5 Common IELTS Writing Task 2 Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Task 2 is worth twice as many marks as Task 1, yet it's often rushed because candidates spend too long on Task 1 first. Aim to spend no more than 20 minutes on Task 1, leaving a full 40 minutes for Task 2.

The most common mistake is only partially answering the question — for example, discussing one side of a 'discuss both views' prompt in detail and giving the other side a single throwaway sentence. Examiners score Task Achievement based on how fully every part of the question is addressed, not just how well you write about the part you find easiest.

A second frequent issue is weak paragraph structure: essays that mix multiple ideas into one long paragraph, or that don't have a clear topic sentence. Each body paragraph should introduce one main idea, support it with an example or explanation, and stay focused on that idea alone.

Overusing the same linking words — 'moreover', 'furthermore', 'in addition' used three times each — is a smaller but very common issue that caps your Coherence and Cohesion score. Vary your cohesive devices, and don't force one into every sentence; natural cohesion often comes from clear pronoun reference and logical ordering, not just connector words.

Finally, many candidates don't leave time to proofread. Even two minutes spent re-reading your essay catches subject-verb agreement slips and missing articles — both very common, very fixable accuracy errors.