Pass your IELTS Official

Hi guys

Just wanting to explain myself a little bit.

You may have noticed that I've stopped posting. That's because right now I'm overwhelmed with my current job running a school. I may post again in the future, but only when I can find the energy, time and inspiration.

In the meantime, please be aware that there are a lot of IELTS experts that follow this channel, so if you have a question, make sure you ask it in the chat. I'm sure one of them will answer your question as best they can.

If you need writing correction, I haven't stopped that part of my business. You can get these corrections through my website at www.passyourielts.net . The site also has my structures for Task 1 GT, Task 1 AC and Task 2 plus example essays. For bonus videos, please see my Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPZ1GsGVURbDtxjmyPIIKw

Aside from this, have a great 2022 and best of luck in all your IELTS pursuits.

Pass your IELTS Official Chat, [11/12/2021 11:08 PM]
Let’s answer another question.

Someone asked me the following a week or so ago.

“What do you think about Simon essays??? Are they really worth getting 9 band in your view???”

I wouldn’t normally comment on other teacher’s work, but I’m familiar with Simon’s example essays and materials as I used them a lot when I first started teaching IELTS. Honestly, the foundation of my writing approach is more inspired by his stuff than any other source (though I’ve incorporated other materials as well). I also saw his videos and thought I could do that as well.

In terms of whether his essays deserve 9s, that decision is entirely down to an examiner’s opinion. I believe he was an examiner, so in his opinion they are 9s, but of course there would be variation between examiners.

From what I’ve seen, his grammar and vocab should get 9s every time. Honestly, he has an easy-to-read natural style to his essays. However, I do think that not all of his essays would get a 9 for CC and TR. Let me explain why.

I often see his body paragraphs use the structure ‘Topic sentence / Firstly (2 sentences) / Secondly (one sentence) / Lastly (1 sentence). In other words, he has a paragraph with a single topic with three supporting ideas. Two of them have only one sentence. This is where I think TR and CC might be restricted.

To get a 9 in TR, there needs to be ‘fully extended and well-supported ideas’. I don’t think you can really claim an idea is fully extended if it only has one sentence. To me, it sounds a bit too much like listing ideas rather than exploring/developing ideas if you have too many ideas in a paragraph that aren’t explored fully. There’s probably an argument that CC might not get 9 as well as there might be a slight lack of progression.

I’d say his stuff is a great resource, but my suggestion would be to only do two supporting ideas (one topic) per paragraph. Always give at least two sentences for any idea you bring in, just to make sure you are covering the requirements of ‘developing main ideas’.

In other words, from a strict reading of the criteria, when I see two points in a paragraph that only have a single sentence, I can’t see how TR 9 can be reached.

Again, his writing is excellent and I’m sure many of his essays are worth 9. @passyourieltsofficial

Let’s answer a common question.

Someone recently asked me the following:

“Can we get a higher score in writing if write in a one-sided based approach? As far as I know, a good essay should address all parts of the topic but I was confused a bit when I read some essays of Liz where she chose only one side for the whole essay, which I didn't see in your case.”


The answer to this question is a bit unclear. Some examiners say that the highest possible scores in TR are reserved for essays that can acknowledge multiple sides of an argument. Other examiners say that you can get a 9 using a strong-opinion one-sided structure. I think the most accurate answer is that it would depend on the examiner.

All that being said, I really believe the best way to write is to communicate your own true opinion as clearly as possible in around 250-300 words. If the question is pretty simple and only has one obvious answer in your mind, I think you’ll have the best chance of getting a high score by taking a strong opinion single-sided approach. If you are hunting a 9 for TR and the issue being discussed is clearly not black and white, I think explaining your position with more nuance is in order. This may mean agreeing in some contexts, but disagreeing in others, or taking a ‘in some cases x’ ‘in most cases y’ type approach.

The danger of using a two-sided approach to standard opinion essays is that people are often too balanced and don’t come to a clear position, or come to a position when there were equal arguments on both sides. For this reason, most teachers recommend only taking a strong opinion approach.

