THE FREE IELTS GENERAL
TRAINING WRITING TEST - TASK
1 TUTORIAL
The IELTS General Training Writing Test Task 1 is, I feel, the part of GT test that
people can prepare most for. Because the scope of the task is fairly limited, you can
practise extremely similar tasks, which will greatly prepare you for the exam.
Practice is the magic word though. Even good English users need practice for the
IELTS exam and it could mean all the difference between pass and fail. There is
limited practice available and it's quite expensive. That's why we would recommend
you download our practice material. You will get more practice for less money. Go to
the Home Page to find more information about our Practice Tests and other Practice
Tests available.
The IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing Test
The IELTS General Training Writing Test lasts for 1 hour and includes 2 tasks. Task 1
is a letter and you must write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes
out of the hour for task 1. Task 2 is an essay and you must write at least 250 words.
You should spend about 40 minutes for Task 2.
The Task for the IELTS General Training Task 1
Writing
The IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 asks you to write a letter of a minimum
of 150 words in response to some situation or problem. The task will probably ask
you to complain about something, to request information, ask for help, to make
arrangements and/or explain a situation. All these are fairly similar tasks.
Marking for the IELTS General Training Task 1
Writing
Your task will be marked in three areas. You will get a mark from 1 to 9 on Task
Fulfilment, Coherence & Cohesion and Vocabulary and Sentence Structure. Your final
band for Task 1 will be effectively an average of the three marks awarded in these
areas. Task 1 writing is less important than Task 2 and to calculate the final writing
mark, more weight is assigned to the Task 2 mark than to Task 1's mark. To get a good
overall mark though, both tasks have to be well answered so don't hold back on Task
1 or give yourself too little time to answer it properly.
Task Fulfilment This where you can really make a difference through careful
preparation. This mark grades you on basically have you answered the question?
This study source was downloaded by 100000840903812 from CourseHero.com on 02-05-2022 20:51:59 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/31457804/THE-FREE-IELTS-GENERAL-TRAINING-WRITING-TESTdoc/
, Cohesion and Coherence These two are interrelated which is why they are done
together. Cohesion is how your writing fits together. Does your writing with its ideas
and content flow logically? Coherence is how you are making yourself understood
and whether the reader of your writing understands what you are saying. An example
of bad coherence and cohesion would be as follows:
1 We went to the beach because it was raining.
Probably the writer of this sentence does not mean "because" as people don't usually
go to the beach when it is raining. The writer should have written:
2 We went to the beach although it was raining.
Sentence 1 has made a cohesion and coherence error (as well as a vocabulary one).
"Because" does not join the ideas of the sentence together correctly and, as a result,
the reader does not understand what the writer wants to say. This is an exaggerated
example but it shows what I mean.
Vocabulary and Sentence Structure This area looks at the your grammar and choice of
words. The marker will look whether the right grammar and words are used and
whether they are used at the right time in the right place and in the right way. Most
people are predominantly worried about their grammar but, as you can see, grammar
is only half of one section of three used to grade your writing. IELTS is much more
interested in communication rather than grammatical accuracy.
Paragraphing for the IELTS General Training Task 1
Writing
This is a very easy thing to do but it can have an enormous effect on the clarity of
your writing. Very often people use no paragraphing and the examiner is faced with a
"sea" of writing with no breaks from start to finish. For me, the best writings are those
where there are paragraphs separated by an empty line and also indented. In this way
your ideas are separated clearly. It shows and gives organization to your writing and
makes it more readable.
For a longer section on paragraphing and how useful it can be, see GT Writing Task 2
Tutorial.
Areas to Prepare
As I said earlier, Task 1 is the best for preparation. Below are some areas for you to
consider:
1 Answering the question.
As I said above, task fulfilment (answering the question) is one third of your total
mark and it is an area in which everyone should do well. This is often, however, not
the case.
