7 Overused IELTS Essay Phrases to Avoid (and What to Write Instead)
Somewhere right now, an examiner is opening their 61st essay of the day. They have read your opening sentence about a thousand times before. Here are the seven lines that appear in almost every script, and what to write instead.
Affect or Effect? 10 Word Pairs That Trip Up Every IELTS Student
Some pairs of English words look almost the same and mean different things. You can be at a high level and still mix them up, because nothing feels wrong when you write them. Here are the ten that show up most often in IELTS essays.
Words That Travel in Pairs: The Fastest Vocabulary Win in IELTS Writing
You can know a word perfectly and still use it wrong. English words travel in pairs, and choosing the wrong partner sounds off to an examiner immediately. The good news: this is the one vocabulary win that needs no new words at all.
Three 7s and One 5 Is a Band 6.5: How Your Writing Score Is Really Calculated
Your IELTS writing band is not one judgment. It is four scores averaged into one, and your weakest one pulls everything down with it. Once you see the math, you know exactly where your next week of study should go.
8 Words to Delete From Your IELTS Essay (And What to Write Instead)
Some words are not wrong. They are just empty. They fill your essay without adding meaning, and the examiner sees them in every second paper. Here are 8 to delete, and the simple, better words to use instead.
How to Describe a Bar Chart in IELTS Task 1 (Compare, Don't List)
A bar chart has one job for you: compare. Most students lose marks because they read the bars one by one instead of grouping them and comparing. Here is how to find the highest and lowest, group similar bars, and use comparatives that lift your score.
How to Describe a Line Graph in IELTS Task 1
A line graph has one job: it shows how things change over time. Your job is to describe the trend, not to list every point. Here is exactly what to say, the words that make it sound natural, and clear before and after examples.
The 4 Questions Your Examiner Asks About Your Task 1 Report
Your Academic Task 1 score is not one big mystery. It is four simple questions the examiner asks about your report. The first one, about the overview, is where most people lose marks.
5 Small Changes That Take Your Writing From 6.5 to 7
You are stuck at 6.5 and it feels like you need a whole new level of English. You do not. The gap to band 7 is small and specific. Here are five tiny upgrades that push you over the line.
The 4 Questions Your IELTS Examiner Is Secretly Asking
Your IELTS Task 2 score is not one big mystery. It is four simple questions the examiner is asking about your essay. Once you know them, you know exactly what to fix.
6 Things You Believe About IELTS Writing That Lower Your Score
You study hard and know your grammar, but your band does not move. Often the reason is not your English. It is a few things you believe about IELTS writing that are simply not true.