IELTS AcademicWriting Lab

Master data interpretation, academic argumentation, lexical precision and cohesive writing.

A working laboratory rather than a question list. Read the data, build the language, write under timed conditions, submit, and receive a criterion-by-criterion analysis of what raised your writing and what held it back. Designed for B1–C1 learners working towards Band 7.0–9.0.

Task 1 data interpretationVisual description Task 2 argumentationAcademic vocabulary Grammatical rangeCohesion and coherence Analytical thinkingAssessment awareness

Start with Task 1 Go to Task 2

Task 1 · Seven visual types

Choose the diagram you need to master

Every Task 1 question in the Academic module belongs to one of seven families. Open a module to study the language it demands, then practise on an original, IELTS-style visual of the same type.

Task 1 · Structure

The four-part response, and why the overview decides your band

Task Achievement rewards selection and comparison, not transcription. Click each stage to see what belongs in it and what quietly damages the score.

Description or interpretation?

Overview (interpretation): Overall, car ownership rose across all four countries, with the sharpest growth in Country B, which overtook Country A after 2010.

Detail masquerading as an overview: In 1990 Country A was 25%, in 1995 it was 31%, in 2000 it was 34%…

Interpretation means identifying the pattern that holds the data together. It does not mean explaining why the change happened — Task 1 gives you no evidence for causes.

Tense, register and accuracy

Past data: Between 1990 and 2010, consumption rose by roughly a third.

Projected data: Consumption is expected to plateau after 2030.

Timeless process: The pulp is then filtered before being pressed into sheets.

Map, past to present: The woodland to the north was cleared and replaced by housing.

A single wrong figure costs more than an unusual adjective. Check every number you copy from the visual.

Task 1 · Band development

The same data, written five ways

One sentence about the same line graph, rewritten from Band 5 to Band 9, with the criterion-level reason for each step. Higher bands come from precision and control, never from rarer words alone.

Task 1 · Assessment

Twenty activities across interpretation, language and organisation

Mixed formats: selection, matching, sequencing, transformation, correction and one short written response. Marking is automatic wherever an answer can be judged objectively.

Task 1 score

0/20

Task 1 · Writing laboratory

Write under exam conditions, then read the analysis

Choose a question, study the visual, and write your response in twenty minutes. Your draft stays in this browser; nothing is uploaded.

Practice question

Before you submit

Task 1 response 20:00

0 words Target 150–190 · estimated —

Task 2 · Five question types

Recognise the question before you write a word

Nearly every lost mark in Task Response begins with a misread instruction. Each module shows how the type is worded, how to organise it, the language it needs, and the mistakes that most often cap a response at Band 6.

Task 2 · Argumentation

How a paragraph earns its marks

Click any component to see it working inside a single developed paragraph on the same topic.

Task 2 · Academic language

Vocabulary organised by what it does, not by how it sounds

Choose a function and you get the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and collocations that perform it — with the misuse that examiners notice most.

Task 2 · Band comparison

One argument, five levels of control

Select a band to see the four criteria described and to watch a single claim become more precise.

Task 2 · Assessment

Twenty activities across all five question types

Question recognition, thesis and topic-sentence selection, argument matching, cohesion, error correction, counterargument handling and one planning task.

Task 2 score

0/20

Task 2 · Writing laboratory

Plan, write, submit, revise

Plan first — a thesis, two developed bodies and a consistent conclusion. Forty minutes, 250 words minimum.

Practice question

Planning

Thesis — your position in one sentence Body 1 — one central idea, its reason and its example Body 2 — one central idea, its reason and its example Conclusion — the position restated, nothing new

Before you submit

Task 2 essay 40:00

0 words Target 260–300 · estimated —

Task 1 · data description across seven visual types

Every word with its collocation, its function and its usual error

Task 1 vocabulary, organised by the seven visual types. Switch to Task 2 for argumentation and academic discourse.

Your progress

What the record says about your writing

Stored in this browser only. Clear it whenever you want a fresh baseline.

Criterion profile

Where to go next

Downloadable resources

Print-ready references for your file

Each sheet opens in a new tab formatted for A4. Print it, or choose “Save as PDF” in the print dialogue.

Completion

Certificate of completion

Unlocked once both assessments are marked and at least one response has been submitted in each writing laboratory. It records your practice, not an IELTS result.

Learner name

Help

IELTS AcademicWriting Lab

Line graph · 1990–2020

Estimated band

Argument chain

Choose the diagram you need to master

The four-part response, and why the overview decides your band

Description or interpretation?

Tense, register and accuracy

The same data, written five ways

Twenty activities across interpretation, language and organisation

Write under exam conditions, then read the analysis

Before you submit

Recognise the question before you write a word

How a paragraph earns its marks

Vocabulary organised by what it does, not by how it sounds

One argument, five levels of control

Twenty activities across all five question types

Plan, write, submit, revise

Planning

Before you submit

Every word with its collocation, its function and its usual error

What the record says about your writing

Criterion profile

Where to go next

Print-ready references for your file

Certificate of completion

How to use the laboratory