Cheat sheetAdults and students
IELTS Writing and Speaking Toolkit
What the examiner is actually marking, how to structure both writing tasks, and phrases that lift Lexical Resource and Coherence without sounding memorised.
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01The test
| Part | Time | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | About 30 minutes | 4 recordings, 40 questions |
| Reading | 60 minutes | 3 passages, 40 questions |
| Writing | 60 minutes | Task 1 (at least 150 words) and Task 2 (at least 250 words; worth twice as much) |
| Speaking | 11–14 minutes | 3 parts, face to face with an examiner |
02Band scores
- Scale 0 to 9 in half bands
- Overall the average of the four parts, rounded to the nearest half band
- Writing criteria Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2); Coherence and Cohesion; Lexical Resource; Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Speaking criteria Fluency and Coherence; Lexical Resource; Grammatical Range and Accuracy; Pronunciation
03Writing Task 1 (Academic)
- Structure introduction (paraphrase the question) → overview (two main trends, no numbers) → two detail paragraphs with data
- Trends rose sharply, climbed steadily, peaked at, fell slightly, levelled off, remained stable
- Proportions accounted for, made up, roughly a quarter, just over half, the vast majority
- Comparisons twice as high as, considerably lower than, by contrast, whereas
04Writing Task 2
- Structure introduction with your position → body 1 (main reason + example) → body 2 → conclusion
- Question types opinion; discuss both views; advantages and disadvantages; problem and solution; two-part questions
- Answer every part underline each part of the question and tick it off as you write
- Examples specific and believable beat long and vague
05Linking words
- Adding furthermore, moreover, in addition
- Contrasting however, on the other hand, nevertheless
- Cause and result therefore, as a result, consequently
- Examples for instance, such as, a case in point is
- Concluding in conclusion, overall, on balance
06Speaking
- Part 1 4–5 minutes on familiar topics; give two or three sentences, not one word
- Part 2 one minute to prepare, then speak for up to two minutes from the cue card
- Part 3 4–5 minutes of discussion; give reasons, compare and speculate
- Fluency it is fine to pause to think; avoid memorised scripts
07Errors that cost bands
- Articles missing 'a', 'an' or 'the'
- Agreement 'people is', 'the number of students are'
- Informal writing contractions and slang in essays
- Under length Task 1 under 150 or Task 2 under 250 words loses marks
How to use this sheet
- Plan each essay for five minutes before writing; it improves coherence more than anything else.
- Record your Speaking answers and listen back for repeated words.
- Learn ten topic words for common themes: education, environment, technology, health, work.
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