IELTS Computer Delivered Tests + Band Score

Paragraphing in IELTS Writing Task 1

by Mohammad Rahmani
(Iran, Shiraz)

I took academic IELTS test 8th April 2017 and here are my results

L: 8
R: 8
S: 7.5
W: 6

I wrote one of my best writings but I forgot to to clearly demonstrate my paragraphs in Task 1. That is I wrote the whole text without leaving blank lines for just Task 1.

Do you think if an ask for remark may change my score in writing?

Comments for Paragraphing in IELTS Writing Task 1

Click here to add your own comments

May 02, 2017
 Paragraphs in IELTS Writing Task 1
by: IELTS buddy

That is unlikely to have been the reason you got 6 in writing.

Paragraphing in the Task 1 graph is not as important as for the Task 2 essay. The most important thing is to make it coherent by grouping information together so it is easy to read and follow.

Of course you should aim to put these groups into paragraphs as it is important to make it as easy to read as possible for the examiner. However, it is not an absolute requirement as regards the grading (except for band 8 and 9 - see below) so if it is still easy to follow without paragraphs and organised well, that will be ok and your score will not be reduced.

Paragraphs in the IELTS writing Task 1 are important when you start talking about band 8 or 9 for Task 1, but like I say, not putting them in is not going to be the reason you dropped to a 6. There must be something else.

Anyway, it seems from what you say that you did use paragraphs but you did not leave a gap / space between them on the page?

That does not matter as long as it was still clear it was a new paragraph, such as by indenting the first line.

It's impossible to predict if a remark would increase your score or not. It's possible but I wouldn't base it on your paragraphing. Just get a remark if you think an error has been made and you think your score should be higher.

Though be aware that as you got 8s in two other components it's possible it has been rechecked already.
May 02, 2017
 Appreciation
by: Mohammad Rahmani

Thank you very much for your thorough answer about paragraphs in IELTS Writing Task 1. This helps me a lot with taking a better decision.

There is just two other points I'd like to share with you and that is, I have heard just when there is a 2 score difference between writing and speaking, they may reference the writing twice.

Is that the case or as you said, since I already have two eight's, they for sure have looked it up once again?

The other thing is, since my handwriting is usually bad, I think it might also have played an adverse role in my writing score. If that is the case, may someone else who is more patient, give me a better score?
May 02, 2017
 Paragraphs in IELTS Writing Task 1
by: IELTS buddy

Actually IELTS don't officially make pubic the circumstances under which they do remark papers, so given it is confidential it's not really possible to say here exactly which papers they will choose to remark.

But you are right that if you search on the internet, people tend to say it's the difference between the writing and speaking which will flag up a possible problem. But as I said I can't answer that with 100% certainty.

A remark is always going to be a bit of a gamble really as it's impossible to predict what could happen.

It's usually worth it if you are for some good reason very confident it is wrong. Also if you only need half a band increase it's better as it's less likely to go up by a whole band (though that does happen).

With regards to the handwriting, you aren't graded on your handwriting, but of course if it is so bad the examiner can't actually work out what you are saying in places this could affect your score because how can the examiner know for sure if you are spelling correctly or good at collocating?

But I don't think a remark on that basis is a good idea because if your handwriting was poor the examiner should still have done their best to try and read it, and if they couldn't, a new examiner is likely to have the same problem.

If you think it really is a problem and is affecting your score, you are better to work on improving it and taking the test again.

Ideally you should get a trained IELTS instructor to look at some samples of your essays / graphs and then you will have an idea of your level.
May 02, 2017
 Thank you very much
by: Anonymous

Thank you very much for your thorough and careful reply. I really appreciate it.

Best regards
Mohammad Rahmani
May 04, 2017
 please send me some essay
by: vinod

Please drop me a line so that I can learn a lot of knowledge. My target is 6 band. Reading and listening are big problem for me. Thanks
May 06, 2017
 Paragraphing in task 1
by: DR HPSSandhu

Indeed paragraphing has a great value but it does not effect the band worth. The basic reason is that students explain every bit, but they should be grouping the information and giving vital information.

