IELTS Writing for Candidates with 14 days before the exam
Two weeks is enough to fix one or two high-impact issues if you practise them in full timed essays with feedback.
Why this group needs its own plan: candidates spread effort across everything and fix nothing.
A strength to build on: Two weeks allows one feedback and rewrite cycle on each task.
Planning note: Pick two issues, run four timed essays with feedback and keep a short error log.
Fix these first
- Ideas that are listed but not developed
Develop each main idea in three moves: state it, explain the mechanism behind it, and show a consequence or example.
- Running out of time in the Writing paper
Split the 60 minutes as about 20 for Task 1 and 40 for Task 2, with 5 minutes of planning and 3 to 5 minutes of checking inside each.
- Making the same mistakes after getting feedback
After each piece of feedback, rewrite the same essay once, fix the top two issues and record them in an error log.
- Having no time or method to proofread
Reserve the last three minutes for a fixed proofreading routine: articles, plurals, verb forms and punctuation.
- Weak paragraphing and essay structure
Use four clear paragraphs for Task 2 (introduction, two body paragraphs, conclusion) and organise Task 1 into overview plus two detail paragraphs.
Every guide for candidates with 14 days before the exam, by scoring criterion
Task Achievement and Task Response
- An unclear position in Task 2
- Ideas that are listed but not developed
- Memorised paragraphs that do not match the question
- Answering only one part of a two-part question
- Examples that are too general to prove the point
- A conclusion that only repeats the introduction
- Essays that finish under the minimum word count
- Running out of time in the Writing paper
- Writing scores that go up and down between attempts
- The gap between Band 6 and Band 7 in Writing
- A missing or weak overview in Task 1
- Choosing the wrong features to describe in Task 1
- Misreading or misreporting data in Task 1
- Task 1 reports that are too long or too detailed
- The wrong tone in a General Training letter
- Missing or thin bullet points in a General Training letter
Coherence and Cohesion
Lexical Resource
Questions and answers
What do candidates with 14 days before the exam need to know about IELTS Writing targets?
Two weeks is enough to fix one or two high-impact issues if you practise them in full timed essays with feedback.
What should candidates with 14 days before the exam fix first in IELTS Writing?
Start with ideas that are listed but not developed, running out of time in the writing paper, making the same mistakes after getting feedback. Two weeks allows one feedback and rewrite cycle on each task.
How should candidates with 14 days before the exam organise IELTS Writing practice?
Pick two issues, run four timed essays with feedback and keep a short error log.
Which IELTS test should candidates with 14 days before the exam take?
Check whether the organisation that will read your result asks for Academic or General Training, because Task 1 differs: a chart, map or process for Academic, and a letter for General Training. Task 2 is an essay in both.
Check your own essay
Find which of these problems is holding back your own Writing score before you decide what to practise.
Feedback is a practice estimate, not an official IELTS score. Last reviewed 2026-11-11. Score requirements change, so confirm them with the organisation that will read your result.