7 IELTS Writing Mistakes That Can Lower Your Band Score

Key Takeaways

• Answer every part of the question before adding extra details.
• Use natural, accurate vocabulary instead of forcing advanced words.
• Give each paragraph a clear purpose and supporting explanation.
• Practice both writing tasks under timed conditions.
• Review recurring mistakes and use feedback to improve.

Good IELTS essay writing has nothing to do with using big words or producing as many sentences as you possibly can. This simply implies that you understand what is required from you and what you need to do to come up with an answer.

Candidates prepare for IELTS for many days, but even then, they make some common IELTS writing mistakes. Some memorize essays, some insert complicated vocabulary into very simple sentences, and many don’t leave time to revise and correct their mistakes. This could still be a problem with them irrespective of how well they know their language.

Some of the criteria that must be considered when assessing the IELTS Writing Test include Task Achievement/Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Knowing such parameters will definitely assist you in improving your weak areas.

Seven IELTS writing mistakes to be careful about are described below.

1. Misunderstanding the Question

One of the most common IELTS writing mistakes includes the inability to answer the question while discussing the topic.

For example, the requirement of the question is that you have to state whether the benefits of telecommuting outweigh the negatives. It would not be appropriate to ignore the negatives in your answer.

How to avoid it:

• Be sure to read the question prior to answering.
• Understand everything that needs to be addressed in the question.
• Have a position in the matter before you start writing your essay.
• Keep each paragraph on the topic.
• Your conclusion must be in favor of your thesis.

Spend one minute on the planning stage. It is better to start with having a clear goal rather than to spend time on writing an essay and realize that you were wrong.

2. Using Complicated Vocabulary Unnecessarily

Many test takers think that a wider vocabulary will help them achieve a high IELTS writing band score. It may lead to test takers’ use of new vocabulary without really knowing their meanings or contexts.

Here are some examples:

Awkward: “Technology has an extremely harmful effect on each individual person.”

Better sentence: “Too much technology could have an effect on the health and interaction of people.”

This obviously is a sentence that conveys the very message but in an improved way. An analysis of the words used can be done through the choice of words, variety of words, and appropriateness of words.

How Not to Commit this Mistake: One must try to make sentences while learning new words. One must always try to restate the questions. One must never use difficult words.

3. Relying Too Heavily on Memorised Essays

Even though introductions and essay format can be handy in case of exam conditions, learning by heart whole essays poses a problem when the exam question is actually different from the one that was prepared for.

The introduction is bound to contain surplus information irrelevant to the particular question posed. The same applies to a memorized essay argument that has to be used regardless of whether it’s relevant to the real question.

How to avoid this:

Never attempt to memorize any essays; instead, try to learn how to write an essay on a particular topic.

Answer various questions.

• Construct your own examples and illustrations.
• Make sure your introduction fits the topic of the question.

4. Weak Paragraph Structure and Too Many Linking Words

A perfect essay should be made to look coherent, as if one argument is being put forward.

In some cases, candidates include various ideas in one paragraph, which are not related at all. In other cases, candidates tend to overuse terms like “moreover,” “furthermore,” and “consequently” such that their essays seem mechanical.

How to avoid it:

Every body paragraph should have its own main idea. You have to express, explain, and justify your idea using an example whenever necessary.

For example, while writing an essay on public transportation, you can discuss the efficiency of cost in one body paragraph, while the reduction of traffic in another body paragraph.

Linking expressions may be used wherever appropriate to ensure a smooth flow of ideas, but clear reasoning is always more important than transition expressions.

5. Missing Key Information in Writing Task 1

often occur when candidates describe every number in a chart without identifying the most important features.

IELTS writing task 1 mistakes happen due to the fact that candidates describe all numbers in the table without pointing out those that are the most essential.

Task 1 of the Academic IELTS exam requires a test taker to describe data that is presented in various forms of diagrams, charts, tables, and graphs. Simply giving the figures cannot help one understand and compare trends.

The process:

• Find some trends or differences that appear to be quite evident for you.
• Describe their main features.
• Find numbers that will support your idea.
• Compare the groups that have similarities and don’t write about them separately.
• Don’t give your subjective opinion about the given information.
• The IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 should be completed in 20 minutes and must have at least 150 words.
• For the IELTS General Training writing task 1, which is letter writing, you need to include all details.

6. Giving Opinions Without Explaining Them in Task 2

Many errors made in the IELTS writing task 2 mistakes arise when students express an opinion but do not elaborate on it.

For instance, saying “governments should spend on public parks since public parks are good” would be wrong; instead, one needs to say why parks are good, how parks promote physical activity, and how they give cheap recreational areas for socialization.

How to prevent it:

• Provide a straight answer to the prompt.
• Form two or three appropriate arguments.
• Explain why each statement is pertinent to the discussion.
• Illustrate each statement using examples.
• Be consistent with your perspective in the essay.
• You don’t need to give all your thoughts.

Sometimes a few well-articulated arguments will be better than many that you do not elaborate on.

7. Making Grammar Errors and Running Out of Time

Using grammar wrongly will ensure that your ideas are not understood because of the use of incorrect tenses, wrong omission of articles, wrong subject-verb agreement, bad punctuation, and complex sentences.

The poor management of time will worsen these errors because of the candidate spending too much time in making the introduction perfect.

How to avoid it:

• Write correctly before experimenting with complex sentences.
• Correct your common grammar errors.
• Practice timed writing tasks.
• Set aside a few minutes for checking your paper.
• Do not rewrite whole paragraphs unnecessarily.

The IELTS Writing test has a total of 60 minutes. It is advisable to allocate about 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 minutes for Task 2. Since Task 2 is more important in writing, adequate time should be allocated to it.

How to Improve Your IELTS Writing Score

The very first step in this process is learning why you do things incorrectly. It does not matter how many essays you will have to write in the future because you won’t benefit from it without conducting a self-assessment and determining the reasons that make you fail.

With each of your practice essays, you should perform your own analysis based on IELTS criteria—did you succeed in answering the question posed to you, developing your ideas, structuring paragraphs, and using the appropriate vocabulary and grammar?

One more option is to keep notes of things that you should improve. Write down your frequent errors like weak topic sentences, incorrect articles, or inappropriate examples.

If you would prefer a more structured way of studying for your IELTS, Acamind Academy’s IELTS Preparation Course in Dubai will teach you about listening, reading, writing, speaking, and test tactics.

Building Stronger English Foundations

In addition, sometimes it can go further and become connected with the issues associated with the language itself. Though test-takers clearly know what is required from them, they still may have some troubles in conveying their ideas because of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures.

The development of general language skills will assist the test-takers in preparing for the IELTS exam. Reading, making short summaries, and practicing grammar will be helpful.

English Language Courses in Dubai at Acamind Academy provide grammar and vocabulary training within a CEFR-based study framework along with feedback and exercises on communication skills.

Conclusion

All IELTS writing mistakes can be corrected once you get to know about your problem areas. Not answering all parts of the questions, employing too many hard vocabularies, utilizing ready-made essays, and lack of proofreading are just some of the many mistakes that can hinder your success.

Answer the questions accordingly and structure your arguments within time pressure. Look through your essays and make one improvement after another.

In order for you to understand how to avoid mistakes in IELTS writing, all you have to do is understand that your success is based on finding out your weakness, not on writing a lot of essays.

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