The key words in the title are practical and exam. Last week I ran a

“competition” to write an essay on aid and poverty. The essays I received

were spectacularly good and I do suggest you check them out in the

comments section. My one worry though was were they really practical

essays in an exam. My essay, which you will find below, is I think much

simpler than almost all the essays I received – and perhaps a more practical

model for exams.

I should add that these are mostly band score 8.0 writing tips and are

written especially for candidates who are aiming high. The moral is:

the road to band score 8.0 often means doing the simple things well

1. Read – write – read – write – read – write – read – write – read – write – readWhat does this mean? It means that you should go back and read the

paragraph you have just written before you start the next one. You may

think that this is a waste of time. If so, you’d be wrong.

1. It’s important to link your paragraphs together – what more practical way to

do that than just read what you have written?

2. It helps you with words for the next paragraph – it is good to repeat some

words as this improves your coherence. Look at my sample essay to see how

I repeat/reflect language. In one paragraph I talk about the short term, this

makes it easy to move onto the long term in the next paragraph.

3. You may also want to check out my series of lessons on the process of

writing IELTS essays – where you will find a much more detailed

explanation of this,2. Don’t be smart, be clear – select your best ideaOne of my very first posts/articles on this site was headed “IELTS is not a

test of intelligence”. While the post itself now looks a little old, the advice is

still good. You are being tested on the quality of your English, not on the

quality of your ideas.

This advice is particularly important for candidates who come from an

academic background where they are used to being graded on quality and

quantity of ideas. IELTS is different: it is quite possible to write a band 9.0

essay and not include some key ideas, let alone all the ideas.

The practical advice here is to select your best idea and write about that.

That means not writing everything you know – leave some ideas out. Don’t

worry if it is not your best explanation, worry about whether it is your

clearest explanation.3. Write about what you know – relax about ideasThis is a similar idea. IELTS is an international exam (that’s the “I” in

IELTS) and the questions are written to be answered by anyone around the

world. Some people stress about finding ideas. They shouldn’t. The ideas

you need are generally simple (eg”I disagree”, “This is not a good idea”).

The practical solution is to think about what YOU know and what YOUR

experience is. If you look at the question, this is what it tells you to do. If

you come from Bonn, write about Bonn; if you come from Ulan Bator, write

about Ulan Bator!4. Examples are easier to write than explanationsIn an exam you are under pressure. You want to make things as easy for

yourself as possible. One practical idea to achieve this is to focus as much

on examples as explanations when you write. Why?

It’s simply harder if you only think “because”. Some of the ideas may be

very complex and, under pressure, it can be difficult to explain these with

reasons. What may happen is that your sentences become too long and the

ideas confused.

The practical bit is to concentrate as much on examples. This is a good idea

as examples tend to be easier to write as you are simply describing

situations. You should also note that the instructions tell you to use

examples! All you need to do is make sure that your examples are relevant

to the main idea.5. Don’t write too much – the examiner is paid by the minuteThere is no upper word limit I know of, but it really isn’t a good idea to

write 350 words or more. Here’s why:

1. Examiners will only spend so much time looking at any essay. Write too

much and they will read what you wrote “less carefully”. It is easier to

read/grade a 300 word essay than a 400 word essay!

2. The more you write, the more likely you are to make language mistakes.

3. The more you write, the more likely you are to go off topic. The examiner

won’t read/grade anything that doesn’t directly relate to the question.

4.  If you write less, you give yourself more time to choose the best words –

and that’s what you are being graded on.

5. If you write less, you give yourself more time to go back and check what you

have written.6. Writer – know yourselfOne of the most famous philosophical thoughts is “know yourself”. How

does this apply to exam writing? Did Plato really have IELTS in mind when

he wrote his dialogues? Well, no, but…

The idea is that you should check for your mistakes when you write. The

practical part here is that you shouldn’t check for mistakes generally –

that’s too hard and probably a waste of time in the exam. What isn’t a waste

of time though is to look for mistakes you know you can correct – the ones

you normally make!

The really practical thing is to have your own checklist in your head before

you start writing.7. See the whole essay in your head before you start writingIt’s very important that your essay is a whole – that all the bits fit together.

If you don’t do that, you may lose significant marks for both coherence and

task response.

This means planning of course. Planning bothers some people and bores

others. There are different ways to do this, but at the very least have a map

of your essay in your head.8. Focus on the backbone of your essay

This is a related point. All the essay matters of course, but perhaps some

bits matter more than others. I’d suggest the practical thing to do is

concentrate on the backbone of your essay, the bits that help you write

better and the examiner to understand better. The backbone is:

1.  The introduction: this should identify the question and outline your

position. Don’t rush it as it is the first thing the examiner will read. First

impressions count.

