The challenge

When your IELTS Writing tasks are being graded, the examiner will look at four main areas – task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. (Check out the detailed band descriptors for IELTS Writing – scroll down almost to the bottom of the page.) If you take a closer look at lexical resource, you’ll see that your IELTS Writing band score will depend, in part, on the range of vocabulary you use. You only have 150 words in Part 1 and 250 words in Part 2 to do this, so you need to make every word count. Examiners are looking to see if a candidate:

• ‘uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task’ (Band 6)
• ‘uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision’ (Band 7)
• ‘uses a wide range of vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings’ (Band 8-9)

Notice that the descriptors reward two things at once: range (showing you know varied vocabulary) and precision (choosing the right word for the job). In this post, we look at how to build both.

The solution

The first step is to widen your vocabulary. Reading is a great place to start. You can read IELTS-related texts, newspapers, anything that interests you, and you can use vocabulary apps too. Rather than relying on quick fixes, this approach will improve your overall reading skill, which will benefit you in the long run.

One tip that makes a real difference: when you meet a new word, learn it together with the words that usually go with it – its collocations. For example, don’t just learn impact; learn have a significant impact on. Don’t just learn decision; learn make a difficult decision. Examiners notice this immediately, because natural collocation is one of the clearest signs of a wide, flexible vocabulary.

But that’s only half the story. It’s equally important to be concise in both of your writing tasks.

George Orwell, English novelist and stylist, wrote six rules for effective writing in his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language. Rule number 3 is: ‘If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.’

It is often easy to do this. Look at the phrases below, and try to replace each one with a single word (you’ll find suggested answers at the end of the post).

1. at this moment in time
2. in spite of the fact that
3. smaller in size
4. red in colour
5. few in number
6. in the event that
7. is allowed to
8. last but not least
9. with the exception of
10. at all times

Incidentally, you may think that Orwell’s rule – at 13 words – is too wordy, and that it contradicts itself. Can you replace it with just three words?

When you build a better vocabulary, you have the tools to write with fewer and better words. This will make it easier to say what you want to say within the IELTS Writing 150 or 250 word limit.

Next step

When you have completed the exercise above and checked your answers, go back to a practice essay you have written recently. Look at each sentence and see how many words you can remove while still expressing the same idea. You may need to rewrite the sentence, or simply remove some unnecessary (or ‘filler’) words. Then, read the essay one last time and see how your style has improved.

For more tips, take a look at our four keys to success in IELTS Writing here.

Suggested answers

1. now
2. although
3. smaller
4. red
5. few
6. if
7. can
8. finally
9. except
10. always

Orwell’s rule in three words: Remove unnecessary words.