Top 10 Common IELTS Writing Mistakes and How to Fix Them

At Woodberry Place we read hundreds of IELTS Writing responses every month. The same ten mistakes come up over and over, and most of them cost half a band or more. Fix these ten and your Writing score will usually jump from band 6 or 6.5 to a solid 7.

Each mistake below has a before-and-after example so you can see the difference an examiner sees.

1. Memorised phrases that don't fit the prompt

Phrases like "In this contemporary era", "It is a hotly debated topic", or "Since time immemorial" are memorised and the examiner has read them a thousand times. They lower your Lexical Resource score because they show you cannot vary your language.

Before: "In this contemporary era, many people believe that technology is a double-edged sword."

After: "Most people today agree that technology brings as many problems as it solves."

Fix: Start naturally. If you cannot say the sentence out loud without sounding stiff, don't write it.

2. Word count too low

Task 1 needs 150 words. Task 2 needs 250 words. If you write under those limits, you lose marks in Task Achievement regardless of how good the writing is.

Most band-6 students write around 230 words for Task 2 and lose half a band for it. The scoring is unforgiving on this one point.

Fix: Learn to count by paragraph. A well-structured Task 2 essay has 4 to 5 paragraphs of 60 to 80 words each. Count once in Week 1 of practice, then develop the muscle for it.

3. Not answering the actual question

Task 2 prompts are specific. "Discuss both views and give your opinion" is not the same as "What are the causes and solutions?" They need completely different structures. If you write a general essay on the topic without following the instruction, your Task Response drops to band 5.

Fix: Before you write anything, underline the question word (discuss, agree, cause, solution, advantage, disadvantage) and the main noun. Your essay must match.

4. Repetition of the same words

Reusing a key word 10 times in a 250-word essay shows limited vocabulary and drops Lexical Resource. Examiners are looking for synonyms and paraphrases.

Before: "Technology helps students learn. Technology makes learning faster. Technology also gives students access to information."

After: "Technology helps students learn. Digital tools make the process faster. Online resources also give learners access to a world of information."

Fix: Build a short synonym list for the most common Task 2 words — people, important, big, problem, help, good, bad. Use the alternatives automatically.

5. Weak thesis statement

Your thesis is the one sentence at the end of your introduction that tells the examiner your position. Many students write a vague sentence like "there are good and bad points" — that is not a thesis.

Before: "There are both advantages and disadvantages."

After: "While online learning offers flexibility and lower costs, I believe its disadvantages — reduced social interaction and weaker discipline — outweigh these benefits."

Fix: Use this template: "While [X has some benefits], I believe [Y is more important], because [reason 1] and [reason 2]." Clear, direct, and tells the examiner your essay plan in advance.

6. Poor paragraph structure

A body paragraph needs: topic sentence, explanation, example, and link back to the question. Without this structure, your Coherence & Cohesion score drops.

Fix: Use the PEEL formula — Point, Explain, Example, Link. Every body paragraph should hit all four in order.

7. Overusing complex vocabulary wrongly

Band-7 writing uses less common vocabulary accurately. Many students stuff their essays with big words they don't fully understand, and the examiner notices immediately.

Before: "The ubiquitous proliferation of technology has engendered multifaceted ramifications on contemporary society."

After: "The spread of technology has brought mixed consequences for modern society."

Fix: Band 7 is about controlled range, not maximum range. Use one or two less common words per paragraph where they genuinely fit — not ten.

8. Grammar inconsistency, especially tense shifts

Mid-sentence tense shifts are the single most common grammar error we see:

Before: "In the past, people worked in factories, but today they are preferring office jobs."

After: "In the past, people worked in factories, but today they prefer office jobs."

Fix: After writing, read every sentence back checking for tense consistency. Simple past, present simple, and present perfect are the three tenses most Task 2 essays need. Stick to them cleanly.

9. No concrete examples

"For example" is band-7 vocabulary. Examples make abstract claims concrete and show the examiner you can support an argument.

Before: "Many students struggle with online learning."

After: "Many students struggle with online learning. For example, a 2024 study by the University of Colombo found that over 60% of undergraduates reported difficulty concentrating during virtual lectures compared to physical classes."

You don't need to be perfectly accurate with your examples — IELTS does not penalise invented statistics. What matters is that your example is specific enough to be plausible.

Fix: Build a mental library of 10 examples you can plug into common topics (education, environment, technology, health, work). Rehearse them so you can insert them quickly on test day.

10. Running out of time on Task 2

You have 60 minutes total. Spend 20 minutes on Task 1 and 40 on Task 2. Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1, so running out of time on Task 2 is a serious error.

Fix:
• Minute 0–3: Plan the Task 2 essay (3 bullet points — intro position, body 1, body 2)
• Minute 3–35: Write
• Minute 35–40: Review for grammar and word count. Fix at least 3 mistakes.

Many students over-plan (10 minutes of brainstorming), then rush writing. Plan fast and write with the full time left.

The band-6 to band-7 jump

If you are stuck at band 6, you are almost certainly making four or five of the ten mistakes above. Fix the top three — thesis, structure, examples — and you will see a half-band improvement inside three weeks.

How Woodberry Place supports Writing

Our IELTS classes in Matara include individual Writing feedback every week — real essay-by-essay comments from a certified instructor, not an AI auto-score. That is the one thing that is hard to replicate from a textbook. Both General (Rs. 50,000) and Academic (Rs. 60,000) streams include weekly Writing marking.

For students who want writing-only coaching, the Individual IELTS track is Rs. 120,000 physical or Rs. 90,000 online, with timetabled sessions that focus on your specific weaknesses.

Final thought

Writing is the IELTS section where effort translates most directly to score. One essay a day for four weeks will do more than ten mock tests. Pick two of the ten mistakes above, drill them for a fortnight, then come back for the next two.

Want individual feedback on an essay you have written? Message us on WhatsApp — wa.me/94766088641. Send us the essay and we will send back honest band-level feedback, even if a class isn't the right next step for you.