2. The first/topic sentences of each paragraph: these should be clear and

to the point. They should identify exactly what that paragraph is about and

show how it relates to the rest of the essay. The practical tip is to keep the

detail/clever ideas for the body of the paragraph. Start off general and then

build towards the specific.

3. The conclusion: this is the easiest part of the essay normally. Most often,

all you need to do is go back to the introduction and rephrase it

Get these bits right and the rest of the essay tends to take care of itself.9. Don’t just practice whole essaysThe best way to learn to write essays is to write essays? True or false? My

answer is a bit of both.

Yes, you do need to practise writing complete essays, but it may be a

mistake to do only that. The different part of essays require slightly

different skills. To write an introduction, you need to be able to paraphrase

the question. To write a body paragraph, you need to be able to explain

ideas. To write a conclusion, you need to be able summarise.

The practical suggestion is to practise writing introductions, body

paragraphs and conclusions separately. Focus on skills. 10. Focus on the question and refocus on the questionI have left this one to last as it is for me the most important idea. Essays go

wrong for different reasons. Some of these you may not be able to avoid: the

quality of your English may not be good enough yet. The one mistake you

can always avoid is that you didn’t answer the question. Too many essays go

wrong because candidates didn’t read and think about the question

properly.

The practical suggestion: before you write each paragraph, refer back to

the question to remind yourself about what you are meant to write about.

It is very easy to get carried away in exams. You may start off on topic, then

you have a “good idea” as you write. So you write about that. Sadly, that

“good idea” may not fully relate to the question. Big problem.My sample essay on poverty and aidThis essay which you can download below is intended to be an example of

the ideas in this post.

It is fairly simple in structure.

It focuses clearly on the question

I left many of my best ideas out. I concentrated on what I could explain

clearly.

It comes in at only just over 300 words.

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IELTS Vocabulary: Describing & analysing tables

Look at the four tables below. These show demographic trends in four different countries

between 1996 and 2000. The numbers on the left and right of each table show the number of

people in millions.

Using the information in these tables, match sentences 1-13 with the appropriate country.

Number of peopleunder 18 years of age

Number of peopleover 65 years of age

Numberof deaths

Number ofmarried people

Number ofsingle people

Country 1: Lycia

Country 2: Cilica

Country 3: Moesia

Country 4: Cappadocia

1) In which two countries was there a considerable discrepancy between married and single people

between 1996 and 1998?

a)

2) In which country was there a constant and considerable discrepancy between married and single

people over the five-year period?

a)

3) In which country was there a sudden and noticeable difference between those under 18 and those over

65 in 1998?

a)

4) In which country did the number of under-18s rise dramatically between 1996 and 2000?

a)

5) In which country did the number of under-18s increase slightly between 1996 and 2000?

a)

6) In which country did the number of over-65s go up sharply between 1996 and 1998?

a)

7) In which country did the number of married people decline over the five-year period?

a)

8) In which country did the number of deaths decrease significantly between 1996 and 1999?

a)

9) In which country was there a slight decline in the number of married people between 1998 and 1999?

a)

10) In which country was there a sharp drop in the number of under-18s between 1997 and 1998?

a)

11) In which country was there a slight reduction in the number of deaths over the five-year period?

a)

12) In which country was there a significant increase in the number of deaths between 1998 and 2000?

a)

13) In which country did the number of deaths remain constant over the five-year period?

a)

Show Answers - Hide Answers

Vocabulary Tip

The verbs rise and increase have the same meaning here. We can also say climb. These verbs can also

be nouns.

The verbs fail, drop and decline have the same meaning here. These verbs can also be nouns.

The adverbs steadily and noticeably can have the same meaning here. They can also be adjectives

(steady, noticeable).

The adverbs sharply, rapidly and dramatically can have the same meaning here. They can also be

adjectives (sharp, rapid, dramatic).

Now look at the table below, which shows the changes in economic activity in a town over a

period of five years. The figures on the left and right show the number of people involved in

these activities, in thousands.

Write your own sentences to describe the situation in the town regarding the number of:

Number of peoplein industry

Number of peoplein retail

Number of semi-skilled / skilled

people in public services (including

police, doctors, bus drivers, etc.)

