How to get more then 6 bands in Ielts
WHY IS YOUR IELTS SCORE STUCK AT 5.5 OR BELOW
Here are the ten factors that helped me achieve 7.5 bands twice in writing and how you can use them to plummett your scores as well
1. #HANDWRITING - I know. You've heard this a bazillion times.
But let me dive deeper and share an in-depth perspective for the people who plan to appear in written ielts.
I have a rule for handwriting.
It is called : One wrong word = One wrong sentence.
How does this work? Well, let's say you wrote a letter 'e' in a way that it seemed 'l' in the writing hand.
You thought you made a one word mistake. But possibly due to that wrong word, the whole sentence lost its meaning.
eg. He stole my cap.
He stoll my cap.
Well, lets go deeper. Suppose, you wrote 4 sentences wrong.
However, those sentences were the introductory sentences of the for/against points in an opinion/discussion essay.
Now these 4 points constitute the major parts of the mainfl body.
And due to these 4 sentences, you've lost a lot of marks!
How to fix - Finish your essay 10 mins in advance and your letter 5 mins in advance.
Make sure that you check your handwriting thoroughly first while revising the essay.
2. #NOT_ENOUGH_WORDS
This is an age old question. Should I write as per the stipulated word limit?
10 words more? 20 words more? 100 words more?
Well, having scored 7.5 bands twice, I can assure you that writing around 50 words more than the stipulated limit is absolutely safe.
This is because IELTS examiners are paid on an essay per hour basis.
If you can write around 50 words more while fulfilling the bands criteria, you will likely score 7 or more bands.
However, writing around 100 words more than the limit makes it difficult for the examiner to check your writing and hence counts against you.
3. #GRAMMATICAL_ERRORS_AND_SPELLING_MISTAKES
You cannot afford to make many grammatical errors and/or spelling mistakes if you want to achieve above 6.5 bands and more.
The best way to check your errors is using the application Grammarly's free version.
You can write down all the errors that you make and then with practice, you'll know which mistakes occur more frequently.
That said, grammarly's free version corrects an entire writing per sentence only. Hence, it checks as per content, not context.
For more features, you'll have to buy the paid version.
4. #GRAMMATICAL_RANGE_AND_VOCABULARY
In my experience, essays usually revolve either of these two extremes.
They consist of either very simple and basic sentences or the writer makes plenty of mistakes in an attempt to show his/her vocabulary and grammar range.
Here are 4 steps you can take to increase your grammar and vocabulary.
a. Have 3 synonyms per commonly used word and eliminate all the commonly used words such as big, small, right, wrong, etc
b. Learn how to write complex sentences.
c. Evaluate yiur essay based on writing features such as academic vocabulary, academic phrases, tentative language, etc
d. Build topic specific vocabulary
eg. Work - day release programmes, increment, annual appraisal.
5. #LOGICAL_FLOW_OF_INFORMATION
Please write your content in the same sequence as events occur.
Sentences and paragraphs have to be in an A-Z order instead of being in a haphazard manner.
Each sentence has to be related to the previous and next sentences. The same rule applies to paragraphs.
6. #WRITING_AS_PER_FORMAT
Are you writing in a calm and professional tone in a formal letter/essay and writing in a personal and emotional way in an informal letter?
Please do check your words.
Any use of emotionally expressive words or personal elements in a formal letter or acafemic essay will count against you.
Eg. Formal letter -
I am writing regarding the amount of noise coming from the new canteen which has just opened near my University residence.
Informal letter -
I’m so glad that you’re coming to Montreal next week, as it seems ages since we last saw each other.
7. #ADDRESS_ALL_THE_PARTS_COMPLETELY
Please ensure that you address each and every part as per its requirement.
For eg in an opinion/discussion format, you need to write for and against views equally while in an opinion/viewpoint your opinion is of pivotal importance.
8. #CONTENT_IS_TOO_DRAMATIC
Please refrain from using such sentences:
At night, the loud noise of heavy metal songs by metallica, custom exhaust kf the new jeep compass, etc
Keep it simple as far as content goes :
9. #WRITE_RELEVANT_EXAMPLES:
If you cannot reverse engineer the example to validate your point, either of them are not in sync.
10. #CHECK_YOUR_WRITING_THOROUGHLY:
i. Finish your essay at least 10 mins ans your letter 5 mins in advanBELOW
ii. Have a checklist of what you will check.
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