IELTS Computer Delivered Tests + Band Score

Stuck on 6.5 in writing!!!!!

by misha
(manchester)

hello.

I am a doctor.

I graduated and did my MBBS from Pakistan.

I have given the IELTS (ACADEMIC) twice and got a 6.5 in writing. Worst part, I dont know what my mistake is. I followed all the steps and made sure I am using the right vocabulary and the coherency and cohesion.

I had 8 in speaking both the times. Listening and reading were fine too, above 7.

Its creating a huge hurdle as I need a 7 score in each part of the test.

Kindly, Let me know if there are any intensive courses available.

I only have issue with the writing.

Comments for Stuck on 6.5 in writing!!!!!

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Aug 06, 2016
 Three possible causes and a suggestion
by: Mike

Did you read the questions carefully at least twice and work out exactly what you were being asked to write about?

Did you write too many words, thereby wasting time that you could have spent checking what you had written and improving it, making the sentences more complex, noticing missing words and putting them in, correcting spelling, looking for missing 's' at the end of a noun (plural) or a verb (He go !!!)?

Did each of your carefully planned paragraphs begin with a short sentence saying what the para' was about, and containing at least one key word from the question so as to improve C & C?

Find an English speaker and ask them to check the words you use in practice writing e.g. take IELTS, not give IELTS, in Pakistan not from Pakistan, missing articles, etc.

Good luck next time.
Feb 28, 2019
 This can help in writing
by: Anonymous

https://youtu.be/lIwP1IY10WI

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IELTS struggle for band 7

by Casper
(Philippines)

Hello everyone!

It has somehow alleviated my stress level after reading several comments in this forum. I am one with those having trouble in writing. Stuck at 6.5.

I would appreciate if anyone can comment with my essay so i know how to improve.

Thanks in advance.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of leaving your country to live or study abroad?

Globalization has brought about several changes in our modern times, one of which is increasing number of migrations between countries for purposes of education or work. In the advent of modern technology in communications and transportation, this movement is now easily attainable. When long-term goal is considered, the homesickness which migration can cause as well as the expenses it entails will all be worth it for the sake of independence, learning and career growth. These reasons will further be discussed in this essay.

One major drawback of migration is the psychological effect of distance away from home. Most people experience homesickness especially when they are alone with no support system. To site an example, a good number of nurses from the Philippines opt to move to the Middle East for work to be able to provide well for the family. Being in a totally difference environment surrounded by various nationalities and living with a different culture, homesickness is of high probability. Another disadvantage is the cost of living required overseas. Given the same scenario for instance, earning in a foreign currency generally is of bigger worth than Philippine peso. However, living away from home means spending money for basic commodities, which are in fact far more expensive. Additional expenses are also made with communication as well as travel expenses going to and from the Middle East and Philippines.

Turning to the other side of the discussion, one significant advantage of studying or working abroad is the independence and strength is brings out in every individual. For one thing, living alone means taking care of oneself, from food to laundry and when moving from one place to another. Support system is not as available as it is at home, and people compensate by holding on to will and faith. Second, education abroad provides learning that is modernized. To illustrate, studying in Harvard University in the USA can provide up-to-date and evidence-based information as well as state-of-the-art technology for teaching methods are utilized. The knowledge gained, especially when certified, will in most case be an edge for future careers anywhere in the world. Lastly, working abroad can enhance one’s career with the skills and capabilities that are gained during the experience. To site an example, for the IT specialists, being able to work in Singapore where information technology are quite highly advanced, there will be a definite increase in one’s credibility upon return in the Philippines.

After all things considered, migration to other countries for further studies or work will generally result to independence as well as personal and career growth. Although hindrances like homesickness and high cost of living is a possible threat, if managed positively, cannot deter the brighter future of migrating overseas can offer.

Comments for IELTS struggle for band 7

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Aug 24, 2015
 Topic sentences
by: Anonymous

Your essay is really good! However, your topic sentences need to include a summary of all the main ideas in the body paragraph, not just the first main point.
Aug 24, 2015
 So great
by: Anonymous

I hope that I can write similar to these paragraph. I've done my ielts several times with overall score 5.5.... Pray for me to score 6.5..
Sep 01, 2015
 check mine too
by: Anonymous

Can someone check mine too?

WRITING TASK 2:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic:

A person’s worth nowadays seems to be judged according to social status and material possessions. Old-fashioned values, such as honour, kindness and trust, no longer seem important.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

My answer:

It is a famous verse, "Fame is vapor, Popularity an incident,
One thing endures;
And that is--- Character".

Under the limelight of this famous extract, I strongly disagree with the idea that personal and moral values are of lesser importance than social status and material possessions to know a person’s worth.

All the famous personalities of past and present are renowned because of their work, not by their wealth. Money can never over-take the importance of honor, kindness and trust. These are the things that a person reflects by his doings. If someone has a lot of money, but if he is selfish and deals people with high hand then he can never gain respect. It is the world of cruelty where life and person’s worth revolve around money. If we see examples of top most personalities such as Nelson Mandela, Holy Prophet (PBUH), etc, they all worked on the principles of honesty and true determination. Their worth has been defined in golden words in history by virtue of their work, deeds and character. It is a misconception that a person can gain value only when he is rich and he adepts to worldly tantrums. These things cannot buy prestige to human. Let’s take example of Florence Nightingale. She is known as the Lady with the Lamp, not because she had money, but because she served humbly as a Nurse to help people.

In my opinion, being honest, faithful and warm hearted are not the old-fashioned values. These are the spirits of an ideal character which money can never buy. No financial statement can compete them. Money can buy you good clothes, but not good mannerism. Person’s worth is not judged by his social class, infact by how a man utilizes his resources. Being humble, down to earth and truthful are the mainstays by which people are remembered in good books. Money cannot define nature or values so it can never judge a person’s importance. Media, nowadays, is playing a very negative role by depicting such dramas where rich is regarded more respectful and famous than the poor; where an honest person is always seen living a desserted life. Such negative influences should not be promoted as they can never be compared with moral values.

Selflessness and kindness cannot be measured in quantity like money so these things are priceless and precious. Hence I contradict with the statement that social status and material possessions defines a person’s true worth.
Sep 02, 2015
 Looks like an 8 to me!!
by: Anonymous

Hey, I can't believe this is only worth 6,5. I am not an IELTS expert, but I set the test, also got 6,5 and my writing is far worse than yours. To me it looks like an 8. Feeling hopeless now!!
Sep 03, 2015
 I still got 6.5
by: Anonymous

@above: Hey Thanks, Even i do not know what ielts cambridge wants from us. I am stuck at band 6.5 inspite of having this calibre of writing. Need 7.5 to nail. I wish if i can know their criteria of checking.
Sep 07, 2015
 Task & Organization
by: Anonymous

Maybe it's about the task. The question was about living and studying abroad, but you open a topic about working abroad.

Another is the use of transitions and organizing your ideas.

If you can improve this to a more organized essay, you will surely achieve higher than 6.5.

These are just my observations.
Sep 07, 2015
 @above: can u comment on mine too
by: Anonymous

Can you please analyze and assess my essay too? it is about A person’s worth nowadays seems to be judged according to social status and material possessions. Old-fashioned values, such as honour, kindness and trust, no longer seem important.. Look 2 comments above yours. it is posted there
Sep 08, 2015
 Thank you for the comments
by: Casper

Thank you for your comments.

I do understand the suggestions. And I tried to adjust. I am still waiting for the results of my last attempt. Hopefully i get my target band score.

Again, i appreciate the comments.
Feb 04, 2016
 Highlights
by: Anonymous

I really think you have a lot of examples, some are not well developed, and as for living it is quite different from working abroad because it should tackle with the social aspect, not the economic/financial aspect. Finally, the vocabulary is good but some are not in a "complex sentence" like.

Per paragraph
One main topic sentence (simple sentence)
Explain (complex sentence)
Further explain (complex sentence)
Example (complex sentence)
Jun 28, 2016
 the essay in comment section
by: Anonymous

I have different way of writing that essay. I think that the question means:

"Is it true that NOWADAYS people show more respect to those have money or reputation not people with good personalities".

If i am right, your answer might go wrong way since it's about discussing whether that phenomena is true or not and give some explanations.

Honestly i'm quite confused so this is just my opinion, not a critical comment on your essay.

Not an ielts expert, just a person with different way of understanding the topic.
Feb 16, 2017
 my comment
by: Anonymous

hi there, I just want to say that it's better to give one example for each supportive paragraph but don't explain too much - stay to the point.

Don't write more than two supportive paragraphs and the introduction, which should be brief, and the conclusion of course.

wish you all the best.
May 08, 2017
 Task 2
by: Anonymous

It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes claimed that any child can be taught to become a good sport person or musician.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Every human being have certain abilities, such as singing, dancing, drawing, painting and so forth. Some people hold the view that human has born with special talents, while others believe that they have been taught to be talented. In this essay, I will discuss both views with relevant examples and provide my opinion with concluding sentences.

To begin with, one group of people are on the view that human being have certain talents when they were born. That is to say, they claim that the skills that human have is God gifted, and nobody has taught them to achieve that capacities. For instance, Albert Einstein, was the child who grew up to be a genius and until now he is famous because of his remarkable capacities and professionalism.

On the other hand, some people, sate that humankind have particular abilities because of being taught by some other masters. They insist that mankind cannot have the skills from birth. To be more specific, this group of folk maintain that people should have passion and they need more stimulation for developing certain talents. Therefore, the assistance of a teacher is necessary with this matter who can motivate and evolve that desire on people to receive certain skills.

To put everything in a nutshell, some people say that human are born with specific talents, while others feel that being skillful is needed to be taught. Personally, I think that there are many people in the world that have born with inconceivable aptitudes and cleverness. However, motivation is also important.
Jan 14, 2019
 Introdcution
by: Anonymous

Good day!

I work for a Chinese company and my job is to check IELTS writing task 2 essays.

Your essay was impressive. I would just like to make a suggestion.

Firstly, your introduction part was too lengthy. In task 2, introductions normally contain only two sentences. There is no need for you to write about "globalization" or any other background topics. This will not help you increase your band score.

Secondly, the question asks you to enumerate the advantages and disadvantages. Thus, there should be a balanced discussion. If you gave two main ideas for disadvantages, there should also be two main ideas for disadvantages.

Lastly, your word count has reached to almost 500 words. We only usually recommend to write 250 to 350 words.

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Can I eventually get IELTS Band 7?

by Khehra

I have given GT IELTS test 7 times but I scored 6 bands in writing for 5 times and in last 2 tests, I scored 6.5. But required bands are 7 in writing.

Is it possible?

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Nov 26, 2017
 Getting 7
by: IELTS buddy

What you are saying isn't that unusual. It takes a long time to improve in English, which is why it has taken you quite a long time to get from 6 to 6.5.

Given you wanted to go up one band, it probably wasn't necessary to take the test so many times. You would have been better just doing some training, then taking the test at a much later date rather than keep spending money on the test.

So rather than rushing to take the test again to get a 7 you may be better taking more time to practice so that you are more likely to get a 7.

Even going from 6.5 to 7 can take a long time because the 'grammar' for a 7 is making very few mistakes. If you are still making quite a few, which is giving you 6.5 then you will still have a long way to go to get to 7.

Without seeing your writing though I really can't say for sure what your position is or how long it may take you to improve. It could be much sooner.

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Cannot get high IELTS writing score

by Sana javed
(United kingdom)

Hi... I have taken ielts 6 times ...each time I got 6 or 6.5 in writing.

