To reach band 7 and above in IELTS you need to have good vocabulary and good grammar. That’s a given, and takes a lot of time and practice to improve. However, many, in fact, the majority of the students who I have helped to prepare for IELTS were making the same 3 mistakes when they started my classes, and these 3 mistakes would almost certainly lose them half or even 1 whole band in the IELTS Writing test. By fixing these 3 mistakes they could break the band 7 barrier in IELTS Writing. I hope by following the advice below, you can too.
The good news is, these are 3 mistakes that you can fix quite quickly. So let’s look at mistake number 1.
Mistake 1: Bad use of paragraphs
IELTS Writing Task 2 requires you to use paragraphs in a way that is appropriate for an essay. You need 4 paragraphs including an introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. It should look like this:
Introduction (50 - 80 words)
Body Paragraph 1 (80 - 120 words)
Body Paragraph 2 (80 - 120 words)
Conclusion (30 - 70 words)
If you don’t have one of these paragraphs, or one of the paragraphs is too short, you will lose marks for coherence and cohesion. I'll explain more about how to structure the body paragraphs below, but for more information on writing introductions go here.
Mistake 2: Bad topic sentences
Topic sentences are the first sentences of your body paragraphs. They are called topic sentences because this is where you define the topic of the paragraph. It’s really important that the main idea of the body paragraph is immediately clear in this first sentence. This is because IELTS marks you on having clear ideas that are logically developed. To help you score highly, you should start a body paragraph with a clear main idea and then develop this main idea with sub-ideas.
Your main idea in the topic sentence will be quite general. You can then develop and extend this main idea by going into more detail with sub-ideas that are more specific.
For example, let’s look at a body paragraph that answers the following question: Are outdoor or indoor activities more beneficial for children’s development?
First the main idea in the body paragraph is quite general:
Body paragraph main idea:
Outdoor activities are better for children’s development because they improve physical and mental health more than indoor activities.
Then sub-ideas look at specific areas of this main ideas:
Sub-idea 1:
Outdoor activities improve physical health more than indoor activities
Sub-idea 2:
Outdoor activities are better for children’s mental health
With this structure, it’s a question of explaining the sub-ideas:
Topic Sentence (Main idea):
Outdoor activities are better for children’s development because they improve physical and mental health more than indoor activities.
Sub-idea 1:
Outdoor activities improve physical health more than indoor activities
Outdoor activities involve more physical activity, running around, jumping etc.
This improves physical strength, flexibility, cardio-vascular health
Better health and fitness protects children from disease, illness and injury
Sub-idea 2:
Outdoor activities are better for children’s mental health
Connecting with nature is beneficial for mental health
Various studies show benefits to mental health of spending time in green spaces like parks and fields.
Physical activity has mental health benefits, making children more calm and relaxed
Better mental health can improve interpersonal relationships and performance at school
Put this all together and we have a body paragraph that begins with a good topic sentence and then develops the idea logically with sub-ideas:
Outdoor activities more effectively promote children’s development because they improve physical and mental health far more than indoor ones. Activities outside usually involve a great deal more physical activity, which develops children’s physical fitness and strength, and by improving their overall health, helps to protect them from diseases and illnesses in the future. Furthermore, getting exposure to sunlight, breathing fresh air and simply being able to spend time outside and connect with nature provides various psychological benefits. Numerous studies point to the positive relationship between spending time outside and feeling more balanced, calm and centred. Such states of mind will help children at school and at home, in their interpersonal relationships and in their academic careers.
Mistake 3: You don’t make it clear that you are answering the question
Did you notice how the body paragraph above mentions children’s development in several ways? That’s because the focus of the IELTS question is the effect on children’s development. A common mistake is to forget to connect your idea directly to the question.
Let’s look at the clauses from the paragraph above that connect the idea to the question:
"...which develops children's physical fitness and strength"
"...helps to protect them from diseases and illnesses"
"...will help children at home and at school, in their interpersonal relationships and in their studies"
Don’t forget to connect your ideas to the question in this way. If you only wrote about how outdoor activities were great, but never mentioned how they benefit children, you’d lose marks for Task Achievement on your real IELTS day.
Final Thoughts
There's no magic solution that will instantly improve your IELTS Writing from band 5 to 8. You have to be able to write really well in English to reach bands 7 or higher. But, if you've been making the mistakes above, it could be why you're never reaching those higher bands. By using nice, clear topic sentences and making sure you show the examiner that you are answering the IELTS question directly, you could quickly improve your IELTS score, even as much as a whole band.
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