Molly Kiefer

IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test | Video Post

IELTS Academic Writing practice test video - magoosh

It’s no secret that taking practice tests is one of the best ways to prepare for the IELTS.

This is because a realistic practice test will help you:

  • Build stamina (the IELTS is a long test, so one of the things you need to learn is how to take a long test!)
  • Get comfortable with the exam format (if you’ve taken a bunch of practice tests, you won’t have any nasty surprises on test day because you already know what’s coming!)
  • Learn your strengths and weaknesses (so you can study more efficiently!)

The takeaway here is that you should definitely be taking IELTS practice tests!

Get a higher IELTS score? Start your online IELTS prep today with Magoosh.

To get you started, we’re proud to present our brand new IELTS resource: the “IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test” video. Watch the embedded video below, or scroll down for a full video transcript. 🙂

What Will I See in the “IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test” Video?

In this free video, our IELTS expert Elliot will give you a brief introduction, followed by a full-length IELTS Academic Writing practice test — that means you should set aside at least 60 minutes for uninterrupted studying!

The practice test consists of two Tasks, just like on the real IELTS Academic Writing exam. The video also includes a study timer to help keep you on track. You will have 20 minutes to complete Task 1, and 40 minutes to complete Task 2 — so budget your time accordingly!

Once you’ve completed the practice test, check your answers to find out how you would have scored on the real IELTS. Learning your strengths and weakness will show you where to focus your studies in order to improve. 🙂

“IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test” Video Transcript:

Hi, I’m Elliot, the IELTS expert from Magoosh. And in this video, we have for you a full-length, academic IELTS writing test.

Okay, so I’m going to describe a little bit about what you can expect in this video, how it’s formatted. And how to use it to your greatest advantage as you’re trying to practice for the actual test.

Okay, so let’s think about what’s in the video first?

Well, you’re going to have two tasks just like on the academic IELTS writing section.

Task one is going to be a 150-word report, basically, that you’re going to write about some visuals that you see.

And we’re going to put those visuals for you on the screen, okay, so you can see them in the video.

And you’re also going to notice a timer there counting down with 20 minutes because that’s the suggested amount of time that you should take to write your task one response on the academic IELTS.

Task two, then, after 20 minutes, will come up on the screen.

You’ll have a prompt that you’ll see in the video.

And, again, there will be a timer, this time for 40 minutes,.

And you should try to write an at least 250 word essay to the prompt that you see on the screen there, okay.

So in total, it’s an hour-long exam, just like the real academic IELTS, with those timers there to help you to manage your time as you go through.

Now, when you finish your own essays, you can follow the link that you see in the description box below there.

And that will take you to some sample responses for task one and task two.

These are good examples that would be successful essays for the IELTS writing section.

And you can use them to compare your own writing, to see what ideas are there, how they were organized, the kind of vocabulary that were used in the samples.

Compare those things to your own to get a sense of what you could do to improve or change in your own writing after you’ve attempted to write these essays, okay.

So, go ahead when you’re ready.

Make sure you have a full hour to do this, okay, so that you can do it just like on the real exam.

A full 60 minutes where you’re going to be uninterrupted, and you can just write to practice like you’ll have to do on exam day.

If you are taking the paper-based IELTS rather than the computer-delivered IELTS, I also recommend that you don’t type your answers on the computer. That you get some paper and get a pencil and just write your answers out because that’s what you’ll need to do, again, on the actual exam. So the timing element there with the countdown going on the screen and your handwritten responses are an important piece of your practice as you’re preparing for the writing section. (Paper-based IELTS test-takers are also encouraged to check out our tutrial on IELTS handwriting.)

More IELTS Practice Tests

Ready for more? Take a look at our other free practice test videos!

  • IELTS Listening Practice Test Video
  • IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test Video
  • And don’t forget to hop on over to our blog for some advice on where to find other free IELTS practice tests!

    Happy studying! 🙂

    Author

    • Molly Kiefer

      Molly is one of Magoosh’s Content Creators. She designs Magoosh’s graphic assets, manages our YouTube channels and podcasts, and contributes to the Magoosh High School Blog.

      Since 2014, Molly has tutored high school and college students preparing for the SAT, GRE, and LSAT. She began her tutoring journey while in undergrad, helping her fellow students master math, computer programming, Spanish, English, and Philosophy.

      Molly graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a B.A. in Philosophy, and she continues to study ethics to this day. An artist at heart, Molly loves blogging, making art, taking long walks and serving as personal agent to her cat, who is more popular on Instagram than she is.

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