Step 1 – Read the question properly. Then read again it to make sure.

Did you notice error the above? (‘Then read again it to make sure.’)

How about the next error? (‘Did you notice error the above?’)

Easy to misread information isn’t it?

Now imagine doing this in the exam, when you’re stressed and your heart is racing.

What if you had to ‘Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling children‘. But you only discussed the advantages (and forgot to talk about the disadvantages)?
Or what if you only wrote about one advantage and one disadvantage (the question asks you to talk about ‘advantages‘ and ‘disadvantages‘ – in other words, more than ONE for each).

We all make errors from time-to-time, because we’re all human. But the last place you want to make a silly mistake is in the IELTS, when your future depends on it.

That’s why you MUST read the question at least twice.

Step 2 – Analyse the question – understand the requirements, decide what you need to do & highlight key words.

Question analysis is an essential part of answering the essay to a high standard. It involves stripping the question back to its bare bones – uncovering the task requirements, the question details and the key words.

• Do you need to give your opinion?
• Do you need to discuss advantages/disadvantages?
• Do you need to write about the problems?
• Do you need to write about solutions?
• Do you need to say whether you agree with a statement?
• What are the key words? How can you tell these are important?
• What are the synonyms you should use?

These are just some of the questions you need to be able to answer, so a good quality analysis is imperative.

I recommend starting by highlighting the key words, then identify the task(s) and finally analyse the requirements.

This is the only way you will write an impressive essay.

Step 3 – Choose the correct question framework (depending on the question type).

There are 5 types of essay question and you may get asked any one of these in your exam. 

Each of the 5 question types has its own recommended framework, which will guarantee band 7 if used properly. You should always write an introduction and conclusion in a task 2 essay.

You can find the basic structure of a framework here: https://ielts-excellence.com/free-writing-essay-structure.

However, you must learn how to adapt this to the question to maximise your band score!

Step 4 – Write a short plan (based around your framework).

Ever used a map? Or your phone to find out how to get somewhere?

I would suspect you have – most people use their phone nowadays for directions to places, planning movements and a whole host of other things.

Writing a band 7+ essay NEEDS to have a good plan.

A plan should only take 3-5 minutes, once you learn the strategy and you’ve practiced using it on real questions several times. This leaves at least 35 minutes to write your essay, which is PLENTY of time! The plan actually saves you time if used properly!

It should be made on the question sheet and follow the framework you have chosen from step 3, including some key words and synonyms for each paragraph. 

Step 5 – Choose certain words/phrases/synonyms in each paragraph.

You can predetermine certain words or phrases which can be used in ANY essay. ‘This essay will‘ and ‘In conclusion‘ are just two examples of this, so learning them BEFORE your exam will help.

You can also list synonyms, depending on the topic of the question.

For example, if you get a ‘health’ topic and it asks you to ‘discuss some advantages of researching new medicines‘, you can be sure that you will need to use some synonyms for ‘medicines‘ (e.g. drugs, remedies) and ‘researching‘ (e.g. experimenting, testing). Then, you can include these synonyms in the right part of the plan – so you don’t forget to use them.

Remember from our previous emails – using a broad range of vocabulary and showing the examiner you’re a dynamic writer is a HUGE TICK in the right box.
 

Step 6 – Monitor your word count as you write (e.g. Four-Two-Fifty technique).

Have you ever tried counting to a high number but got distracted and forgot what number you got to?

The last thing you want to do in the exam is write your essay and then count every individual word to make sure you’ve written enough.

In the essay you have to write at least 250 words, otherwise you will automatically get a low band score. That means you NEED TO KNOW you have written this many before you finish your answer…

…AND YES THE EXAMINER WILL COUNT EVERY INDIVIDUAL WORD WHEN THEY MARK YOUR ANSWER TO MAKE SURE YOU’VE WRITTEN ENOUGH!

Of course, you CAN count every individual word after you have finished the writing, but there’s 3 main problems with doing this…

1. It takes a long time – it eats into your essay writing time.
2. You might miscount – you may count 253 when you have actually only written 248. Big problem!
3. You wont know if you’ve written enough words until AFTER you have written them and counted them. What happens if you run out of time to add more words? You’ll fail the IELTS.

So what’s a better option?

We recommend counting as you write (I don’t mean counting every word as you write them).

What I mean is that after you have written each paragraph, there’s a way to figure out how many words are in that paragraph (without counting them individually). After each paragraph you write, you will be able to easily and quickly tally up your word count and make sure you’ve written enough, using a special technique we have developed called the ‘Four-Two-Fifty’ technique. You can find it in our ACADEMIC Writing Task 2 Study Guide and GENERAL Writing Task 2 Study Guide – they will be AVAILABLE SOON!

Step 7 – Be prepared in case you run out of ideas (‘damage limitation’).

Hopefully, if you’ve prepared adequately using great quality IELTS materials, you won’t have to worry about this step. BUT you need to understand it because we all sometimes hit a ‘mental block’.

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare isn’t it…looking at the question paper and having NO IDEA how to answer the question.

The LAST thing you want to do is write nothing…unless your aim is to get Band 0.

So knowing how to generate ideas and write the basics is very important.

One of the main ways you can be prepared is to understand the band descriptors, because these are how you are marked. There are clues in these band descriptors as to what you need to include as a minimum – such as complex sentences and identifying the main points. 

We call this ‘Damage Limitation’ and we’ve developed a comprehensive damage limitation strategy in our Writing Task 2 eBooks.

These steps should be taken by EVERY student who wants to achieve band 7 or above. Every person who is successful in the IELTS completes each of these 7 steps to a high standard.