“Meanwhile” can be useful when the writer moves from one category to another and wants to show that the second development occurred during the same general period.
TRUE For example: Sales of tennis equipment increased steadily. Meanwhile, sales of football equipment fluctuated.
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15
Using too many cohesive devices can lower your IELTS Writing score.
True - IELTS rewards appropriate use, not frequent use. Overusing connectors sounds unnatural and affects cohesion.
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15
The biggest referencing mistake in IELTS Task 1 is using the wrong pronoun.
True Students often use it, they, or its incorrectly, making the reference unclear.
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15
If ordering by size is not suitable, you can group categories with similar trends together.
True For example, describe all increasing categories together and all decreasing categories together.
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15
For charts showing time, it is usually best to start with the most recent year and move backwards.
False Start from the oldest point in time and move forward chronologically.
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15
Progression should always be exactly the same in every IELTS Task 1 question.
False You should adjust progression depending on the number of categories and the amount of information.
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thief
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fairy
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banana
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Writing much more than about 180 words may mean your progression is too slow.
True You may be giving unnecessary details instead of focusing on key features.
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15
Coherence and Cohesion measures how easy your writing is to understand and follow.
True This band criterion assesses whether your ideas are logically organised and connected, making the report easy for the examiner to read.
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15
In “All four categories remained below 50 units, except for electricity,” “except for” indicates that electricity was the only category that did not follow the general pattern.
TRUE The expression highlights an exception to the overall statement.
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15
A report can contain an accurate paraphrase of the question and several detailed comparisons but still have a weakness in Task Achievement if it does not clearly communicate the main overall trends.
TRUE The overview is essential because it identifies the main features rather than simply repeating detailed information.
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15
Learning many different cohesive devices is enough to get a Band 9 for Coherence and Cohesion.
False - Cohesive devices help, but Band 9 also requires logical organisation, clear progression, and accurate use of linking words.
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monster
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rocket
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gift
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thief
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Starting the overview with “Overall” is essential because an overview without this word would not satisfy the Coherence and Cohesion criterion.
FALSE “Overall” is useful and common, but it is not compulsory. What matters is that the overview clearly summarises the main features.
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15
The sentence “The figure declined between 2000 and 2010, however, it increased sharply afterwards” uses “however” correctly because the word can simply be inserted between two independent clauses with commas.
FALSE This creates a comma splice. Better options include: The figure declined between 2000 and 2010. However, it increased sharply afterwards.
