General Training- Writing task

There will be 2 tasks in IELTS General Writing, that have to be completed in the duration of 60
minutes. The pattern of general training writing is similar to that of academic writing with some
minor differences:

For IELTS Writing Task 1, the following details can be considered:

 The task type is generally a letter requesting information or explaining a situation
 The situation presented in the IELTS task 1 must be read well to make sure that all the relevant
information is presented correctly.
 The information presented should be coherent and relevant.
 The situation in the task is mostly general in nature.
 The word limit for IELTS Writing Task 1 is 150 words which the candidate should try to complete
in 20 minutes.

The details to be kept in mind during IELTS Writing task 2 are as follows:
 The word limit for IELTS writing task 2 is 250 words, candidates are suggested to devote 40
minutes to the task.
 Write relevant information and make sure that the information is presented in an accurate
structure and is grammatically correct.
 Since the content is relatively lengthy, make sure that your presentation is clear and coherent.

IELTS Writing Task 1 and Task 2 scores are calculated using 4 criteria:
1) Task Achievement (TA) = how well you answer the question.
To increase score for TA:
 present the information accurately
 answer all parts of the task
 provide a clear overview
 highlight key features and support detail with data (Academic task 1)
 give a clear position, have a definite opinion (Task 2 and General task 1)

2) Coherence and Cohesion (CC) = how well is your text structured.

To increase score for CC:
 manage paragraphing
 make sure that each paragraph has a central idea
 use linking words and cohesive devices (firstly, in contrast, thus, in my opinion, to sum up
etc)

3) Lexical Resource (LR) = how good is your vocabulary.

To increase score for LR:
 use a wide range of vocabulary
 use less common lexical items
 avoid errors in spelling and word formation

4) Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA) = how good is your grammar.

To increase score for GRA:
 use a wide range of grammatical structures and tenses
 manage punctuation
 avoid errors in sentences