If you look at the statement it says give important and significant facts and not each and everything, so when dealing with task 1 only give the most significant, noticeable facts as it is factual information and in factual important facts are given.
May 07, 2017
 What where the writing task
by: Hadi

Congratulation Mohammad for this high marks.
Could you tell us what were the writing and speaking questions?

Regards
Jun 04, 2017
 No change finally
by: Anonymous

Dear contributors, after 3 weeks, I am informed by the IELTS organization that my inquiry didn't change my writing results. I hope this helps the rest.
Jun 06, 2017
 good online practice for reading and writing
by: Anonymous

Can anyone suggest good online portals for reading and writing practice?
Jul 15, 2017
 No paraphrase in the introduction in task 1
by: Anonymous

It is said if you do not paraphrase the words in the introduction of task 1(any repetitive words or same words with the topic), those words will not be counted in the total 150 words, and such a writing will get a low score.

Are these true?

thank you!
Jul 20, 2017
 No paraphrase in the introduction in task 1
by: IELTS buddy

An examiner will of course only rate language that is yours. For example if you had clearly memorized an essay and copied it out, it wouldn't be your language.

With regards to what you say about the introduction though it's not possible to say that would automatically mean a low score. The rest of the essay was still yours so your score would depend on the content of that.
Oct 10, 2017
 please help
by: barbs

So how am I to paragraph for a band 8 or 9? Am I supposed to indent and leave a blank space in between paragraphs?
Oct 13, 2017
 please help
by: IELTS buddy

Indenting or leaving a space between paragraphs has nothing to do with getting an band IELTS band 8 or 9.

Indenting is not important but it's best to leave a space between paragraphs regardless of what band you want.

The purpose is just to make sure the examiner notices that it's a new paragraph. If you don't there is a danger that it will look like part of the last paragraph and then you could lose marks for not paragraphing properly.
Oct 17, 2017
 Essential Task 1 Report Elements
by: Blake Davis

With 5 years of experience as an examiner I can say that candidates have 3 key responsibilities to get a 7 on their reports.

First, all reports must have overviews. (Remember two things about this: (1) describe at least two significant features of the diagram; and (2) make sure that the comments are concise; they should appear as a single group of ideas that are usually preceded by the word Overall,...

Second, data, or numbers, have to be part of the report. How much data? Enough to prove the validity of the information in the overview along with one or two interesting details of the diagram.

Last of all, always be careful to use complex sentences when you write. This is a must.

For more information, visit ieltswriting.ru or drop me a line at eli@ieltswriting.ru

Good luck!
Jun 12, 2018
 Ielts questions and answers
by: Anonymous

Good day
With 5 years and more of experience as an examiners, we assist students who willing to seat for the ielts exam to obtain good band scores.
We will be glad to be of assistance to you. For more info,
please visit our website http://ieltsforyou.webs.com/
For easy communication, you can contact us through whatsapp at
+1 (720) 257 9832.
Regards
Adams
Oct 14, 2018
 Score
by: Anonymous

I made a spelling mistake in writing ..I wrote accommote instead of accommodate.will it impact my score
Oct 20, 2018
 Score
by: IELTS buddy

You are misunderstanding the way the scoring works as you are not given 'points' off for spelling mistakes. The examiner would look at the density of mistakes over your whole writing but they would also be looking at other things such as collocations.

Unless you are a band 9 writer it's also likely that you may have made more than that one mistake.
Oct 26, 2019
 Using hyphen (dash) in writing
by: Anonymous

Hello everyone,
In writing, when I reach the end of a line, do I have to break words, using hyphen and dash, to justify all lines?
Thank you

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Academic Writing Task 1 Forum.

Show / Hide

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

ielts buddy ebooks