Tips for improving band scores and time management in IELTS Writing Task 2
IELTS writing task 2 is considered more valuable than task 1 and if you score more in task 2 the chances of getting higher band scores are lifted and this is for both general and academic test. So it is very important to accomplish this task in a proper way. Let’s discuss about the scoring system for IELTS writing with the help of an example if you get a 7.0 for Task 1 and a 7.5 for Task 2, your overall score is 7.5. However, if you get a 7.5 for Task I and a 7.0 for Task 2, your overall result is 7.0. So it is always recommended to give more time and practice to task 2. Some students leave the task incomplete as they run out of time and suffer with their scores so in this article we will discuss tips for improving band scores and time management in IELTS Writing Task 2.
DO NOT write the title of the Task
Some students’ plays a trick to enhance their word limit by writing the title. You should know that this will not be counted in your word count and will be simply ignored by the examiner if you want to write it paraphrase it. However, by doing this you are simply wasting your time which can be better utilized in planning, writing or editing your work.
Erasing your written content
In IELTS test you can carry pencil to write and no pen or other material is allowed. So if you think that writing with pencil is convenient to erase if any mistake is committed than you are wrong. Don’t only see this aspect have a glance on other too and that is while erasing your content how much valuable time you are wasting which can again be used to write more content. The recommendation is that if you have made a mistake or want to change your sentence, don’t waste time erasing it – simply put a line through it like this just put a line through it and carry on.
Handwriting
In IELTS it is not mandatory to have a very neat and clean handwriting but it should be readable and the examiner should understand it.
Paragraph breaks are clear
In IELTS writing task the paragraphing should be accurate, so make sure to leave an empty line between each paragraph to make it very clear for the examiner that where your paragraph begins. For more ideas you can check the IELTS writing samples based on different writing task 2 topics.
Write enough words
Another tip to improve your writing score is to meet the minimum word limit. In IELTS writing test if you write below the minimum words your task will be considered incomplete under task completion criteria and score can be reduced up to 2 bands.
Over Writing
For IELTS Writing Task 2 the minimum word limit is 250 words and it should not be less than this as discussed above. However, if you write too much beyond these limits can also penalize you. Writing excess words in the IELTS writing test can reduce your overall score for two reasons. The first point is that the examiner can short your sores for not understanding the task and going out of track. The second, which is more common reason for losing scores, is that more you write more the risk of showing errors to the examiner raise. The ideal number of words in the IELTS writing test is 165 words for Task I and 275 words in Task 2. You should also know the criteria of how the examiner counts the words in IELTS writing tasks.
Get used to handwriting for an hour
In today’s era of computers we all are habitual of typing and writing with pen or pencil has become difficult for us. In IELTS you have to write in your own handwriting continuously for one hour which can be uncomfortable for you. So, practice to write on a piece of paper for one hour and try to cover over 400 words in this hour on different IELTS essay topics. This will help you to write comfortably and without aches in the real exam.
I hope this content will help you in improving your time management skills and band scores for more tips for IELTS writing click here.
