Before we begin, there is something else you need to know. In the recent post about the difference between the formal and informal writing styles there was a mistake. Although it was caught and fixed almost immediately on the website, the erroneous version was sent to your emails before we could stop it. To clarify, the words “children”, “many” and “much” are formal equivalents of informal “kids”, “a lot of” and “heaps of”. My apologies, if the previous email confused you.
And now to the common mistake in the IELTS Writing test. As you may know, there are 2 tasks, Writing Task 1 and Task 2, and in both Academic and General Training modules Task 1 is shorter (150 words) than Task 2 (250 words). Often people decide to write the Task 2 first, before writing Task 1. No problem so far, but we are getting to the really important bit.
It is essential that you pay attention to the Answer Sheet and write your answers in the right places. There are 2 marked spaces on the Answer Sheet that you get in the Writing test, one says “Task 1” and the other says “Task 2”. To avoid confusing the examiner who will check your work, you need to make sure that the the essay is written under “Task 2” and the report (for Academic) or the letter (for General Training) – under Task 1.
Good luck with your exam!
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Is it true if we add a quote in the essay, our mark is considerably increased?
I think that the thing they mentioned, “the 4cs” is a very good example
Thanks dear your advises are great
May be … If quote is related , increase score band
Thank you so much
Hello sir. I did the same mistake that I had written task 2 answer in task 1 answer sheet and task 1 in task 2 sheet. Eventually, staff came with red pen to fix the problem. I’m worrying about the upcoming consequences.
This mistake is quite common, many test takers mix up the answer sheets for task 1 and task 2. If the staff member marked task 2 / task 1 correctly, it should not affect your score.
What if I am not sure if I mix them up or not?😭 Will the examiner still mark them when they receive the paper? I didn’t ask for check after exam immediately and by the time I asked they told me they seal the answers already.
It’s really hard to say! I hope everything will be fine and even if you wrote the answers on the wrong sheets, they will disregard that and mark by the content of your writing. But, whatever happens, please leave a comment and let us know – there might be others in the same situation, they would appreciate the info.
Hey have you received your result?
I did same mistake. However, I got good score
HeI did the same mistake that I had written task 2 answer in task 1 answer sheet and task 1 in task 2 sheet. Eventually, staff came with pen to fix the problem. However, I got good score.
I did the same mistake. When the staff member noticed it, she asked me to change the headings of tasks with blue pen and do a signature beside. Will it affect my score?
Lucky the invigilator saw this and gave you the correct way to handle the problem. Everything should be fine!
I took extra sheet for task two on which the examiner wrote sheet 2 of 2 but did not write sheet 1 of 2 in the first one… Hope they ll find the second sheet or else it will look like i did not complete my essay
They should be able to, don’t worry Ama. Hope you get a great score on that nice, long essay!
I took extra sheet in task 2 but instead of writing on front side of the sheet I mistakenly wrote on other side of the sheet and front side remained blank … After completing my task I asked the invigilator about this scenario he told me to write p.t.o on front and now i am confused that whether they are going to check other side or not please me tell me anyone… what wil be result of this
Hi Anant, p.t.o stands for Please Turn Over and that will let the examiner know they need to check the other side of the sheet. Don’t worry, your hard work won’t go to waste. When you get your score, please comment here to let me know. Good luck, and I hope you get the score you need!
Thank you so much Simone for the information
Hey..then what was your score..i also made the same mistake..pls share you experience
i have written the task 2 on task 1 sheet and task 1 on task 2 sheet…. later i told the examiner and she told m to change the heading with pencil… what will happen? will they give m score
They will, most likely. The examiners can easily see the difference between a writing task 1 and a task 2. Don’t worry.
hyy i also did the same mistake plz tell me did you got your bands in writing or not.
But i m worried. plz tell me will everything be alright ..i really worked hard for this exam. It is getting on my nerves now… i will get my result on 10 th of march 2023
will i get my score or they will give m zero band score
Mam i am stressed out so much plz tell me examiner will check my answer sheet and give me bands core
or they will give me zero bands
Don’t worry, the examiners can certainly tell the difference between a writing task 1 and 2, and they will mark your test accordingly. Try not to think about this until you get the score – I know it’s hard, but distract yourself with other things, because being under constant stress is really bad for your health.
HELLO Ma’am! For my writing task 2, I started writing on extra sheet from other side instead of recommended one and almost half of my task 2 essay is on extra sheet. Can you plz tell me if it will be checked or nothing?
Feeling very worried.
Thank you
Hello Muhammad, both sides of the sheets are scanned and the examiner will receive everything you wrote, I am sure they will be able to understand where your task 2 begins. Please don’t stress for now, try to forget about IELTS until you get your score, and then comment here to let me know what you got – hopefully you’ll have some great news for me 🙂
hello mam, in my ielts test and in writing task 1 , i started writing from opposite side in answer paper instead of front page..
will it affect my score?
You should be fine Nirob, the examiners understand the difference between the writing task 2 and 1 and this mistake shouldn’t affect your score.
Hey!! I made the same mistake..and I haven’t wrote PTO..I’m worried about my result. How was your result?? Please reply
Hi Komal, I hope they find your writing tasks 1 and 2 and you get full marks for both. Please comment and let us know what happened in the end, when you get the result.
Hi Simone, I wrote my IELTS test today… unfortunately, I started my task 2 on the backside of the task 2 paper and wrote the continuation rather at the frontside.
I told the invigilator when I realized it but he said it’s okay and didn’t add any notes or remarks..
I’m so worried that it might affect the structure of my essay. I’m feeling sick already
Hi Konadu, sorry to hear about that. You did the right thing by telling the invigilator, and hopefully it will be fine, the examiner will be able to understand where your intro paragraph is. It’s the content you wrote that matters. Fingers crossed you will get the score you need. Please comment here when you get the result, I’d love to hear from you again.
Hi Simone… I hope you’re doing well.. thanks for the encouragement. I guess my mistake wasn’t pardoned… I expected an 8 for writing and nothing less than 7.5 but I got 6… I’m devastated but I’ll be fine… I got L 8.5, R 7 S 7
Wasn’t what I expected but it’s all good
Maybe on my second attempt I would do better
Thank you once again
Oh, that’s so unlucky! Sorry to hear about that, Konadu. Too bad we don’t know for sure how they marked your writing. When is your second exam?
Hi Simone… this is Konadu… I requested for EOR on my writing and my scores changed from 6 to 6.5 and overall band score from 7 to 7.5… so I wouldn’t need to write again
Thank you
I am SO HAPPY for you, Konadu!!! And at the same time annoyed you had to go through this, that invigilator should have handled the situation better. But all’s well that ends well, and you got Band 7.5, which is great! Congratulations!