IELTS Writing tips examiners actually reward

Task Response tips (the band most people lose)

• Answer the exact question, not the topic. "To what extent do you agree" needs your position; "discuss both views" needs both views AND your opinion if asked. Misreading the instruction caps you at 5 regardless of language quality.
• One idea developed beats three ideas listed. Take a reason, explain it, give one concrete consequence or example, and only then move on.
• State your position in the introduction and never drift from it. Examiners flag positions that appear, vanish, or flip.
• Write 250 plus words for Task 2, but not 400. Overlong essays pick up errors and thin development; the examiner gives no marks for volume.

Coherence and Cohesion tips

• One central idea per paragraph. If you cannot say what a paragraph is about in one phrase, it is two paragraphs.
• Stop opening every sentence with a connective. "Firstly, Moreover, Furthermore, In conclusion" stapled to simple sentences reads as Band 6 cohesion even when grammatically perfect.
• Link with meaning, not just markers: refer back to ideas ("this pressure", "such a ban") so the essay holds together without visible glue.
• Plan for five minutes before writing. Most coherence problems are planning problems that no amount of linking words can repair afterwards.

Lexical Resource tips

• Precise beats impressive. "Commuters" outscores "a plethora of individuals utilising transportation". Examiners are trained to discount memorised decoration.
• Delete the memorised opener. "In this day and age it is a controversial issue" signals a script before your first idea arrives.
• Learn collocations, not word lists: "heavy traffic", "take responsibility", "meet a deadline". Wrong pairings ("strong traffic") cost more than simple words.
• Paraphrase the question in your own words instead of copying it. Copied prompt language is excluded from your word count and shows no range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy tips

• Range and accuracy together: error-free simple sentences cap at 6, and ambitious broken sentences also cap at 6. Aim for complex structures you can control.
• Master three structures deeply: conditionals, relative clauses, and concession ("although..."). Used correctly across an essay, they cover the range requirement.
• Hunt your signature error. Most people repeat one or two mistakes (articles, subject-verb agreement, tense drift) dozens of times. Fixing one habit fixes many "errors" at once.
• Leave three minutes to proofread for YOUR known errors specifically, not for everything.

Five myths that keep bands down

The tip that outranks all of these

Tips are generic; your blocker is specific. One of the four criteria above is capping your band right now, and every hour spent on the other three is an hour wasted. Find out which one with a timed essay and a free check, then go deep on that criterion using the guides, Band 7 samples, and the practice loop.