IELTS Writing Task 2 Improvement Plan: 6 Weeks of Drills

IELTS Writing Task 2 is marked on four equally weighted criteria: Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The fastest way to improve is to work out which of those four is actually holding your essays back, then drill that criterion deliberately for several weeks instead of writing more untargeted practice essays.

Task 2 is the 250-word discursive essay in the IELTS Writing module. It carries twice the weight of Task 1, which is why most candidates get more return from improving Task 2 than from polishing chart descriptions. Check the current test format on the official IELTS website before you plan.

What each Task 2 criterion rewards

These are descriptions of what each criterion attends to, not the official band descriptors. Read the published descriptors on the IELTS site so you know how the same criterion is judged at different levels.

Which Task 2 question types should I prepare for?

Most Task 2 prompts fall into a small number of recognisable shapes, and the shape dictates what your essay has to contain. Misreading the shape is the single most expensive mistake in Task Response.

• Opinion (agree or disagree): state a consistent position and defend it throughout.
• Discussion (discuss both views and give your opinion): cover both views properly, then make your own view unmistakable.
• Advantages and disadvantages: cover both sides; check whether the prompt also asks you to weigh them.
• Problem and solution (or causes and solutions): the solutions must match the problems or causes you named.
• Two-part or direct question: answer both parts, with roughly balanced development.

Practise identifying the type in under a minute. A useful drill is to collect twenty prompts, label each one, and write only the thesis sentence for each. That trains the decision without the cost of a full essay.

How do I plan a Task 2 essay in five minutes?

Plan at the paragraph level, not the sentence level. You need a position, two body paragraphs with one idea each, and a sense of how each idea will be supported before you write a word.

1. Read twice and underline the task words. Separate the topic (what the essay is about) from the instruction (what you must do with it).
2. Write your position in one sentence. If you cannot, you do not yet have a thesis, and Task Response will suffer.
3. Choose two ideas that genuinely support that position. Two developed ideas beat four undeveloped ones.
4. Add one word of support to each idea: a reason, a consequence, an example or a comparison.
5. Decide the concession. Where will you acknowledge the other side, and in which paragraph?
6. Start writing at minute five, whatever the plan looks like. An imperfect plan executed calmly outperforms a perfect plan with fifteen minutes left.

Keep the plan on the question paper as four lines of notes. It is not marked, and time spent making it neat is time taken from the essay.

What does Task Response actually reward?

It rewards answering the question in front of you, fully, with ideas that are explained rather than listed. Examiners are reading for whether your position is clear and whether every part of the prompt has been addressed.

Two habits help most. First, mirror the prompt's own wording in your thesis so the connection is explicit. Second, apply the "so what" test to every body paragraph: after the idea sentence, keep asking why it matters until you have written two or three sentences of genuine explanation. Support does not have to be a statistic, and you should not invent one. A plausible consequence, a worked-through mechanism or a concrete everyday example is enough.

How do I improve Coherence and Cohesion without linking-word spam?

Fix the paragraphs first and the linking will largely take care of itself. Coherence is created by one clear idea per paragraph, a topic sentence that names it, and a visible order of reasoning.

Cohesion is the surface layer: referencing with pronouns and substitution, controlled repetition of key nouns, and connectives used only where the relationship is real. If you delete every connective from a paragraph and the logic still reads clearly, your cohesion is doing its job. If the paragraph collapses, the structure was being propped up by signposting.

Is a memorised vocabulary list enough for Lexical Resource?

No. Lexical Resource rewards precision and natural collocation far more than rarity. A common word used exactly is stronger than an unusual word used approximately.

Build vocabulary by topic family rather than by alphabetical list: education, work and automation, environment, health, urban living, technology and society, crime and justice, culture. For each family, record ten collocations rather than ten single words, because collocation errors are what mark vocabulary as memorised. Note spelling separately, since spelling sits inside this criterion. The spaced repetition tracker is a practical way to keep those collocations returning across weeks.

How do I raise Grammatical Range and Accuracy?

Range and accuracy are scored together, so adding complex structures you cannot control does not help. The goal is a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences that you can punctuate correctly.

