IELTS guide
Practise IELTS Writing Task 1 and Task 2 with criterion-based AI feedback and unofficial band estimates. Use the comments to revise your response; they do not replace an official examiner result.
What this guide covers
Answer first
IELTS Academic Writing contains two tasks completed in 60 minutes, with Task 2 contributing twice as much as Task 1. English AIdol feedback is an unofficial learning aid.
Official source: IELTS Academic test format in detail · Source checked · Published by English AIdol · Editorial and corrections policy
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Practise IELTS Writing Task 1 and Task 2 with criterion-based AI feedback and unofficial band estimates. Use the comments to revise your response; they do not replace an official examiner result.
Free mini practice
Practise the decisions that make a Task 1 report and Task 2 essay complete before writing a full timed response.
How to try it: Write a brief plan for each prompt, compare it with the checklist, and revise one sentence so that its comparison or position is explicit.
1. Academic Task 1 overview
Weekly library visits: North campus rose from 1,200 in January to 1,800 in April; South campus fell from 1,600 to 1,300 over the same period.
Answer or self-check: Sample direction: Overall, visits increased substantially at the North campus but declined at the South campus, leaving North as the busier site by April.
Why: The overview selects both main trends and the final comparison. Detailed figures can support those features later rather than replacing the overview.
2. Task 2 position
Answer or self-check: A complete plan states the degree of agreement and separates two reasons—for example, career relevance supports employability, while some broader study supports adaptable thinking. Either stance can work if it stays consistent.
Why: “To what extent” requires a clear degree of agreement. Two distinct reasons create a structure that can be developed instead of repeating one idea.
3. Revision check
Original: Online lessons are convenient. They are good. Students can study at home.
Answer or self-check: Sample revision: Online lessons can improve access because students can join classes from home when travel or distance would otherwise prevent attendance.
Why: The revision replaces vague evaluation with a specific benefit and a clear cause-and-effect relationship.
The IELTS Academic Writing test has two tasks that must be completed in 60 minutes. Task 1 requires you to describe, summarise, or explain visual information — such as a bar chart, line graph, pie chart, table, process diagram, or map — in at least 150 words. You should spend approximately 20 minutes on Task 1. Task 2 asks you to write an essay in response to an argument, problem, or point of view in at least 250 words, and you should spend approximately 40 minutes on it.
Task 2 contributes twice as much to the Writing result as Task 1. Plan enough time to answer both tasks and check relevance, organisation, vocabulary, and grammar rather than relying on one fixed minute-by-minute formula.
Both tasks are scored on four criteria: Task Achievement (or Task Response for Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Each criterion is equally weighted and scored on the 0-9 band scale. Understanding what examiners look for in each criterion is the foundation of effective IELTS Writing preparation.
Automated feedback can provide a quick second look at task coverage, organisation, vocabulary, and grammar. It can also miss context or suggest an unnecessary change, so compare each comment with the prompt and the published IELTS criteria.
When you submit an essay on English AIdol, review the evidence attached to each suggestion, accept only changes that preserve your meaning, and rewrite the weakest paragraph. Any criterion band or overall band is an unofficial practice estimate, not an examiner result.
AI feedback arrives quickly, so you can revise an essay while the decisions you made are still fresh. Results vary by starting level, practice quality, and study time; use the saved essay history to track patterns over several attempts rather than treating one estimated band as a guaranteed result.
For Task 2, make a short plan that answers every part of the instruction and gives each main idea relevant support. A four-paragraph structure can be useful for some prompts, but IELTS does not require one paragraph formula. Choose a structure that makes the position and progression easy to follow.
For Lexical Resource, avoid repeating the same words. If the question asks about "education," use synonyms and related terms: "learning," "schooling," "academic development," "knowledge acquisition." But do not force obscure vocabulary — examiners reward precise, natural word choice over artificially complex language. Collocations matter more than individual big words: "pose a significant challenge" is better than using a rarely-seen synonym.
For Grammatical Range and Accuracy, you need to demonstrate both complex structures and accuracy. Use a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences. Include conditional sentences, relative clauses, passive voice where appropriate, and a variety of tense forms. However, accuracy is just as important as range — a simple sentence with no errors scores better than a complex sentence with multiple mistakes. Proofread your essay in the last 2-3 minutes and correct any errors you can spot.
Useful practice can cover education, technology, environment, health, society, and work. These are broad language-building themes, not predictions of the topics that will appear on a live test.
You do not need to be an expert on these topics, but you should have relevant vocabulary and example arguments prepared for each category. Practise at least one essay per topic category and use the feedback to test whether your ideas are clear. Practice prompts are training material, not predictions of official test questions.
Task 1 requires describing visual data (graphs, charts, maps, or processes) in 150+ words in 20 minutes. Task 2 is an essay responding to an argument or opinion in 250+ words in 40 minutes. Task 2 carries more weight in your final band score.
Writing is assessed on four criteria: Task Achievement/Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Each criterion is scored 0-9 and averaged for the final band score. Task 2 is weighted more heavily than Task 1.
AI can help you practise more often, compare your response with the four IELTS criteria, and identify changes to test in a rewrite. The band score is an estimate, improvement varies by learner, and an official IELTS result can only come from the test provider.
Check whether you answered every part, wrote at least 250 words, developed relevant ideas, organised paragraphs clearly, and used vocabulary and grammar accurately. Automated feedback may flag possible issues, but verify them against the prompt and published criteria.
Choose a sustainable schedule that leaves time to review and rewrite each response. Compare recurring criterion problems across several timed essays; no fixed weekly count is the fastest route for every learner.
The receiving institution and programme set the requirement. Check its current official page for the accepted IELTS version, overall score, Writing minimum, other section minimums, score age and waiver policy before booking.