IELTS Writing practice that moves your band

The practice loop

1. Write under exam conditions. Task 2: 250 plus words in 40 minutes. GT Task 1: 150 plus words in 20 minutes. No dictionary, no pausing. Untimed practice inflates your sense of your band.
2. Check the attempt. Paste it into the free checker: all four criteria scored, your one blocker named, and a Band 7 rewrite of your own sentence. Two free checks a day, no signup.
3. Fix one pattern. Take the blocker and the rewrite, extract the pattern, and write the next essay applying it deliberately. One pattern per essay.
4. Watch the trend. A single score is noise. The signal is your weakest criterion climbing across two or three weeks of checks.

Practice questions, by task

Rotate across question types rather than repeating the one you like. Examiners can give you any of the five Task 2 types, and each has its own trap.

Calibrate against worked examples

Before you can hit Band 7 you need to recognise it. Read Band 7 model answers for your question type, then compare Band 6.5, Band 7 and Band 8 examples of the same kinds of essay. The Band 6 vs Band 7 guide shows the difference sentence by sentence.

How much practice is enough?

Three timed, checked essays a week beats an essay a day that nobody scores. Volume without feedback just rehearses your current habits, including the one holding your band down. Book your exam when your weakest criterion holds at your target across several consecutive checks, and use the band calculator to see what each section needs. If you are stuck at the same score, start with the 6 to 7 plateau guide.