The two tasks
You get 60 minutes for two tasks, and you manage the time yourself.
Task 1 needs at least 150 words, and about 20 minutes.
- Academic: describe a graph, table, chart, process diagram or map. You report the main features and make comparisons; you do not give opinions or reasons.
- General Training: write a letter (formal, semi-formal or informal) for a situation such as complaining to a landlord, asking an employer for leave or inviting a friend.
Task 2 needs at least 250 words, and about 40 minutes. It is an essay responding to an opinion, argument or problem, and it counts for more than Task 1, so never sacrifice Task 2 time to polish Task 1.
The four criteria
Each task is marked on four equally weighted criteria:
- Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2): did you answer every part of the question with a clear position and relevant, developed ideas?
- Coherence and Cohesion: is it logically organised in paragraphs, with linking that helps rather than decorates?
- Lexical Resource: is your vocabulary precise, varied and natural, with accurate spelling and collocation?
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: do you use a mix of sentence structures, and how many errors are there?
Knowing your score on each criterion is far more useful than one overall number.
Mistakes we see often from Indian students
These are habits, not failings. Most come from school writing styles or from Indian English, which is perfectly correct in India but is marked against international standard English in IELTS.
- Memorised phrases. Openings like "In this contemporary era of globalisation" or endings like "Every coin has two sides" are recognised instantly by examiners and add nothing. Write a direct, specific sentence instead.
- Over-long introductions. Two sentences are enough: paraphrase the question and state your position. A five-line introduction steals time from your body paragraphs.
- Indian-English usage. Watch for "revert back" (just "reply" or "revert"), "discuss about" ("discuss"), "return back", "cope up with" ("cope with"), "do the needful" and "prepone". Also check "a lot many", "one of the reason" and "kindly" used in every sentence of a letter.
- Long, chained sentences. One sentence joined by five "and"s is not complex grammar. Range means using relative clauses, conditionals and passives accurately.
- Missing the overview in Academic Task 1. Without a clear summary of the main trends, Task Achievement is usually capped.
- Not answering all parts. "Discuss both views and give your opinion" has three parts. Miss your opinion and Task Response suffers.
Writing practice that fits around Vizag routines
Writing needs a full, uninterrupted hour, which is often the hardest thing to find. A few approaches that suit students and workers here:
- Andhra University, GITAM and other engineering students can use a fixed weekend morning for one full Task 1 plus Task 2 under time.
- Shift workers at the port, steel plant or shipyard can split the work: plan a Task 2 in 10 minutes on a break, then write it in 40 minutes on a day off.
- IT staff at Rushikonda already type all day. Use that: practise on a laptop if you will take the computer-delivered test, and turn off spell-check so you learn which words you actually misspell.
Vizag's own life gives you good material for Task 2 ideas, from tourism and coastal development to industry and pollution, shipping, urban traffic and the growth of IT jobs. Thinking through real local examples helps you develop ideas quickly on topics like the environment, work and cities.
How feedback works on IELTS Learning
Our 104 prompts cover Academic charts, tables, processes and maps, General Training letters, and every Task 2 essay type: opinion, discussion, advantages and disadvantages, problem and solution, and two-part questions.
When you submit an answer, you get an AI-estimated band for each of the four criteria with written feedback pointing to specific sentences. That lets you write, get feedback and rewrite on the same day instead of waiting a week for a teacher to return a paper.
For a human opinion, Book a Teacher gives you a 1-to-1 online session of about 20 minutes, from ₹299. Many students book one after a few weeks of AI-checked practice, bringing two essays to discuss.
Getting started
Write one Task 2 essay now, under 40 minutes, and look at which criterion scores lowest; that is your focus for IELTS Writing Task 2. Sign up free to see the platform, and read our weekly tips blog for model answers and planning ideas.