You’ve studied the vocabulary. You’ve memorized complex grammar structures. You’ve even written countless practice essays. So why does your IELTS Writing score stubbornly remain at a Band 6 or 6.5?
The truth is, achieving a Band 7+ is less about dazzling the examiner with fancy words and more about consistently avoiding critical errors. At GoatGuru English, we’ve analyzed hundreds of student essays and identified the same mistakes appearing again and again.
Let’s break the cycle. Here are the Top 10 IELTS Writing Mistakes that destroy your score—and exactly how to fix them.
1. Misunderstanding the Task (Task Achievement/Response)
This is the cardinal sin of IELTS Writing and the fastest way to lose marks.
- The Mistake: Writing a general essay on the topic instead of directly answering the specific question prompt. For Task 1, it’s describing the data inaccurately or missing key features.
- Why it’s a Problem: It shows the examiner you haven’t fully understood the task, which limits your score in TR/TA to Band 6 or lower.
- The Fix: Before you write a single word, spend 2 minutes analyzing the question. Underline key instruction words (e.g., Discuss both views, To what extent do you agree?). For Task 1, identify the main trends, highs, lows, and key comparisons.
2. The Memorized Essay
Examiners are trained to spot them, and they are an automatic red flag.
- The Mistake: Inserting a pre-memorized essay on a “similar topic” or using overly generic phrases and examples that don’t quite fit the question.
- Why it’s a Problem: It leads to a disconnect between the question and your answer, resulting in a poor score for Task Response. It also sounds unnatural.
- The Fix: Never memorize full essays. Instead, memorize flexible ideas and vocabulary on common topics (environment, technology, education) and learn how to adapt them to the specific question asked.
3. Poor Paragraphing & Structure
A wall of text is impossible to follow and screams “low coherence.”
- The Mistake: Writing one or two enormous paragraphs with no clear structure or logical flow.
- Why it’s a Problem: This destroys your score in Coherence and Cohesion. The examiner cannot see a clear progression of ideas.
- The Fix: Use a clear, logical structure for both tasks.
- Task 2: 4 or 5 Paragraphs: Introduction, 2-3 Body Paragraphs (each with one main idea), Conclusion.
- Task 1: 4 Paragraphs: Introduction, Overview, 2 Detail Paragraphs.
4. Missing the “Overview” in Task 1
This is the single most important paragraph in Academic Task 1.
- The Mistake: Diving straight into details without first providing a summary of the main trends or significant features.
- Why it’s a Problem: The overview is explicitly required for a high score. Without it, you cannot score above a 5 for Task Achievement.
- The Fix: Always write a dedicated overview paragraph (after your introduction) that summarizes the most important information from the graph/chart/map. No data, just trends.
5. Overusing Informal Language
IELTS Writing is a formal academic exercise.
- The Mistake: Using contractions (don’t, can’t), informal vocabulary (e.g., stuff, things, kids, guy), or slang.
- Why it’s a Problem: It violates the formal tone required for the test, hurting your Lexical Resource score.
- The Fix:
- Use do not instead of don’t.
- Use children instead of kids.
- Use significant or considerable instead of big.
6. Repetitive Vocabulary and Simple Linking Words
Using and, but, also, and I think repeatedly is a clear sign of a limited lexical resource.
- The Mistake: Relying on a narrow set of basic vocabulary and connectors.
- Why it’s a Problem: It prevents you from scoring highly in Lexical Resource and Coherence and Cohesion.
- The Fix: Show range!
- Instead of and: Furthermore, Moreover, In addition
- Instead of but: However, Nevertheless, On the other hand
- Instead of I think: It is argued that, From my perspective, I believe (use sparingly)
7. Ignoring Grammar Range
Accuracy is important, but so is range.
- The Mistake: Writing all sentences in the same simple structure (e.g., Subject-Verb-Object). Using only simple sentences and never complex ones.
- Why it’s a Problem: To hit Band 7+ for Grammatical Range and Accuracy, you must use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms.
- The Fix: Practice combining sentences using:
- Relative Clauses: The government, which is elected by the people, should…
- Conditional Clauses: If more investment were allocated, the problem could be solved.
- Subordinate Clauses: Although technology has many benefits, it also has drawbacks.
8. Incorrect Word Forms
This is a common accuracy killer that examiners notice immediately.
- The Mistake: Using a noun instead of a verb, or an adjective instead of an adverb.
- ❌ “It has a big importance.” (adjective)
- ✅ “It has great importance.” (adjective) OR “It is greatly important.” (adverb)
- Why it’s a Problem: It shows a lack of control over word families and hurts your Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range scores.
- The Fix: When learning a new word, learn all its forms (e.g., to apply (v), an application (n), applicable (adj)).
9. Writing Too Little (or Too Much)
Failing to meet the word count is a easily avoidable mistake.
- The Mistake: Writing less than 150 words for Task 1 or less than 250 words for Task 2.
- Why it’s a Problem: It’s an automatic penalty. You will lose marks under Task Achievement/Response.
- The Fix: Learn to quickly estimate your word count. Don’t waste time counting every word. Know what 10 lines of your handwriting looks like. Aim for ~170 words for Task 1 and ~270 words for Task 2 to be safe.
10. Not Proofreading
Spelling and silly grammatical errors in the final minute can cost you dearly.
- The Mistake: Not leaving the last 2-3 minutes to review your work.
- Why it’s a Problem: Simple, careless errors in spelling (e.g., goverment), articles (a/an/the), or subject-verb agreement (people thinks) add up and hurt your score for Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
- The Fix: ALWAYS LEAVE TIME TO PROOFREAD. Even a quick 60-second scan can help you catch 3-4 obvious errors that would otherwise lower your score.
Your Action Plan to Avoid These Mistakes
- Awareness: Know this list by heart.
- Practice with Purpose: When you write your next essay, focus on avoiding just 2 of these mistakes (e.g., always writing an overview & proofreading).
- Get Expert Feedback: It’s difficult to spot your own mistakes. Have a trained IELTS tutor (like ours at GoatGuru!) analyze your essays and give you personalized feedback.
Ready to move from Band 6.5 to 7+? Our expert IELTS graders can pinpoint your exact weaknesses and create a personalized plan for you.
[Book an IELTS Writing Assessment with GoatGuru English Today!]
Which of these mistakes do you make the most? Share your biggest challenge in the comments below!