the question and not only a part of the question. So make sure that you analyse the question very carefully before you start writing.

The first thing you should do before you start the writing is to understand the question and then to brainstorm your ideas. Write down as many ideas as you can - they don't have to be logical and you can cross out the illogical ideas later.

What you need to focus on in this essay is:

a) Argument: the point you are going to make
b) Ideas: these are the ideas that will support your argument
c) Evidence: the evidence how you can support your ideas

Try not to make your essay longer than 275 as it means that there will probably be more mistakes in terms of grammar, vocabulary, structure etc and the flow of the essay may become disorganised. So keep within the word count.

Let's move onto the structure of the essay. The easiest thing to do with this kind of essay is to follow a 5 paragraph format:

Paragraph 1 - Introduction

Paragraph 2 - Yes - point 1
Paragraph 3 - Yes - point 2
Paragraph 4 - No - point 3

Paragraph 5 - Conclusion

I will give some ideas, phrases and structures to use in a future post. So look out in this space!!!