For a full explanation of how to do a single-sided and a double-sided essay, watch the following videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d_6m_Lf_nk&t=9s (one-sided)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG7E3StET4Y&t=368s (two-sided)

You recently spent a night in a hotel and had to put up with a great deal of noise very early in the morning because of a faulty central heating system. The manager promised to contact you regarding compensation but you still haven't heard from him.

Write a letter to the hotel. In the letter

• describe the problem at the hotel
• explain what the manager had said at the time
• say what you want the manager to do.


Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing with regard to an issue I had with my stay in your hotel.

I spent an evening in your hotel on Tuesday last week. In the early morning, I was woken up by a loud noise coming from the central heating system. This noise continued throughout the morning, so I was unable to get back to sleep, which was unfortunate for me since I had some important meetings that I would like to have been fresh for.

When I checked out, I mentioned this problem to your manager. He was very understanding and promised to call me back and arrange compensation once he had received approval from his boss. However, it has now been more than a week and I’m still waiting for his call.

I would ask that you have the manager call me and provide me with a full or at least partial refund of my stay. Honestly, an apology at the time would have been satisfactory, but having been promised compensation and not receiving it is quite disappointing.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Yours sincerely,
Beyden

(188 words - Band 8+)
@passyourieltsofficial

Let's answer another of your questions.

Here's the question quoted below.

"The last thing to ask, which books would you suggest tutors must read to enhance writing efficiency in their class? what about independent learners?"

I often get questions about which books I would recommend. Honestly, for reading and listening, any book is fine. It's the same skill. I personally just use practice tests from the Cambridge series, but you can use any IELTS resource really.

When it comes to writing, I haven't found any books that teach essay writing well. I think a lot of them are fine for Task 1 Academic, but honestly online teachers seem far better for writing. When I learned IELTS, I gave up on textbooks and just used a few common online names. After that I took what I thought were the best ideas from all of them and created my own structures.

In other words, to answer the question, I'd use online teachers for my writing, not textbooks.

Here's a brand new strong opinion essay I wrote today.


Advances in technology and automation have reduced the need for manual labour. Therefore, working hours should be reduced.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Over recent decades, the automation of labour has lessened the need for physical labour. Consequently, some have argued that the number of hours expected of workers should be decreased. I completely agree with this point of view.

There are a number of reasons why the application of technology to work should result in shorter work hours. The first reason is that the application of technology to existing jobs allows for equal or greater productivity in a smaller amount of time. The result of this is that it is simply unnecessary to work as hard as in the past to maintain needed levels of productivity. It is also true that being in the workplace is not the only way for people to be productive. If workers had access to significantly more free time, they would be able to spend that time upskilling or gaining qualifications that would allow them to move into careers that make use of their talents more effectively.

Furthermore, giving workers more free time would allow for a general improvement in quality of life across society. People would be able to spend more time with family and friends. As a consequence, family relationships would become stronger, stress would decrease and people would generally become healthier in body and mind. Additionally, this change in behaviour would have a positive effect on the vibrancy of local economies. If people were able to spend more time doing what they enjoy, they would have time to spend money in local shops rather than ordering products online or shopping from large corporations.

In conclusion, as automation has reduced the need for labour, it makes perfect sense to reduce the number of hours across a working week since doing this would have a variety of positive effects on individuals and society.

(297 words - Band 8) @passyourieltsofficial

Let’s answer another question.

A few days ago I received the following interesting question:

“Can you give some info about how to write essays with 1000 word limit? I mean is the structure which we use in IELTS essays suitable for this kind of essay or not?"

Honestly, IELTS writing principles can be applied to this kind of essay, but we have to point out the differences as well.

Firstly, I would say 1000 word essays are pretty unusual. Essays usually start at 1500 words and go up to 3000 words in most universities. Short essays tend to be 300 words or less.

Anyway, the fact is that any essay has the same principles. It should have an introduction, a conclusion and body paragraphs. Introductions should introduce the topic and indicate what the essay will talk about. The conclusion should explain the contents of the body paragraphs and the final position and recommendation of the writer. Body paragraphs should only have one idea (not one theme, multiple ideas like I use for IELTS essays).

