17 IELTS Mistakes That Cost Marks (and How to Stop Making Them)

There are two kinds of lost marks in IELTS. The first kind reflects your English and takes months to fix. The second kind reflects not knowing the rules of the exam, and can be fixed this afternoon. This article is entirely about the second kind, which accounts for a surprising share of the gap between the score people get and the score their English deserves.

Writing

1. 1Not answering every part of the question. Task Response caps at Band 6 if a part is missing. Discuss both views and give your own opinion is three obligations, and the opinion is the one most often dropped.
2. 2Writing far more than the word count. Task 2 asks for at least 250 words. A 400-word essay is not rewarded — it usually contains more errors, weaker structure, and cost you the time you needed for checking.
3. 3Writing under the word count. This is penalised directly. Learn what 250 of your own words looks like on the page so you never have to count.
4. 4A memorised introduction. In this contemporary era, this topic has become a matter of great controversy is recognised instantly and marked as what it is.
5. 5No clear position. Band 7 requires a position that is stated and held throughout. Balanced-to-the-point-of-invisible reads as an undeveloped response.
6. 6Two half-explained ideas per paragraph. One idea, explained, with a specific example, scores higher every time.
7. 7Describing every data point in Task 1. Task 1 wants an overview and the significant features, not a list. An essay with no overview sentence is capped.

Speaking

1. 1One-word answers in Part 1. There is nothing to mark. Answer, add a reason, add an example — two or three sentences.
2. 2Reciting a memorised Part 2 answer. It is audible, it caps your score, and it falls apart on the follow-up question.
3. 3Writing sentences during the preparation minute. You will read them aloud, and it sounds like reading aloud. Note four or five keywords instead.
4. 4Stopping early in Part 2. You have up to two minutes; the examiner will stop you. Stopping at forty seconds costs Fluency marks directly.
5. 5Using words you do not control. A mis-used sophisticated word scores worse than a correctly used ordinary one.
6. 6Self-correcting constantly. Restarting a sentence to fix a small error costs more Fluency than the error cost Accuracy.

Reading

1. 1Reading the whole passage first. You do not have time. Read the questions, then scan.
2. 2Overspending on passage one. Twenty minutes each, enforced. Most candidates lose their marks on passage three because they never reach it properly.
3. 3Confusing "Not Given" with "False". Not Given means the passage does not address it. It is not the same as the passage contradicting it, and it is not a judgement about whether the claim is true in reality.
4. 4Exceeding the word limit on gap-fills. No more than two words means a three-word answer scores zero, however correct it is.

Listening

1. 1Not reading ahead. Every gap between sections exists so you can read the next questions. Not using them is the most expensive habit in the paper.
2. 2Chasing a missed answer. Let it go instantly. Candidates routinely lose three questions trying to recover one.
3. 3Spelling and format errors. A correctly heard answer spelled wrong is wrong. So is a missing plural, or writing a word where the answer sheet expects a number.