Are you worried about time management?

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ielts time managementTiming and preparation in IELTS Writing

One of the biggest concerns for people doing the IELTS exam, particularly in the writing section, is time management.

I have had many students who get to the IELTS writing section and start stressing out because their time management becomes an issue and they can’t finish the essay or leave only 10 minutes for task 1. You will only have around 40 minutes to write a 250+word essay, so straight away this tends to create anxiety. Then there is writing task 1 which should only take 20 minutes.  That’s 1 hour in total for the writing section. It is easy to feel pressure in this situation.

If you don’t finish your essay and fail to write a conclusion then you will end up with a Band 5 in task response.

There are two things to consider here

:

1. Lack of preparation

Time management issues come from not being prepared. If you feel that you are not quite ready for the exam or if you are in a hurry to get to Band 7 or more, it will only cause anxiety and you will end up under huge pressure to finish in a set amount of time. Fear creeps in and you stress about timing and worry about failing. This is not a good mindset to have in IELTS.

It takes weeks or months of consistent preparation, practice and good feedback to get from a Band 6 to a Band 7.

2. Planning issues

You should allocate 10 minutes to planning your essay. Some students think they are wasting time planning or they only spend 2 minutes planning. So they start writing and suddenly get new ideas and think, ‘maybe I should put that in’ hoping to impress the examiner with sophisticated ideas.  I have had a few students who did this, they couldn’t finish their essay and ended up with a Band 6 even though they were capable of a Band 7.

My Advice

Do not go into the exam until you have found your weaknesses and got feedback from an IELTS expert on your writing.

It could be just two or three areas which are causing problems such as grammar (articles, plurals, faulty complex sentences) or wording issues (wrong collocations, memorised words from lists) Maybe it is task response (going off-topic, not covering both sides in a discussion essay, not supporting your ideas etc..)

I advise anyone doing IELTS to spend at least a few months preparing so that when you go into the exam you will feel relaxed. When you feel confident in your writing then you can practice timing your essay in 40 minutes and 20 minutes for a task one.

Begin by giving yourself over an hour to write an essay. WHen you get the hang of it bring that down to 1 hour, then 50 minutes, then 45 minutes, and finally, start timing yourself to get the essay written in 40 minutes. Start slowly and work at it over time.

Planning time

Planning is very important in the writing exam. Set aside 10 minutes to plan your essay. It sounds like a long time but you need this time to analyse the question, think of ideas and supporting points and get an idea for the structure.

 Once you have decided on your plan and got your main points with supporting points, stick to them, don’t suddenly change your ideas when writing, you will only confuse yourself.

See this lesson here about the 5 things you need to do before you begin writing an essay.

Are you stuck at Band 5.5?

If you have issues with grammar and vocabulary and you are stuck at Band 5.5 then you will have a lot of work to do that could take months or even a year. It really depends on your study schedule.

Ask yourself this: are you finding the time to study or are you finding excuses not to study?. Remember that to jump from a Band 5 to a Band 7 is a huge task.

The IELTS test is quite simply testing your English. If you are a Band 5 your English level is around Pre-intermediate (B1 on the CEFR scale) so you will need lots of good feedback on your writing and speaking.

To have a good chance at a Band 7 your English level should be at the higher end of B2 and close to C1 on the CEFR scale below.

Source: ielts.org

Are you doing the IELTS exam over and over?

Many people studying for IELTS think that by doing practice test after practice test and doing the exam over and over it will give them different results. It doesn’t. Why? because you need to get feedback on what your weaknesses are. For example, if writing is an issue ask yourself lots of questions.

  • What part of the writing is the problem? is it paraphrasing? grammar? vocabulary? can’t think of ideas? relevant supporting points? Or maybe it’s your task 1 writing that is weak and dragging your score down.
  • What exactly is the issue? if it is grammar then what needs to be fixed? prepositions, tenses? infinitive /gerunds? relative clauses? …and so on
  • Have you made a study schedule? are you finding at least 1 hour per day to work on your weak areas?
  • What feedback are you getting? Can you take criticism on your mistakes? Are you taking action to fix your mistakes?
  • Are you just relying on IELTS practice tests? What about real-world English like reading news stories, podcasts, reading books? It’s not just about doing practice tests over and over.
  • How are you developing your vocabulary? Are you just memorising lists? <-(bad idea) Vocabulary work takes a long time and needs focus.

