Common Mistakes in IELTS Essays You Need To Avoid!

Here are some common mistakes in IELTS Essays you need to make sure you do not make:

• Not developing body paragraphs around one main idea.
• Not actually answering the question and going off topic.
• Trying to come up with ‘clever ideas’ that end up being too hard to explain clearly.
• Deliberately trying to insert complicated looking words to impress the examiner.
• Deliberately trying to insert complex looking sentences to impress the examiner.
• Running out of time.
• Not checking their answer.
• Not structuring the essay in clear logical paragraphs.

Here are those common mistakes in IELTS Essays explained in more detail:

Dream of progressing your career abroad? Got your heart set on moving to the other side of the world? Want to enter a top university? Well, it’s great you have got ambition. If you don’t have a dream then how can you ever have a dream come true?

Unfortunately, one of the first steps on the path is often completing an IELTS test. This can be quite a barrier for some, indeed I have known people to have failed the test over 15 times before finally achieving the score they needed.

This meant they lost thousands of dollars in fees alone to the owners of the IELTS test, namely Cambridge University, IDP Australia and the British Council.

I am quite sure you would rather not give them any more of your money than you need to, after all they have get more than enough money from the 2 million plus IELTS takers around the world already.

So, why not prepare yourself and make sure you get the band score you need the next time you take the test. Here’s a good place to get examiner feedback on mock IELTS tests.

After teaching thousands of IELTS students for over a decade in universities and international schools around the world and having had many essays sent to me online, I would like to share with you some of the biggest IELTS essay mistakes students make, specifically with their body paragraphs so that you can avoid them and get it right first time, sound good?

OK, let’s get started here are the top 3 Common Mistakes in IELTS Essays (Writing Task 2) that I have seen over the years, avoid them like the plague!

Firstly, a lack of focus around one central idea is a big problem. Some people seem to think that they should give lots of ideas in their body paragraphs. Remember, the IELTS band descriptors state that you need to ‘present, extends and supports main ideas’ for a band 7 or higher.

This means that each idea that you offer needs to be explained and exemplified properly. To do this, it generally takes between 3-5 sentences which is essentially the length of one body paragraph. If you try and do this for more than 2, or 3 ideas you will simply run out of time.

So the trick is to stick to just 2, or maybe 3 main ideas and develop only them properly, rather than trying to list lots of different ideas.

Secondly, there are no marks for the originality or ‘cleverness’ of your ideas. Often I see students struggling to explain a complicated idea that they have had and therefore making a lot of errors in their writing.

What you need to do is select simple ideas that you are able to explain confidently and accurately. The examiners are not interested in how clever you are, this is not a university essay, they just want to see that you can write clearly in English.

Thirdly, I often see students deliberately trying to use long words, or different tenses that are not appropriate. Yes, it is true that you can gain higher marks for showing a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical features, such as tenses, however this only works if you can actually use them naturally and accurately.

Too often I see students trying to do this and writing an essay which contains many grammatical errors. They would have been far better just using language that they are confident of using correctly which would have given them a much better chance of a higher band score. In other words, stick to words and grammar you know rather than take a risk!

I would like you to know though that it is more than possible for you too to fulfill your dream, whether that means becoming a doctor in the UK, entering Harvard in the United States, or relocating to the mountains of Canada, with proper preparation you can do it.

If you are ready to make it happen then there are plenty of free guides on this web-site but I would highly recommend you get some feedback on your writing here with a genuine mock IELTS test.

The future is in your hands, so avoid those common mistakes in IELTS Essays, make it happen, no-one else will do it for you!