I have already shown how you can use IELTS reading and listening texts to help you develop your language skills to help you prepare for the IELTS test, and in this blog post, I will show you how you can use sample writing answers to help you prepare for the IELTS writing test.
First of all, before reading a sample answer, it would obviously be beneficial to think a little about the question or task. Even if you don’t want to write an answer yourself first, you can still take some time to think about the question and what you would include in your answer. For part 1, this might include:
- thinking about how to change the language in the question to write the first sentence
- identifying the main features and thinking about what information to include in an overview
- thinking about what specific details you would include and what data to describe
- thinking about how you would organise these specific details into two or three paragraphs
- thinking about what language you could use to describe the data, map changes, process, etc.
For part 2, this might include:
- understanding what you need to do to answer the question
- thinking about your opinion on the topic
- thinking about what ideas you could include and how to develop these ideas
- thinking about how to organise these ideas into paragraphs
- thinking about what language you could use to show your opinion and link ideas together
Once you have done these, you can then read a sample answer and compare against your own ideas and make a note of any differences. For part 1 answers, probably the most useful thing you can do is focus on what information is included in the overview, identify what data has been reported and identify any language that has been used to describe the data, map changes or stages in a process.
For part 2, the most useful thing to do probably involves identifying the overall opinion, the organisation of the main body, how ideas have been developed with reasons and examples in each paragraph and any language that has been used to show opinion and link ideas together.
However, when using sample answers, you need to make sure that you are using reliable answers as there is a lot of material available that is of questionable quality. Here are some websites that I think have quite reliable samples answers that you can be helpful for you:
Part 1 Sample Answers
Part 2 Sample Answers
Self-Study English 