Spend 15 minutes asking yourself questions about your preparation and you will find many areas that need improvement. It’s a big job to jump a whole band score. Your goal is to raise the level of your overall English abilities.

Find your weaknesses and start fixing them. It will be worth it in the end.

Any questions ? leave a comment below…

Are you stuck at Band 6 in speaking?

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ielts focus‘Why can’t I get Band 7 in speaking?’

Updated: September 2023

There are a lot of IELTS students out there stuck on a Band 5 or Band 6 in the speaking section and are frustrated. Many of you are near to giving up on hitting a Band 7.

Some people get the wrong advice, poor feedback, or are promised a high score by their teacher just to keep them happy. It is important to be realistic about this.

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IELTS line graph with a future a trend

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IELTS line graph future trendModel answer for an IELTS line graph with a future prediction.

Updated: October 2023

In this lesson I will look at a line graph from an old Cambridge IELTS book about US energy consumption by fuel type. As you can see, there is a date range from the past with predictions for the future. Always take around 2 minutes to analyse the task before writing anything. Give yourself 4 minutes in total to plan out what you will write.

This graph is from the old Cambridge IELTS 9 practice book. Only use authentic Cambridge IELTS material when practicing as there is a lot of fake IELTS material on the internet. You can get these books online such as Amazon.com. You can also download free practice tests from ielts.org or the British Council website.

Model Answer

The graph illustrates data from a 2008 report regarding energy consumption in the USA since 1980 with forecasts until 2030.

Overall, fossil fuels have shown increases in consumption since the start of the period with expectations for even more reliance on these fuel sources, whereas cleaner energy account for considerably less consumption with predictions for a similar trend.

Fossil fuels have seen steady increases in energy consumption since 1980. Petrol and oil started the period at 35 quadrillion units, fluctuated until 2000, and then climbed steadily with a prediction of over 45 quadrillion units by 2030. Coal followed a similar trend with expectations of around 30 quadrillion units by 2030. Natural gas usage demonstrated fluctuations and it is set to level off at approximately 24 quadrillion units from 2020 onwards.

Regarding cleaner energy fuel sources, they all began the period at under 5 quadrillion units and showed declines in their use, except nuclear, which climbed slightly to 6 quadrillion units in 2005 and is anticipated to reach about 10 quadrillion units. Solar and wind also expect to see slight increases. Hydropower is projected to remain relatively unchanged until 2030.

188 words

Notes:

Remember that you should not report on every single bit of data. You need to be selective and cover the main trends. A word count of around 170 to 190 words would be enough for a well-developed answer. You do not get a higher band score for a very long answer. Keep it concise and clear.

Static and Dynamic data

  • Static data means that the chart or graph displays one period of time.
  • Dynamic data shows two or more periods of time and how trends change over a period of time.

For static charts, you need to use comparatives and superlatives, while for dynamic charts you mainly need trends language. Before you begin writing, always make sure that you first analyse the chart or graph to see if it is one time period or if the data is changing over time.

Take 2 minutes to analyse the graph or chart because If you use trends language for a static chart then you will lose marks for grammar.

Analysing the task

Rubric: On the vertical axis it shows energy consumption in units of a quadrillion. On the horizontal axis, it shows the date range from 1980 to 2030 (history and projections)

Paragraphing: I need a short paraphrased introduction, an overview, and 2 main body paragraphs. No conclusion is needed. Word count would be over 170 words for a fully developed answer (150 words minimum)

Trends: The graph shows dynamic data. This means that there are changes over time. Fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) show the highest consumption with predicted increases, while cleaner energy (wind, hydro, solar, nuclear) has the lowest consumption and will remain relatively low.