One clear difference is that for longer essays it is unusual to put your position in the introduction. The standard approach is to give evidence and then come to a conclusion, whereas for IELTS the best way is to state your position early and then defend it with evidence.

Aside from that, I can’t really think of any differences.

Thanks again for the question. @passyourieltsofficial

Quick post answering simple question.

The question I received was the following:

“Does word count really matter in assessing?
Can we get a good score with 230-240 words in T2 and 130-140 in T1 as long as they both completed?”


According to the examiners I work and have worked with, being short on the word count only affects TR and TA directly.

The rule is that if you are between (about) 200 and 240 words, you will lose a band score on your TR/TA. It’s a secret, but 241 is enough words to avoid the word count penalty for Task 2. From memory it’s 140 for Task 1.

That being said, if your essay is short, it leaves less time to show a well-rounded argument, evidence of good grammar, vocab etc.

Technically, if you write a 235 word essay, the highest possible score is TR 8, CC 9, LR 9, GR 9 = 8.5.

Thanks for the question.

Hi guys

As you may have noticed, I haven't been posting much IELTS stuff for a while. The reason is that honestly, I don't have much to say anymore. It's hard to keep coming up with stuff and after 3 years, I'm not able to come up with any inspiration for new things to post.

With that being said, I know I have a lot of knowledge to offer on the topic of writing specifically. Perhaps you guys could ask me some specific questions in the chat that I could uses as inspiration for future posts. Honestly, over the last month, I haven't been able to think of a single thing to say. This is probably because my new job (academic manager) is taking up a lot of mental energy, but anyway... as I mentioned, I'd welcome any writing-related questions.

The more specific, the better.

Cheers

In summary:

As you can see, there is actually a lot of thought that goes into my writing. I’m also specifically writing to match the band descriptors. When I evaluate and correct my clients’ essays, I’m keeping all these principles in mind to help them get a better score.

I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into my thinking for my essays. @passyourieltsofficial

GR:

You may have noticed that my sentences are mostly medium-sized. This is not because I’m thinking about the band descriptors. This is because medium-sized sentences are the natural way I write. Sometimes I do a slightly longer one (end of body 2) and sometimes a slightly shorter one (intro sentences, final sentence of conclusion, first sentence of the second points of both body paragraphs). Shorter sentences tend to be good for staying clear, emphasising and introducing ideas. Longer sentences tend to be better for expanding on ideas.

I’m also sticking to a medium-length on most of my sentences to manage my word count. If I use a 2/2 body paragraph structure, I can’t really afford to use super-long sentences all over the place because I will go over 350 words. I can’t use super-short sentences all the time because that sounds like beginner writing and I’ll be under 250 words.

Honestly, when I write I don’t think about my grammar at all. The above elements I’m mentioning are just habits that I’ve developed over time. I think they are good ones though, so consider applying them to your own writing. Remember that if you have plenty of medium-length sentences, you’ll have no problems fulfilling even band 9 GR criteria if you are accurate and appropriate. @passyourieltsofficial

LR:

Before we continue, I need to emphasise one thing. Your vocabulary can only be as good as your vocabulary actually is. By that I mean that there is no way to trick the examiner into thinking your vocabulary is bigger than it actually is. There are two main choices you can make with your words – ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’. If you only know one appropriate way to say something, you have to just repeat it that way until you learn more words. You can’t make up expressions. With all that being said, let’s look at my vocabulary from this essay.

Obviously, I’m trying to be as flexible as possible with my vocabulary, while remaining precise and natural. There is no shortcut to having this ability (aside from being born a native speaker), so let me show you the way I’ve done it. The topic of this essay includes a few key themes – ‘boys and girls’, ‘school’ and ‘separate education’. My job is to find a way to discuss these ideas using a variety of vocabulary, particularly noun phrases. Again, let me stress, if you don’t know lots of ways to say things, you will have to repeat yourself, and that’s ok. Here are some expressions I used on the topic of ‘boys and girls, school and separate education’.

