Uncategorized Archives - Page 8 of 13 - Preparation for the IELTS Exam

Why does this essay score Band 6?

October 9, 2023January 8, 2018 by Ray IELTS Focus

Analysis of a Band 6 essay and a model answer.

Some people doing IELTS have trouble getting above Band 6 in writing. In fact a large percentage of people taking IELTS around the world end up with a Band 5.5 in Writing.

There are a few reasons for this, most notably it is down to poor vocabulary and grammar. However, some students have a good level of English but do not take the time to analyse the question fully and find the issues in the question. Never write too generally about the topic. You must first identify the issues in the task question and base your essay around those. Be very specific and keep referring back to the task question.

IELTS TFNG reading tips.

October 9, 2023December 25, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

Tips for IELTS Reading.

To successfully answer IELTS True False not Given questions and Yes No Not Given questions, you can use exactly the same technique. The difference is that Yes No Not Given texts are based on the writers opinion, whereas TFNG texts are based on facts.

Take at look at the graphic below for some ideas to help you.

5 things to do before writing your essay

October 9, 2023December 22, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

5 steps you should take when planning your IELTS essay.

Update: May 20th 2021

Planning is extremely important before writing an essay in writing task 2. (also for writing task 1) Most teachers have different advice for this. Some say 2 minutes others say 5 minutes and yet others say 7 to 10 minutes of planning time.

I believe that you should take at least 10 minutes to plan. Why? because I have had students before with good English skills who did not take the time to plan, they ended up with a Band 6 even though they were capable of a Band 7.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Strategy

October 9, 2023December 12, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

A useful technique when presented with a difficult topic in IELTS speaking part 2.

In the IELTS speaking test part 2, you are given a cue card and have to give a 2-minute talk where you must ‘Describe’ something or some situation.

Often this can be stressful for people during the exam, many people just go blank and cannot think of ideas or many people may have no experience of the topic presented to them. This can be a cause for anxiety but in fact, you do not need to worry. There are 2 ways to deal with this.

IELTS bar chart with model nswer

October 9, 2023November 29, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

UK telephone calls bar chart with model answer and analysis.

Updated: October 2023

Bar charts are quite common in IELTS academic writing task 1, so you need to be prepared in case you get one in your test. There are some things to be aware of, such as the correct structure to use, paraphrasing the introduction, a clear overview, and reporting on the data accurately.

In this lesson, I will look at a dynamic chart that shows changes over time. This bar chart is from the Cambridge IELTS 9 practice book (use only official IELTS material when practicing). I have given my model answer followed by an analysis.

IELTS writing task 1: Line graph and model answer

June 3, 2025November 16, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

IELTS academic writing task 1: C02 emissions line graph

Updated: June 2025

Line graphs are very common in IELTS academic task 1 writing. In this lesson, we will look at a Model Answer for CO2 emissions for 4 European countries and an analysis.

This line graph comes from Cambridge IELTS 11 academic. Use only official IELTS material when doing practice tests as there is a lot of fake IELTS material out there on the web.

IELTS Writing Task 1 : Table Lesson

June 10, 2024November 13, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

How to write about a table in IELTS writing task 1.

Updated: June 2024

Tables sometimes show up in academic task 1 writing so you need to be prepared just in case you get one. You will need to use the language of comparisons and if the data changes over time use trends language. Spend a couple of minutes analysing the task first.

The most important point to remember with IELTS academic writing task 1 is that you have to be selective, especially if there is a lot of data in the chart, graph or table. This means that you do not need to write about every piece of data. Grouping the data is another key skill that is needed here.

Balancing your opinion in an IELTS essay.

October 9, 2023November 7, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

Showing the other side of the argument in an opinion essay.

Updated: March 2023

In an opinion essay you should give 2 reasons for your opinion in the thesis statement then back them up with with an explanation in the main body paragraphs. I usually advise my students to choose one side, either agree or disagree, and stick with that.

You do not actually get a higher band score for a balanced approach, so it is safer to choose one side and stick with that view throughout the essay. Remember that your opinion must be in the introduction, main body paragraphs and the conclusion.

However, something that will showcase your language ability is to show the other side of the argument or give a concession to help balance the essay. This gives the essay good coherence cohesion and a wider range of grammar. This should be done carefully though, because you still have to maintain your own opinion and not contradict yourself.

IELTS Writing Task 1: Pie Charts with a Table

October 9, 2023October 24, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

Pie Charts with a table Lesson: Model answer with an exercise.

In this lesson, we are going to look at pie charts again, this time with a small table including a model answer. You can see the last lesson about pie charts here.

The structure always remains the same with writing task 1 which is an introduction, overview and 2 body paragraphs grouping the data.

No conclusion is needed and no opinions are given. Note that this is dynamic data because it is dealing with two time periods, before and after.

Lets clear up the confusion about IELTS

October 9, 2023October 18, 2017 by Ray IELTS Focus

Here are some short quizzes to test your knowledge and clear up IELTS myths.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about IELTS and the best approaches to getting a good band score. Many of my students get different information and when they go online they are even more confused about what to do, so I hope this post can finally clear up the myths! There are 14 questions here.