Grouping the data: Straight away I can see that the best way to group the data would be in these two categories (fossil fuels and cleaner fuels) by grouping the data you will gain marks for coherence and cohesion.

Grammar: I will need to use the past tense/present perfect and language for future predictions.

Grammar for future trends:

To see a full lesson on grammar needed for future trends in IELTS academic writing task 1 click here

Click here for more details on grammar and vocabulary when describing trends in task 1.

Future simple (Will + base verb)

  • will rise,  will decline,  will remain the same, will drop , will level off …etc

Future perfect (Will + have + past participle)

  • will have risen,  will have dropped,  will have fallen by 20%, will have risen sharply, will have declined

The passive to express the future

  • is /are expected to
  • is/are set to
  • is / are predicted to
  • is / are anticipated to
  • is /are likely to

Any questions?  Leave a comment below.

Two easily confused essays (problem / causes solution essay)

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What is the difference between a Causes Solution and a Problem Solution essay?

Problem solutions and causes solutions essay are very similar but there is a subtle difference. One type asks about the problems and the other type asks about the causes.

It is very important to spend a couple of minutes analysing the task question so that you know what to write about in the essay. I have seen many good essays lose marks in Task Response because the writer did not find the issues in the task question or did not fully understand what to write about.

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Common questions about IELTS speaking

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ielts speaking18 commonly asked questions about the IELTS speaking test.

Updated: September 2023.

There is a lot of misinformation, wrong advice, and myths out there surrounding IELTS writing and speaking, so hopefully, this blog post should help clear up any confusion before you go into the IELTS exam. This post goes over common misconceptions and common questions about the speaking part of IELTS. Click on the blue buttons to see the answers to the questions.

If there are any questions not listed or if you have any suggestions, leave a comment in the comments section at the bottom of this post. I will try to answer them for you.

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Writing Task 1: Fast Food Restaurants Bar Chart

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ielts writing task 1 model bar chartModel Answer: Bar chart about fast food restaurants

Bar charts are quite common in IELTS writing task 1 academic. Many people panic when they see them but they get easier the more you practice. The most important thing here is that the report should be concise, so you must be selective. This means that you should never write about every single detail in the chart. Aim for around 170 to 190 words.

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Why can’t I get a Band 7?

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IELTS adviceI have heard this question so many times.

Why can’t I get a Band 7?

I get so many people who email me asking me why they can’t hit Band 7 or Band 8 or whatever score they need and are stuck at Band 5 or 6. They all seem puzzled as to why they cannot raise their score. Usually, it is to do with their writing as this tends to be the hardest part of the test.

Here are 9 reasons why you may not be getting the score you need.

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Model answer for a letter to a friend: Selling a laptop

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IELTS general writing task 1, an informal letter.

There are 2 main types of register that you will need for IELTS general writing task 1. Formal or informal. If it is a letter to a friend then it will always be informal. If it’s to your boss, ex boss, a company, or some kind of business situation then it’s formal. Pretty simple really.

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Writing task 1: Lesson and model answer for a floor plan

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How to write about a floor plan in IELTS academic writing task 1.

Updated: January 2024

Here is an interesting IELTS academic task 1 question below. Be prepared as something similar could appear in writing task 1 academic. It’s not a map or a process diagram, it’s a floor plan. You will also notice it has two time periods. The present and plans for the future.

It is essential to analyse the task and its main features and then plan your writing before starting your report. Total planning for task 1 should be around 4 minutes. Remember that you need to paraphrase the introduction and give an overview of the key features for a good band score.

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Writing task 1 vocabulary: ‘number, total, amount, figure, accounted for’

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Important IELTS academic writing task 1 vocabulary.

Updated:  Aug 2022

To get a high score in IELTS writing task 1 academic you need to have a good range of grammar and vocabulary. In this lesson, we will look at specific vocabulary that can be used in various ways. The words are: number, total, comprised, the proportion of, amounted to, accounted for, period and figure.

Try the exercises at the end of the lesson to test your knowledge then click the green buttons to see the answers. The key to learning is practice, so think about how you can apply this vocabulary to your academic task 1 reports, especially for graphs and trends.

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