• Single-sex schools
• Mixed gender education
• Single gender settings
• The opposite gender
• Their studies
• Sex-specific subject matter
• An all-boys class
• Curriculums
• All-girls classes
• Schooling
• Students
• Co-educational schooling
• Men and women
• Students
• Diverse work environment
• Between the sexes
• The other sex
• A single sex environment
• Mixed-gender relationships
• Single-sex schools
• School
• A mixed-gender education
• Mixed schools


You can now see how I incorporated a range of expressions to show as much flexibility and precision as I could. I managed to use all this variety while staying natural and not having my vocab sound ‘forced’. Let me emphasise one last time, precision is a bigger priority than flexibility. You aren’t showing flexibility if you are making mistakes, but you can show at least some precision if you keep things correct. I’m only able to show this much flexibility because even as a native speaker, education is probably the easiest topic for me to write about (as I’ve spent half my life in this field). @passyourieltsofficial

CC:

You may have noticed that I used topic sentences introducing the general idea of my body paragraphs. The topic sentence in body 1 says “a number of advantages” without actually giving any in the first sentence. The topic sentence in body 2 says “this fact necessitates” without actually giving a reason. Why have I written my topic sentences this way? CC 7 states that “each paragraph has a clear central topic”. To fulfil this criterion, I first tell the reader what the topic of my paragraph is before I actually give any details. If your paragraph has 2 ideas, you should always have a generalised topic sentence that both of the detailed ideas fall under. If you jump straight into an idea without a topic sentence, and then follow this with a second idea within the same paragraph, you run the risk of not having “a clear central topic” for your paragraph.


You may also have noticed that I used signposting expressions at the start of three of my points. The two I used in body 1 were “One of these” and “Another benefit”. The one I used in body 2 was “Furthermore”. Why am I purposefully using language to separate ideas? Again, because of the criteria. CC 7 requires that “information is logically organised”. Using these expressions shows a structure quite clearly that I can organise my information around.

However, you may wonder why I only used three signposting expressions when I actually had four separate ideas. The criteria for 7 says I should use a range of cohesive devices (signposting expressions like ‘firstly’ are examples of these) “flexibly.” The criteria for 6 says that “cohesion between sentences may be… mechanical due to … overuse”. In other words, if I say “Firstly, Secondly, First of all, Second of all” to start my four ideas, I could be limited to a 6 for CC. The key word is “flexibly”. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use the above expressions; just make sure you are showing flexibility in your language, not ‘mechanicalness’.

Notice also that I start my sentences in a variety of ways. Aside from the above signposting expressions, I used “There are” “These distractions” “For example, “However,” “In the real world” “If” “Due to” “In conclusion,” “Therefore,”. Notice that there is a real mix in styles. I don’t use short expression/word + comma every time. I don’t start my sentences with “Firstly, For example, Secondly, For instance, First of all, Furthermore, In addition, Therefore” – because I don’t want to be ‘mechanical’ and get a 6 for CC. @passyourieltsofficial

TR:

You may have noticed that I give my position in the introduction (“I believe that”), the body 2 topic sentence (“this fact necessitates co-ed schooling) and the conclusion (“it is best). Why did I do this? There is a very good reason. The examiner’s band descriptors (the public descriptors are very similar) say that to get a 7 in TR, I need to make sure “a clear position is presented THROUGHOUT the response”. Having my position in these three places ensures that I am fulfilling at least the TR 7 criteria on this point. If I just give my position at the very end, some examiners may decide that I haven’t fulfilled this criterion. My goal is to make all examiners happy.

However, giving my position isn’t only about using these structural sentences. I also use strong language in any paragraph that contains my position. Notice wording like “in the real world”, “almost all”, “will struggle”, “real life” and “much more likely”. All this is reflected in my conclusion. Soft language for body 1 ideas “a few benefits in the short term” – strong language for body 2 ideas “is necessary”, “is best”.