Number of peoplein tourism

Number ofunemployed

 

1) People employed in industry between 1996 and 2000.

The number of people employed in industry fell/dropped/declined steadily/noticeably between

1996 and 2000 / over the five-year period.

OR

There was a steady drop/decline/fall in the number of people employed in industry between 1996

and 2000 / over the five-year period.

2) People employed in retail between 1996 and 2000.

The number of people employed in retail rose / increased slightly between 1996 and 2000 / over

the five-year period.

OR

There was a slight rise / increase in the number of people employed in retail between 1996 / over

the five-year period.

3) People employed in public services between 1999 and 2000.

The number of people employed in public services rose / increased sharply / rapidly / dramatically

between 1999 and 2000.

OR

There was a sharp / rapid / dramatic rise / increase in the number of people employed in public

services between 1999 and 2000.

4) People employed in tourism between 1996 and 2000.

The number of people employed in tourism rose / increased steadily / noticeably between 1996

and 2000.

OR

There was a steady / noticeable rise / increase in the number of people employed in tourism

between 1996 and 2000 / over the five-year period.

5) Unemployed between 1998 and 2000.

The number of unemployed fell /dropped /declined sharply/rapidly/dramatically between 1998 and

2000.

OR

There was a sharp / rapid / dramatic fall / drop / decline in the number of unemployed between

1998 and 2000.

6) People employed in industry compared with those in tourism in 1996.

There was a considerable discrepancy between those employed in industry and those working in

tourism in 1996.

7) People employed in industry between 1998 and 1999.

The number of people employed in industry fell /dropped/declined slightly between 1998 and 1999.

OR

There was a slight fall /drop /decline in the number of people employed in industry between 1998

and 1999.

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Vocabulary Tip

Other words and expressions which you might find useful include:

For things going up: rocket/jump/edge up/soar/creep up/peak (especially for numbers, prices, etc.)

For things going down: slump / plunge / slip back / slip down / plummet / drop / bottom out (especially

when talking about prices)

This global warming essay lesson is mostly about the need to vary your

vocabulary when you write. This means thinking about the topic of the

question of course but also thinking about what the question asks you to do

– i.e. talk about causes etc.Read and understand the question – structuring the essay

Research shows that global warming is caused by human activity.

What are the possible effects of climate change and what can

governments and individuals do to reduce these?

This is a two part question. To answer it, you must write about both

the causes of climate change

what can be done about it by both governments and individuals

The sensible approach is to use separate paragraphs for each point. My

essay below is divided into two main topic paragraphs. You could use three

if you wanted to write a separate paragraph for government and individual

actions.Choosing the languageYou should see that you need this language for the essay:

climate change vocabulary

cause and effect vocabulary

suggestion vocabulary

My suggestion is that you do not start writing too quickly but plan and think

about what words you need to use.See the vocabularyCause and effect vocabulary. This is key area of language and you want

to vary the word “effects” in the question. Look at the red words below to

see how I do this. You will find a lot more words on my lesson cause and

effect vocabulary

cause and effect

Climate change vocabulary. This is the topic vocabulary of the essay. If

you need more, take a look at my vocabulary lesson on this:

climate change vocabulary

Suggestion language. Don’t forget this. You have options here too. The

mistake is to go “must” “must” “must”. English had lots of words for this.

Think of

should

need

can

There is now little doubt that global warming and climate change are the

result of human activity. This has happened because of a failure in

environmental policy by governments and a lack of concern for wasted

energy by individuals.

It is almost universally accepted that climate change is the consequence

of a number of environmental failings. Perhaps the most important of these

is how fossil fuels such as gas and coal are still the main source of power.

This is a problem because their use means that a large amount of CO2 is

released into the atmosphere causing the greenhouse effect. Another

serious issue is how illegal logging continues in rainforests and the Amazon

Basin in particular. It should also not be forgotten that there is a connection

between global warming and the inefficient use of energy by consumers in

the home.

While governments must take prime responsibility for reducing climate

change, individuals too can play a part. Political leaders across the

globe need to cooperate so that research into renewable forms of

energy such as wind and solar power is properly funded and the use ofcoal

and gas in power stations is phased out. They must also of course ensure

that regulations against logging are properly enforced. Consumers of

energy can help by insulating their homes properly and using solar

panels where possible so that less energy is required and wasted. These

actions should limit the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and so reduce the

greenhouse effect.

In conclusion, while global warming is a serious threat to humanity, there

are a number of steps that can be taken to reduce its effects.

(274 words)Test yourself on some of this language

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