IELTS discussion essay model answer about university studies. This model answer is based on the topic of university education and whether students should learn about other subjects. It’s a discussion essay so I need to cover both sides and give my clear opinion. The task was taken from the Cambridge IELTS 18 book.  As I have stated before in earlier posts, use authentic IELTS material when you are practicing. You can get these from the Cambridge IELTS books, the most recent being IELTS 18. In terms of the structure, you should write about what both sides think of the topic and give your o ..read more

Model answer: line graph about shop openings and closures. This task was taken from the IELTS 17 academic book from Cambridge and shows a typical line graph with dynamic data over an 8-year period. It’s in the past so I will use the past tense. I mentioned the sharp drop in 2015 in the overview as this is something that really stands out. Usually, I don’t mention specific details (years) in the overview though. Spend a few minutes analysing the task before you write anything. Make sure your reporting on the statistics are accurate because if there are errors this will lower your score. A good ..read more

IELTS bar chart comparing coffee and tea drinking in 5 Australian cities. This bar chart is from an old IELTS practice book, Cambridge IELTS 15, but it is a good example of a bar chart that does not show trends or dynamic data. This is static data over one main period (over 4 weeks) so in this case I need to compare by using comparatives and superlatives. I advise practicing static data tasks as these are common in IELTS academic writing task 1 and you may get one in the exam. It is also important to cover all the cities but it needs to be concise at under 190 words if possible. A task 1 repor ..read more

Model answer for an IELTS bar chart on USA household income. Here is a tricky IELTS academic task that I wrote a model answer for from the Cambridge IELTS 18 book. As I mentioned in posts before, always use authentic material such as IELTS Cambridge books or British Council material when practicing because there is a lot of fake IELTS stuff on the internet. This task was quite difficult to write about as I had to spend longer than usual analysing the bar chart and I needed to plan the report to make it as concise as possible. Notice that it is dynamic data that changes every 4 years. As well a ..read more

Present-future maps for IELTS academic writing task 1. Maps and floor plan diagrams are common in IELTS academic writing task 1 so you need to practice them. In this post, I will look at a present-future map of  Norbiton town from the Cambridge book IELTS 17. Always use authentic practice material from either Cambridge, IDP, or the British council when practicing. In terms of the language needed for this type of task, check out this post here on how to report on how things will change in the future for maps or floor plans. The Task Source: Cambridge IELTS 17 Model Answer The maps illustr ..read more

Model answer for an IELTS advantage disadvantage (outweigh) essay. One of the most difficult essay types for many band 6 students is the ‘outweigh’ essay, which is an advantage disadvantage essay that is asking your opinion about which side you think is stronger. The keyword in the task is ‘outweigh’. So you must cover the advantage and the disadvantage in this essay and clearly state your opinion. Do not only write about the advantages. you will need to cover both sides for a higher score in task response. If you believe the advantage is stronger you must give your opinion on that in the thes ..read more

How to use IELTS vocabulary accurately when describing data. In IELTS writing task 1, vocabulary accounts for 25% of your marks. Being able to use a wide variety of vocabulary accurately will help your score. I did a post on this before about using specific vocabulary in the academic task 1 writing section click here to see that post. In this post, I want to review this vocabulary and there is an exercise for practice based on a line graph. Notice that the line graph is dynamic, which means it changes over time. This vocabulary can also be used with static data, which doesn’t change over time ..read more

Get a better vocabulary score by using collocations and avoiding common phrases. I mark many essays and I find that the same words keep coming up in the writing, such as ‘a lot of’ / ‘humans’ / ‘nowadays’ / ‘like’ In fact, these are not wrong and using these in your sentences would not be considered grammatically incorrect, but the IELTS examiner is checking to see if you can use a wide range of vocabulary. If possible, try to avoid overusing these words to help with a better vocabulary score… See the post below. Which of these sentences below look more academic? 1. A lot of people nowadays a ..read more

IELTS opinion essay model answer. Here is a model answer based on an essay topic from the Cambridge IELTS 15 textbook on the role of newspapers and books in the future. It’s an opinion essay and in this type of essay, you need to clearly state your opinion throughout the response. The answer is quite long at over 300 words so I would advise aiming for under 300 words as you will only have 40 minutes to write the essay. Notice that I have given two reasons for my opinion in the thesis statement which I expand on in the main body paragraphs. I have repeated the word ‘free’ a few times and this ..read more

Double tasks in IELTS academic writing task 1. In IELTS academic writing task 1 you could get a double or multiple task, such as a table and a bar graph, a pie chart and a table, or a line graph and a table. In this post, I will look at a Pie chart and a table from the recent Cambridge IELTS 15 book. In fact, double tasks like this are quite straightforward. Just write about the pie chart in main body one and the table in main body two and make comparisons if possible. See the model answer below and analysis. Model Answer Source: Cambridge IELTS academic 15,  page 93 The pie chart illust ..read more