Work from your own error log. Most candidates have a short, stable list of recurring faults: articles, subject-verb agreement, countable and uncountable nouns, comma splices, tense consistency, and preposition choice after common verbs. Fix them one at a time. Practise two or three structures that add genuine range, such as relative clauses, conditional sentences and a fronted subordinate clause, until they are automatic. The method in the mock-test error log guide transfers directly to writing errors.

A six-week Task 2 drill plan

This is a sample schedule for a candidate writing four to six hours a week. Adapt it to your own baseline and test date rather than following it literally.

Put each essay and each rewrite on the calendar as a separate task in your study plan so the rewrite is never quietly dropped. Rewriting is where the improvement happens; writing a fresh essay every day mostly rehearses your current level.

How do I mark my own essay?

Read it four times, once per criterion, and write a specific fault each time instead of guessing a band number. Self-estimated bands are unreliable and tend to stall improvement.

• Task Response: Is every part of the prompt answered? Is the position consistent from introduction to conclusion? Is each idea explained or merely asserted?
• Coherence and Cohesion: Does each paragraph contain one idea? Does each topic sentence name it? Remove all connectives; does the logic survive?
• Lexical Resource: Circle five word choices. Is each one precise? Does each collocation sound natural? Any spelling errors?
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Underline every error you can find unaided. How many sentence types appear? Are complex sentences punctuated correctly?

Then write one line at the bottom: the single change you will make in the next essay. If you can get a teacher or a strong speaker to mark a subset of your essays, use their feedback to calibrate this checklist rather than replacing it.

What if my other IELTS sections need work too?

Task 2 improvement is slow and deserves protected time, but it should not eat the rest of your preparation. Fold it into a full-module plan such as the 12-week IELTS band 7 plan, which schedules Listening, Reading and Speaking alongside Writing.

If you are still deciding which English test to take, compare formats before you commit: the PTE Academic six-week plan covers a computer-scored integrated-skills test, the TOEFL eight-week plan covers the iBT, and healthcare registrants should look at the OET nursing plan. Acceptance varies by university, employer and immigration route, so confirm with the institution before choosing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the four IELTS Writing Task 2 assessment criteria?

Task 2 is marked on Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Task Response covers whether you answer the whole question with a clear position and developed ideas. Coherence and Cohesion covers organisation and linking. Lexical Resource covers vocabulary range and precision. Grammatical Range and Accuracy covers sentence variety and error control.

How long should I spend on IELTS Writing Task 2?

The usual recommendation is around 40 minutes of the 60-minute Writing module, because Task 2 carries twice the weight of Task 1. A workable split is five minutes planning, thirty minutes writing and five minutes checking. Practise that timing from the start so the plan and the final read-through never get squeezed out.

What is the minimum word count for IELTS Writing Task 2?

Task 2 asks for at least 250 words. Writing fewer than that is penalised, so build a habit of comfortably clearing the minimum rather than counting words during the exam. Aim for a length you can reach reliably in the time available, and spend the extra effort on developing ideas rather than adding filler sentences.

Do linking words improve my Coherence and Cohesion score?

Only when they signal a relationship that actually exists. Mechanically opening every sentence with Firstly, Moreover or In conclusion is a common ceiling on this criterion. Coherence comes mainly from one clear idea per paragraph, a topic sentence that states it, and referencing such as pronouns and synonyms that avoid needless repetition.

How can I mark my own IELTS Task 2 essay?

Read the essay four times, once per criterion, and record a specific fault each time rather than a number. Check that you answered every part of the question, that each paragraph has one idea, that word choices are precise and not memorised, and that you can find and correct your own grammar errors. Log recurring faults.

Is Academic Task 2 different from General Training Task 2?

The two versions use the same four assessment criteria, the same 250-word minimum and a similar discursive essay format, so most preparation transfers. Topic framing can feel slightly more everyday in General Training. The difference between the versions is much larger in Task 1, where Academic uses data description and General Training uses a letter.

Your next action

Write one timed 40-minute essay today and mark it against the four-criterion checklist above. Name the weakest criterion, then schedule the week 2 drills for it in MyStudyPlanner so each essay and each rewrite appears on the calendar as its own task with a date attached.