We like to think of writing as the section with no hiding spots. In this section, you not only have to put down your thoughts in a coherent fashion but also make sure you are grammatically correct while being error free.
You will be tested on your thought flow, grammar, sentence construction and essay structure. You get 60 minutes to put down approximately 400 to 500 words. We share some tips with you to help you understand this section and to help you relax with the idea of writing.
- Get the structure in place: Each essay type that you have to write has a basic structure in place. Identify the structure and make note of the good ones. It’s like picking free size clothing, you have to fit elements that make the essay look apt while following the same structure.
- Before you put your foot to the metal: Read the questions and make notes, take a moment to gather your thoughts. The explicit instructions will help you understand if you need to share an opinion or argument or simply summarise visual information. While writing you may realize that have missed out on a key point and that in the current flow it is impossible to fit. Hence, it is advisable to take a moment to make notes while writing.
- Ask a pro: If you feel like you have no idea if your essay falls in the good or great category it’s always best to ask a professional. Essay writing is a fairly subjective skill to score, the examiner will have a bunch of parameters he will decide if your essay fulfils or not. There isn’t really a correct answer which makes it harder for you to evaluate yourself independently.
- Task 1 vs task 2: Divide your 60 minutes wisely between the tasks, the general rule is 20 mins for task 1 and 40 mins for task 2. The second will be more demanding in terms of your writing ability, it will ask you to summarise a chart or convert visual information to text. The second task carries twice as many marks as the first section so its important that you finish the first task in the time limit you set.
- For getting better at writing read: Read each essay or book or article with the intention of re-writing them. This will open a doorway for you to the mind of the writer, if you can catch the flow you can also recreate it. Follow academic writers to see the different styles and learn how to argue or summarize effectively.
- Divide, not too small not too big: The second task in the writing section is one which carries twice as many marks as the first one. You will be required to split your ideas into not too many paragraphs. The thumb rule is 2 to 3 paragraphs– an introduction, the main idea and the conclusion. A single paragraph or too many little paragraphs will lead to deductions for sure.
- Create a flow: The writing section expects you to have a certain amount of cohesiveness. Making sure that you use transition sentences. Even though each paragraph represents a certain set of thoughts, they still need to be connected to each other.
- Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes: Writing section is one where spellings, punctuations and grammar need to be on point. Each small error leads to a small deduction, eventually leading to a drop in your band.
- The vocabulary bank: Build it, fill it, use it. Vocabulary will help you write better because now you can not only paraphrase sentences but also sound smarter. This advice applies to all sections as it is one of the key things that determine what level of English a candidate is comfortable with, which in turn determines the band they will fall under.
- Write, of course: When you are practicing writing, don’t just look at how good or bad your content is. Check if you are able to adhere to the word count, writing less will lead to deductions and given the time constraint you probably won’t get the opportunity to count. So, practice writing on a blank paper to make sure you know what 400 words look like in your handwriting.
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