IELTS General Writing: Finish Both Tasks on Time

Plan the whole test before the first sentence

A finished letter and a blank essay do not give you a useful picture of your Writing performance. Before starting, look at both tasks and decide when you will switch. Treat that switch as part of your plan, rather than waiting until the letter feels perfect.

Task 1 requires a letter of at least 150 words; Task 2 requires an essay of at least 250. Task 2 carries more weight. A practical starting allocation is about 20 minutes for the letter and 40 for the essay, including planning and checking. Practise that allocation, then adjust how you use the minutes within each task.

Give the letter a simple route

Identify the reader, the purpose and every point the prompt asks you to cover. Choose a suitable greeting and tone. Make a short outline: why you are writing, the details the reader needs, and what you want to happen next.

Develop the required points with specific, relevant information. If you are explaining a problem, say what happened and what action you are requesting. Avoid spending several sentences on a decorative opening while leaving a required point unexplained. When your planned switch time arrives, move to the essay.

Decide your essay position before drafting

Read the question carefully enough to distinguish an opinion, a discussion of both views, or a request to explain causes and solutions. Your outline should answer that exact task. Choose a position where needed, then give each main paragraph one central idea with a reason and an example.

You do not need impressive facts or a memorised introduction. A clear explanation of an ordinary example is more useful than a complicated claim you cannot support. Keep the conclusion consistent with the argument you have actually written.

Check completion before polishing vocabulary

During your final check, ask whether both responses are present, all required points are covered, and the essay answers every part of the question. Then look for sentence-boundary mistakes, unclear pronouns and repeated words. Do not replace a precise familiar word with an unfamiliar expression just to sound advanced.

• Letter: appropriate reader, purpose, tone and all requested points.
• Essay: clear answer, developed reasons and relevant examples.
• Both tasks: required length, readable paragraphs and time to check.

Understand an incomplete practice result

On PrepSim, feedback can be ready for the response you submitted while an overall Writing band remains unavailable. If one task was left blank, that is an incomplete test, not proof that assessment processing failed. Read the stated reason and the task feedback separately.

Use the next session to practise the missing part, then complete another two-task rehearsal. Aim first for two relevant, finished responses within the time. Review one recurring weakness afterwards, such as letter tone or essay development, instead of rewriting everything at once. Practice feedback is guidance, not an official score.