This study source was downloaded by 100000840903812 from CourseHero.com on 02-05-2022 20:51:59 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/31457804/THE-FREE-IELTS-GENERAL-TRAINING-WRITING-TESTdoc/
TRAINING WRITING TEST - TASK
1 TUTORIAL
The IELTS General Training Writing Test Task 1 is, I feel, the part of GT test that
people can prepare most for. Because the scope of the task is fairly limited, you can
practise extremely similar tasks, which will greatly prepare you for the exam.
Practice is the magic word though. Even good English users need practice for the
IELTS exam and it could mean all the difference between pass and fail. There is
limited practice available and it's quite expensive. That's why we would recommend
you download our practice material. You will get more practice for less money. Go to
the Home Page to find more information about our Practice Tests and other Practice
Tests available.
The IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing Test
The IELTS General Training Writing Test lasts for 1 hour and includes 2 tasks. Task 1
is a letter and you must write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes
out of the hour for task 1. Task 2 is an essay and you must write at least 250 words.
You should spend about 40 minutes for Task 2.
The Task for the IELTS General Training Task 1
Writing
The IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 asks you to write a letter of a minimum
of 150 words in response to some situation or problem. The task will probably ask
you to complain about something, to request information, ask for help, to make
arrangements and/or explain a situation. All these are fairly similar tasks.
Marking for the IELTS General Training Task 1
Writing
Your task will be marked in three areas. You will get a mark from 1 to 9 on Task
Fulfilment, Coherence & Cohesion and Vocabulary and Sentence Structure. Your final
band for Task 1 will be effectively an average of the three marks awarded in these
areas. Task 1 writing is less important than Task 2 and to calculate the final writing
mark, more weight is assigned to the Task 2 mark than to Task 1's mark. To get a good
overall mark though, both tasks have to be well answered so don't hold back on Task
1 or give yourself too little time to answer it properly.
Task Fulfilment This where you can really make a difference through careful
preparation. This mark grades you on basically have you answered the question?
This study source was downloaded by 100000840903812 from CourseHero.com on 02-05-2022 20:51:59 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/31457804/THE-FREE-IELTS-GENERAL-TRAINING-WRITING-TESTdoc/
, Cohesion and Coherence These two are interrelated which is why they are done
together. Cohesion is how your writing fits together. Does your writing with its ideas
and content flow logically? Coherence is how you are making yourself understood
and whether the reader of your writing understands what you are saying. An example
of bad coherence and cohesion would be as follows:
1 We went to the beach because it was raining.
Probably the writer of this sentence does not mean "because" as people don't usually
go to the beach when it is raining. The writer should have written:
2 We went to the beach although it was raining.
Sentence 1 has made a cohesion and coherence error (as well as a vocabulary one).
"Because" does not join the ideas of the sentence together correctly and, as a result,
the reader does not understand what the writer wants to say. This is an exaggerated
example but it shows what I mean.
Vocabulary and Sentence Structure This area looks at the your grammar and choice of
words. The marker will look whether the right grammar and words are used and
whether they are used at the right time in the right place and in the right way. Most
people are predominantly worried about their grammar but, as you can see, grammar
is only half of one section of three used to grade your writing. IELTS is much more
interested in communication rather than grammatical accuracy.
Paragraphing for the IELTS General Training Task 1
Writing
This is a very easy thing to do but it can have an enormous effect on the clarity of
your writing. Very often people use no paragraphing and the examiner is faced with a
"sea" of writing with no breaks from start to finish. For me, the best writings are those
where there are paragraphs separated by an empty line and also indented. In this way
your ideas are separated clearly. It shows and gives organization to your writing and
makes it more readable.
For a longer section on paragraphing and how useful it can be, see GT Writing Task 2
Tutorial.
Areas to Prepare
As I said earlier, Task 1 is the best for preparation. Below are some areas for you to
consider:
1 Answering the question.
As I said above, task fulfilment (answering the question) is one third of your total
mark and it is an area in which everyone should do well. This is often, however, not
the case.
This study source was downloaded by 100000840903812 from CourseHero.com on 02-05-2022 20:51:59 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/31457804/THE-FREE-IELTS-GENERAL-TRAINING-WRITING-TESTdoc/
