I nte r nati o nal e n g LI s h lan g uag e testi n g syste m

hat

 

is

 

required

  

           

on

 

the

 ieLts 

writing

 

exam

?

The writing portion of the IELTS exam is 60 minutes in length and requires the stu-

dent complete two tasks (commonly referred to as Task 1 and Task 2).  The student’s 

overall writing band weights a third to Task 1 and two thirds to Task 2.  Students are 

thus expected to allot 20 minutes to Task 1 and 40 minutes to Task 2.

The Academic and General writing exams are different.  Task 1 of the Academic exam 

requires the student describe a graph, table, chart or diagram.  Task 1 of the General 

exam requires the student write a letter.  Students must write essays to fulfill Task 

2 on both exams; however, General Module students may write their essay with a 

more personal tone.

Despite these differences between the Academic and General exams, the marking ru-

bric examiners use to grade both tests is very similar.  Students are assessed on their 

performance in four categories: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical 

Resources and Grammar.  These four sections tend to be interdependent, thus per-

forming poorly in one often lowers grades in others.  In the following section, we will 

briefly discuss each of these categories and how a student can fulfill them.