TEN Essay Writing Tips to help
you write a better essay for IELTS
by: Fiona Young www.angloflow.com
1. Highlight or underline key words in the question
You must spend time doing this before you write, as it will help you to focus on writing about all
parts of the question. For example:
Some people think that exercise is the key to health, while others feel that having a balanced diet is
more important.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion
In this question, you must talk about why some people think exercise is important, and why others
think that a balanced diet is important. If you only talk about the importance of exercise, you will
lose marks. It is also essential that you say how you feel about the topic (‘Give your own opinion’)
2. Use the question to help you write a paragraph plan
Most IELTS essay questions actually provide your essay structure for you. In the following
problem-solution essay, you will see how the paragraph plan follows the order of the information
given in the question. The colour-coding will help you to better understand this.
• More and more people are migrating to cities in search of a better life, but city life can be
extremely difficult. Explain some of the difficulties of living in a city. How can governments
make urban life better for everyone?
Introduction: Paraphrase the first sentence to provide a background to the topic
Body Paragraph 1: Discuss the problems of city life (second sentence of question)
Body Paragraph 2: Suggest some possible solutions (third sentence of question)
3. Make your opinion clear
IELTS essays are opinion essays, so you are required to give your opinion. It doesn’t matter where
you do it, but it must be clearly stated somewhere in the essay.
In a ‘discuss both sides’ essay, you will probably state your opinion in the introduction and
conclusion (and possibly through the body paragraphs as well). The same will be true for an
‘agree-disagree’ essay.
In a ‘problem-solution’ essay, you can give your opinion in the conclusion. (For example: ‘Despite
the problems involved in X, I believe that with the above-mentioned action from the government,
solutions can be implemented fairly easily.’)
by: Fiona Young www.angloflow.com
In an ‘advantages-disadvantage’s essay, you would probably also give your opinion in the
conclusion.
Don’t be afraid to write “I believe” or “in my opinion”. Many students think that writing “I” is too
impersonal, but this is actually what you are expected to do.
4. Write a clear introduction
Your introduction should tell the reader what your essay will be about. An ideal length is three
sentences.
Sentence 1: General background to the topic
Sentence 2: Narrower focus on the problem outlined in the essay
Sentence 3: An outline of the direction your essay will take. *
* This will often mean giving your opinion. (It does NOT mean saying “In this essay I will discuss both sides and give
my opinion.” This does not add anything of value to your answer.)
Look again at the essay title in Tip #1 above:
• Some people think that exercise is the key to health, while others feel that having a balanced
diet is more important.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion
The introduction for the essay might look something like this:
• Obesity is becoming an increasingly common issue in our society. Many people believe that
exercise is the key to solving this problem. However, whilst I agree that physical activity is
important to maintaining health, I believe it can only be effective when combined with
healthy eating.
5. Make sure each paragraph has one clear central topic and a
relevant topic sentence
The first sentence (or “topic sentence”) in any paragraph should explain exactly what that
paragraph will be about. In the above essay question, the first body paragraph might start like
this:
by: Fiona Young www.angloflow.com
• Doing regular exercise has numerous health benefits for people of all ages.
The rest of the paragraph should develop this idea, providing reasons and examples. It should
ONLY deal with this topic.
6. Write a short, clear conclusion
Your conclusion should restate your opinion in different words. It should not summarize all your
arguments. And it should not include any new information. Keep it short and simple; two or three
sentences should be enough.
In the essay about health above, the conclusion might be as follows:
• To sum up, there is little doubt that eating a healthy diet and taking regular exercise are
extremely beneficial to our overall health. However, I strongly believe that it is only through a
combination of both approaches that optimum health and increased life expectancy can be
achieved.
In a problem-solution essay, like the one in Tip #2 above, you could explain that although there
are problems involved in X, there are also various steps that can be taken to combat them.
• In conclusion, it is clear that migrating to cities does not come without its challenges.
However, with the implementation of the relatively inexpensive measures mentioned above, I
believe that governments can make them more attractive places to live.
As you can see, the conclusion is very general, and it is actually very similar to your introduction.
7. Show off your vocabulary
To get a 7 or above, you need to use more advanced vocabulary. For example, instead of the word
happy, you could say satisfied or content; instead of buy, you could say consume or purchase; a
cheap house could be low-cost accommodation.
To score highly in IELTS you also need to show “an awareness of collocation”; this means that you
use words and phrases that are frequently used together: for example, we say a heavy smoker
rather than a big smoker, or a significant increase rather than a big increase. You can improve your
awareness of collocation by reading as much as possible in English.
It is also important to use your OWN language and not steal words and phrases from the question.
by: Fiona Young www.angloflow.com
In the essay title above, the phrase ‘having a balanced diet’ can be changed to ‘eating healthily’,
and ‘problems’ could be changed to ‘issues.’
8. Use a range of grammatical structures
As with vocabulary, it is important to show that you can use both basic and complex grammatical
structures. A complex structure is formed when two or more basic sentences are combined.
For example:
• Many people have a sedentary lifestyle. This has led to an increase in obesity rates in society.
These two sentences can be combined as follows, using the relative pronoun “which”
• Many people have a sedentary lifestyle, which has led to an increase in obesity rates in
society.
Ideally you should have a range of complex structures to add variety to your writing.
9. Use linking words and phrases to link your ideas
These include contrast words such as “however” and “on the other hand” to introduce opposing
ideas, and words like “also” and “in addition” to add new information. This is sometimes called
“signposting”, because by using them you are helping to guide the reader through your essay, as if
you were taking him or her on a journey.
10. Check your work after writing
Taking the time to check your work after finishing can make the difference between a 6.5 and a 7.
Check for things you know you have trouble with. If articles (a, an, the) are your weakness,
challenge yourself to re-read your essay and to find 5 mistakes with articles. You’ll be amazed at
how many mistakes you can fix in this way. This helps to improve your overall accuracy, which in
turn will help you to get a higher mark in the exam.
by: Fiona Young www.angloflow.com
