IELTS Writing Studio

Learn what examiners reward, then train it with short games. Try the demo: click a highlighted phrase to raise the level of the sentence.

The test at a glance

At least 150 words. Academic: describe a chart, table, process or map. General Training: write a letter. Report facts only and give no opinions.

At least 250 words. An essay responding to a point of view or problem. It counts for twice as many marks as Task 1, so start planning here.

Each criterion is worth a quarter of your score:

Task Achievement or Response: answer every part of the question and support your ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion: clear paragraphs, logical order, accurate linking.
Lexical Resource: precise, varied vocabulary and natural collocations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: a mix of simple and complex sentences with few errors.

Style	Use for	Sounds like
Formal	Task 2 essays, letters to strangers or officials	Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to enquire… Yours faithfully
Semi-formal	Letters to a landlord, manager or neighbour	Dear Mr Lee, I would like to ask whether… Yours sincerely
Informal	Letters to friends	Hi Sam, Thanks so much for… Best wishes
Neutral and objective	Academic Task 1 reports	The figure rose steadily to 40 percent by 2020.