General Training Writing

Module format

IELTS General Training Writing lasts a total of 60 minutes. The paper consists of 2 tasks (Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2) and candidates must answer both tasks.

Timing

Students are advised to spend 20 minutes on Task 1 and 40 minutes on Task 2.

Task 1

Candidates are asked to write a personal informal, semi-formal or formal letter, responding to a given problem or situation. Input to Task 1 includes a brief description of the problem or situation followed by 3 bullet points which tell the candidate what information is required in the letter. Candidates must write at least 150 words for this task.

Writing Task 1 is assessed based on the following criteria:

1. Task Achievement
2. Coherence and Cohesion
3. Lexical Resource
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Task 2

The input to Task 2 consists of a statement of a point of view, argument or problem about a specific topic. This is followed by instructions asking candidates to discuss the topic by providing general factual information, outlining and/or presenting a solution, justifying an opinion or evaluating ideas and evidence. Candidates are expected to produce a discursive piece of writing. Candidates must write at least 250 words for this task. Writing Task 2 is assessed based on the following criteria:

1. Task Response
2. Coherence and Cohesion
3. Lexical Resource
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy