IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, directed by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), The British Council, and the Australian International Development Program (IDP), is designed to measure the language proficiency of candidates who need entry to study or work in the UK and other countries where the society utilizes English to communicate.

The IELTS test consists of two forms: the Academic test (or module) and the General Training test (or module). Test-takers choose the module according to the purpose of taking the test. Generally speaking, people take the Academic module in order to satisfy the entrance language requirement of academic programs offered by post- secondary institutions and universities which use English as the medium of instruction or fulfill the professional requirements in their workplace. For people who expect to join professional associations in nursing, medicine, law or engineering, they may also be required to take this Academic version of IELTS to register within a professional body in an English-speaking country. However, for people who aspire to join some sorts of vocational courses, secondary schools or for immigration purposes, these individuals are demanded to take the General Training Module. The government authorities of English-speaking countries, including the Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States and the United Kingdom, often demand and accept an IELTS score of the General Training certificate to prove the language competences of the test-takers. Diverse levels of English are required by different bodies such as governments, tertiary education institutions and companies around the globe depending on their specific objectives. The IELTS test scores of both Academic and General Training are valid for two years from the day the candidates receive their results.

The IELTS test (both Academic and General Training modules) is divided into four sections: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

The Academic and General Training modules have both similarities and differences, i.e. the contents of listening and speaking tests are precisely the same but the reading and writing tests are different. The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Test-takers need to complete Listening, Reading and Writing in one day, while they can choose to take the Speaking test on the same day or a few days before or after the other tests.

The Academic Writing test, which is composed of two separate tasks, is 60 minutes long in total. Candidates are expected to write at least 150 words for Task 1 within around 20 minutes and at least 250 words for Task 2 within about 40 minutes. In IELTS Academic Task 1, candidates are normally asked to employ their own words to describe the stages of a process, describe and explain data, describe how something works, or write about an object or event, according to what (graph/table/chart/diagram) is presented. In IELTS Academic Task 2, test-takers are required to discuss a point of view, an argument or a problem offered. A solution to a problem, the presentation and justification of an opinion, comparison and contrast of evidence, opinions and implications, and evaluation of ideas, evidence or an argument may be required to provide by the candidates depending on the exact task type.

Candidates can get a score between 1 and 9. Half scores such as 5.5 also exist. University applicants often need an IELTS score of 6, 6.5, 7 or above to guarantee a successful admission to the tertiary programs. Some university programs may also require a minimum score in each of the 4 sections, especially in speaking and writing. It is therefore very significant to make full preparations before taking the Academic IELTS exam.

The IELTS writing rubrics (academic module) for Tasks 1 and 2 are made freely available on the Internet . According to the rubrics, there are four domains: task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. Comparing the descriptors of the four domains of the two tasks, descriptors of two of the domains are identical, namely ‘lexical resource’ and ‘grammatical range and accuracy ‘while slight differences are noted in the domains ‘task achievement’ and ‘coherence and cohesion’.

In this section, a brief introduction to each of the four domains will be given in accordance with the key words generated from a word cloud website. A more detailed explanation of the descriptors of each domain will be provided in Chapter 3 – Chapter 10.

In Task 1, candidates are required to report information presented in a graph or diagram by highlighting and comparing the key features. Candidates are required to start their data report by providing an overview, which includes an introduction of what the graph or diagram is about (usually by paraphrasing the question) and a description of the most salient piece of information presented in the graph or diagram. In terms of format, candidates are reminded to refrain from writing in bullet points but in paragraph(s) and complete sentences. The content presented in Task 1 will be evaluated according to its accuracy, clarity, appropriacy, and relevance.

In Task 2, the requirements in this domain are largely identical with those of Task 1. Nevertheless, given the more argumentative nature of the task, candidates are expected to present their position (i.e. their standpoint) clearly at the beginning of the essay (e.g. to what extent do they agree or disagree with a statement). In addition, the arguments included in the body paragraphs should fully address the task (e.g. if there are two parts in the question, the essay should respond to both parts). Moreover, sufficient elaboration and examples should be provided to support and develop the main ideas. Extended and relevant response to the task should be accompanied by an appropriate essay format with an introduction paragraph, at least one body paragraph, and a conclusion.

When attempting Task 1, another area of concern of the examiners is coherence and cohesion of candidates’ writing. Coherence is defined as the logical progression of ideas and information while cohesion refers to the employment of cohesive devices to connect ideas and highlight the relationships between sentences. Coherence is achieved through effective paragraphing. To improve cohesion of writing, candidates are expected to utilize a range of cohesive devices and strategies (e.g. connectives, conjunctions, referencing) accurately.

In Task 2, there are similar requirements as Task 1 to develop arguments coherently and cohesively. In addition to the above, there is a strong emphasis on the importance of managing paragraphing skillfully and appropriately. This implies test-takers should be able to construct well-structured paragraphs with a clearly identified central idea and supporting details. In terms of inter-paragraph relationship, the order of the paragraphs should demonstrate a logical development of thoughts.

‘Lexical resource’ refers to the effective and accurate use of vocabulary. In terms of effectiveness, candidates are required to have a sophisticated control over the range of lexical items (vocabulary) used in their writing. A more competent candidate in this domain demonstrates the ability to use a wide range of common and rare words. Regarding accuracy of vocabulary use, candidates should be able to demonstrate accurate use of collocation, word formation, and spelling.

In the IELTS writing descriptors, the word ‘grammar’ concerns two aspects of candidates’ use of sentence structures, which are range of sentence structures and accuracy of sentence structure. As far as the range of sentence structures is concerned, there is an expectation for candidates to use both simple and complex sentence structures. Regarding accuracy of sentence structures, examiners are looking at accurate use of punctuations (e.g. avoid comma splices) and error-free sentences.

Sample units of 25 IELTS writing textbooks available at the authors’ institutions were analyzed and writing questions included in the textbooks were collated in a Word file. In total, 231 Task 1 questions and 222 Task 2 questions were collected. These 448 questions were inputted into NVivo, a qualitative research software, for inductive coding to identify the common question types and themes of IELTS writing tasks. In total, 4 types of questions and 29 themes were identified for Task 1; as for Task 2, 5 question types and 22 themes were identified. Informed by the data analysis above, 50 IELTS writing questions for Tasks 1 and 50 IELTS writing questions for Task 2 were developed by the authors. The 100 IELTS writing questions and their corresponding exemplars are available in the online question bank.

In total, 4 question types and 29 question themes were identified based on the analysis of the 231 Task 1 writing questions. The four question types include:

• Chart/graph
• Table
• Charts/graphs
• Map/diagram/infographics

An example of a chart/graph question

An example of a table question

An example of a charts/graphs question

An example of a map/diagram/infographics question

Table 1 presents 29 themes identified from the question analysis accordingly to their number of instances.

Table 1: Question themes, example topics, and number of instances of Task 1 questions

Based on the question analysis of Task 2, 5 question types and 22 themes were identified. The 5 question types are presented in Table 2:

Table 2: Question types and example questions of Task 2

Table 3 presents 22 themes identified from the question analysis accordingly to their number of instances.

Table 3: Question themes, example topics, and number of instances of Task 2 questions