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.