How the Writing test is structured
You have 60 minutes for two tasks.
- Task 1 needs at least 150 words. In Academic, you describe a chart, table, diagram of a process or a map. In General Training, you write a letter: formal, semi-formal or informal.
- Task 2 needs at least 250 words and is an essay responding to an opinion, a discussion, a problem and solution, or a two-part question. It counts for more than Task 1, so most people spend about 40 minutes on it.
A practical split is 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 for Task 2, starting with whichever task you prefer.
The four criteria examiners use
- Task Achievement (Task 1) / Task Response (Task 2): Did you answer every part of the question, with a clear position and relevant support?
- Coherence and Cohesion: Is your writing logically organised, with clear paragraphs and natural linking?
- Lexical Resource: Is your vocabulary accurate, varied and appropriate?
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Do you use a mix of sentence structures with few errors?
Each criterion is worth a quarter of your Writing band. Improving your weakest one is usually the fastest route upwards.
Common slips for writers from Manila
Filipino candidates usually write fluently and have a wide vocabulary, which is a real advantage. The marks tend to be lost in a few predictable places:
- Local English usages. Expressions that are completely normal in Philippine English can count as errors in IELTS. Watch for cope up with (use cope with), based from (based on), result to (result in), discuss about (discuss) and the reason is because (the reason is that).
- Office-style phrasing. Years of workplace email can make letters and essays sound like memos: please be informed, kindly be advised, for your perusal. In a General Training letter, open with Dear Mr Reyes or Dear Sir or Madam, not Good day!, and keep the tone natural.
- Long, decorative introductions. Lines such as In this modern era of globalisation add words but no marks. Paraphrase the question, give your position and move on.
- Memorised templates. Examiners recognise them, and they cannot be credited as your own language. Learn structures, not scripts.
- No overview in Academic Task 1. Describing every number without summarising the main trends keeps Task Achievement low.
- Very long sentences. Strong writers sometimes chain clauses together with commas. Break them up and check punctuation.
On spelling: British and American spelling are both accepted, so if you learned color and organize at school, that is fine. Just be consistent within one script.
Practising Writing in Metro Manila
Writing needs a quiet hour and a keyboard more than any other module, which can be hard to find in a busy Manila household. Students at UP Diliman, Ateneo, De La Salle and UST often find the library or a study room more productive than home. For nurses and BPO staff, a regular weekly slot on a day off works better than trying to squeeze an essay in after a long shift.
Use the commute along EDSA or on the LRT for planning instead: read a Task 2 question on your phone and outline your ideas, then type the full essay later.
How AI feedback and teacher sessions help
IELTS Learning has 104 Task 1 and Task 2 prompts across Academic charts, tables, processes and maps, General Training letters and every essay type. When you submit, you get an AI-estimated band for each of the four criteria, with comments explaining what is holding each one back.
That makes a clear cycle:
- Write the task under time.
- Read the AI feedback and identify your lowest criterion.
- Rewrite one paragraph to fix it.
- Write a new task focusing on that criterion.
When you want a human view, Book a Teacher gives you a 1-to-1 online session of about 20 minutes from $5. Many students bring one essay that the AI scored and ask the teacher to explain what would lift it half a band.
A weekly IELTS Writing routine
- One Task 2 essay under timed conditions.
- One Task 1 (a chart or process for Academic, a letter for General Training).
- Twenty minutes in English Improvement on your recurring grammar errors.
- A review session comparing this week's feedback with last week's.
Study Notes cover planning, paragraphing and Task 1 overviews in detail, and the blog has more examples of useful phrases.
Get started
Register free and try a Writing task from the sample mock test, then see your band for each criterion. Full Access is $12 for 2 months for all prompts and feedback.