Though once I managed to get 7 in writing but that time reading pushed me back with 6.5.In all other attempts my reading, listening and speaking score were 9, 8.5 and 8....

I am really frustrated now ...now trying to give my last attempt in a week 😑 really don't know where I am making mistakes?

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Jan 11, 2020
 Improving IELTS Writing
by: IELTS buddy

I don't really think anyone will be able to tell you anything on here. A lot of people do get stuck on band 6.5 writing as I have discussed before.

This is often because of grammar. Band 7 requires few mistakes and some high level complex structures which many find difficult to achieve.

Really if you have no idea where you are going wrong, you need to get some feedback. If you do an online search you'll find various places that will do that, though of course you will have to pay.

You just write an essay or graph / letter, submit it and they will point out your errors. Check first though what type of feedback it is. You will probably need to submit a few pieces of writing to be sure where you are going wrong and you will need some fairly detailed feedback as well (not just a band score).
Jan 18, 2020
 Get Band 7 up in writing and reading
by: Neal

Here is the story of a devoted Thai mother who helped her daughter, who has an English boyfriend living in England and needed band 8 to work as a doctor in England.

IELTS, for those who never reach 7 in writing and reading, read here.
Just got the test result yesterday, listening 9 the rest 7.5, my daughter's result. It was the ninth test. I spent over 100,000 THB on 1500-2000 THB per hour at tutor schools on adverts and 1 on 1 tutoring which excluded the test fee, travelling, and accommodation. My poor daughter practiced every day.

We live in Chonburi. Originally she was weak in listening and writing. On the 2nd test, she had chance to study with a teacher who helped her to lift her reading score from 6 to 7.5-8.5 and stable, except for writing that never reached 7. Like God's wish, the Thai teacher called and asked about the test result.

Once he knew that she was struggling in writing, he gave me the WhatsApp contact of a teacher who used to help her to get 7 in reading. I contacted him directly, not costly like other teachers. The teacher is an English guy who used to be an IELTS Examiner. Teaching through Skype, no need to travel, very convenient. I used to send my daughter's writing to this teacher and he told me she is never going to get Band 7, I didn't believe him and kept getting her to learn elsewhere.

About the time that I was getting frustrated, the Thai teacher called again and my daughter asked him about teacher Neal and asked for his contact. She contacted him and he arranged a 23 hours writing course for her. The course was at mutually agreed times over 7 days. Changing the whole writing style, according to Neal's comment that there is no need to be too detailed, Examiners can think.

Right after the course, the next day, I took her to the test. She could not complete the writing part in time. The result was 6.0!! I was shocked. However, it was right after the course, the next test should be able to tell if Neal's writing method is going to work the same way his reading method does. The result was released yesterday, she checked online and screamed. She came to me, hugged me and thanked me for all my support.

So I would like to tell those kids who haven't passed the test about how your parents wished to help you to pass it. Because when I needed help and asked questions on the Panthip website, there were kind people who answered and helped me, so I would like to share good things in return, without benefit, with the teacher himself. If anyone wants his contact, contact me and talk directly to the teacher and make arrangements with him.

For reading, my daughter probably can give you some tips. But for writing, you need to invest. It really really works, only the second test and reached 7.5 from 6.5 before. Neal also previously helped a Russian doctor to get Band 8, so could become a doctor in England. Thanks for reading.
Jan 31, 2020
 How can I contact Neil? Or any other corrections service who is not too expensive ....
by: Anonymous

Can you please send me his email address or contact number....I cannot afford expensive tutor.... I am in desperate need of correction services for my writing.... so annoyed and frustrated due to repeatedly same result, with low score in writing always .... it is keeping me back from starting my job as doctor in uk .its been one year since I am taking this exam.😕😕😕
Jan 12, 2021
 Please share contact
by: Anonymous

Please share the tutor contact information, thank you!

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