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We received this question from a member of our private Facebook group.  Feel free to join – You can ask any questions you have about IELTS there.

To answer the question, you get a good IELTS writing score by practising. IELTS writing is marked to a very strict criteria and you need to tick the boxes to get to a certain level of writing.

Most people seem to need Band 7.0 and to get Band 7.0 in IELTS writing, the majority of your sentences need to be correct; not all, but the majority. This is where lots of people face problems. Every nationality has its own problems with English. If your language doesn’t use articles, you probably have a problem with articles. So, let’s take this as an example. Articles occur so frequently in English that if you have a problem with them, then the majority of your sentences won’t be correct. You also need to show a wide enough range of structure too to get into Band 7.0, so if you write all in the present tense, it will be difficult (but not impossible) to get into Band 7.0.

This also goes for your range of vocabulary.

On top of this, you need to make sure that you answer the question in a convincing way with convincing examples and support for your ideas. You also need to structure your writing in a logical way so that it flows.
There is an awful lot to do in IELTS writing and this is just Task 2. Task 1 depends on which exam you do. Ask me if you need help with this one.

So, what can you do?

1. First and foremost, don’t do this on your own. The reason so many people have to do IELTS multiple times is that they self-study and believe that the reason they are getting less than Band 7.0 in their writing is because of luck. IELTS is not about luck.
2. Get yourself a teacher to check your writing. You will need to pay for this as IELTS is very specialised. We only use IELTS writing examiners to mark your work and we are the ones that can help you with your writing and explain what you need to do to improve.  You can order a writing correction here.  We will send you a full IELTS writing exam to try.
3. Practice, but I’ve already said that.

You can ask us any questions you like about IELTS.  We always reply!