How to ….. write an introduction for IELTS Task 2.
As part of our new “How to….” series, we ask IELTS examiners questions that have come to us through Facebook and Instagram. So, the first one is about how to write an IELTS Task 2 introduction. “The first thing to keep in mind is the introduction isn’t anywhere in the marking criteria. This doesn’t mean you don’t need to write one, but it does mean that it has very little impact on your result. In Band 8.0 for Coherence and Cohesion,...
Why do so many people get Band 6.5 in writing?
This is a very common problem for a lot of people and one of the IELTS examiners that works with us has this answer for you. Well, if you get 6.5 in Task 2 writing then it means you aren’t hitting Band 7 in all 4 criteria. What a lot of people don’t know is that if you get 7776, which is probably the most common score….. ……..you are awarded 6.5. IELTS writing rounds down. As you can see from the above...
What is fluency in IELTS speaking and why is it important?
One of the IELTS speaking examiners has shared this with us. Their article is about to be shared in a newspaper in Japan. Here is part of it. In the speaking exam, Fluency and Coherence is one of the criteria and a lot of candidates struggle with the fluency part. Students that get Band 6 can speak at length so, for example, in Part 2, they speak for the whole 2 minutes. However, what they will tend to do is one...
Why am I stuck at band 6 for IELTS writing?
This is a problem for an awful lot of people. The first thing you need to do is work out why you aren’t getting higher marks in your writing. In the 4 criteria, it may be just one of them that is stopping you from getting higher marks. It may be that you aren’t developing your ideas enough with examples (Task Achievement), it may be that you are making referencing mistakes or mistakes with linking words (Coherence & Cohesion) or it...
Can I invent supporting examples in IELTS Task 2?
We received this question from one of the members in our private IELTS group on Facebook and one of the examiners had this to say as an answer. “If I lie when supporting my ideas in IELTS writing, will the examiner find out? Do I lose marks?” No. Something that you need to know is that IELTS examiners are paid per task that they mark, not per hour. IELTS examining is a job most people do to earn a little extra money....
What is stopping me getting Band 7+ in IELTS writing or speaking? Part 1
We asked one the IELTS examiners that work with us what they saw as the biggest factor that stopped many candidates getting higher scores in IELTS speaking and writing. She said, overwhelmingly, that accuracy was the biggest problem for a lot of people. Here are her comments. Articles, articles articles (a, an, the). They are really difficult for a lot of English learners, especially those that don't have them in their language but they are really important in IELTS writing. If a...
The 3 main reasons that people struggle with IELTS writing and speaking
Many people come to us at upmyielts.com asking why they can't get a higher score in IELTS writing/speaking. These are both production skills and there are many reasons as everyone's case is slightly different. We asked one of the IELTS examiners that works for us what they thought and this is what they had to say. People think that they better than they are at English. I see a lot of students who have studied English for years and years...
I got 6.5 in IELTS writing and speaking. What should I do?
This is a common question that we often get asked. They get very high scores in listening and reading but lower scores in writing and speaking. This is because you can't self-study for these. So, let's look at what you should and shouldn't do. Well, now you know what you need to work on. Firstly though, you need to know why you got those marks. To find this out, do a full writing test with us; both parts 1 and 2. Our IELTS examiners...