You may also have noticed that all my ideas (2 in each paragraph) have at least one supporting/extending sentence. Why did I do that? Because of the criteria again. TR 7 states that “main ideas are extended and supported”. If I don’t give a second sentence to support an idea, how can I claim to have fulfilled this criterion?

Lastly, why do I present body 2 from my own point of view instead of the view of other people. Again, the TR 7 criteria require that “all parts of the prompt are appropriately addressed”. The question has 3 parts – discuss view 1, discuss view 2, give personal opinion. Many people only give a single sentence to their opinion in the conclusion. For some examiners this may not be enough. To fully address the prompt, we can make one of the views our own and thus fulfil the criteria fully. If we don’t do it this way, we have to add a third body paragraph to ensure a full answer to the third part of the prompt is given (which may result in us writing an overly long essay), or risk having the reasons for our position only in the conclusion, which brings in the risk of not having ‘a clear position throughout’ and not ‘appropriately’ addressing ‘all parts of the prompt’. @passyourieltsofficial

Let’s analyse my previously posted essay.


Here it is again. We’ll break it down below.


Some people think that boys and girls should attend school together. Others feel that they should be educated separately.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.


It has been argued that it is better for children to study in single-sex schools. However, I believe that mixed-gender education is the ideal approach.

There are a number of advantages associated with educating children in single gender settings. One of these is that the individual students will not be hampered by some of the distractions that come with being around the opposite gender. These distractions commonly involve immature relationships among students or simply infatuation that takes their mind off their studies. Another benefit is that classes can concentrate on sex-specific subject matter. For example, an all-boys class could incorporate sports and video games more heavily into their curriculums, whereas all-girls classes could lean more heavily into creativity and art.

However, the priority of schooling is to prepare students for the real world, and this fact necessitates co-educational schooling. In the real world, men and women need to work in teams in almost all workplace settings. If students graduate without ever having done this, they will struggle to function effectively in a diverse work environment. Furthermore, real life leads to relationships, both romantic and otherwise between the sexes. Due to their lack of exposure to the other sex, children educated in a single-sex environment are much more likely to be awkward and less successful in these mixed-gender relationships as they enter adulthood.

In conclusion, going to single-sex schools does have a few benefits in the short-term; however, if the aim of school is to prepare for real life, a mixed-gender education is necessary. Therefore, I am of the opinion that it is best for children to go to mixed schools.

...

If you are new to my writing approach, you may not have realised how much thought has gone into the construction of each sentence in this essay. I thought I should break down all the little details that draw on my years of experience teaching IELTS writing. Let’s break it down across the band descriptors – TR, CC, LR and GR. @passyourieltsofficial

Good news story!

I just wanted to congratulate Spoorthy on passing her IELTS with a fantastic score.

I'd also like to thank her for her generous review (see in the review section). This is what she said.

"I have scored an overall band of 8 and a 7 in writing (L9, R9, W7, S7). I recommend Pass your IELTS to all who are struggling to achieve their desired score in writing task.

When I previously took my IELTS I could only score 6.5 in my writing task so I have reached out to Beyden for the correction service. He has shared some valuable feedback which has really helped to achieve the required score."

...

We wish Spoorthy all the best in her future. I trust this gives others hope that they can pass their test as well.

Some people think that boys and girls should attend school together. Others feel that they should be educated separately.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

It has been argued that it is better for children to study in single-sex schools. However, I believe that mixed-gender education is the ideal approach.

There are a number of advantages associated with educating children in single gender settings. One of these is that the individual students will not be hampered by some of the distractions that come with being around the opposite gender. These distractions commonly involve immature relationships among students or simply infatuation that takes their mind off their studies. Another benefit is that classes can concentrate on sex-specific subject matter. For example, an all-boys class could incorporate sports and video games more heavily into their curriculums, whereas all-girls classes could lean more heavily into creativity and art.

However, the priority of schooling is to prepare students for the real world, and this fact necessitates co-educational schooling. In the real world, men and women need to work in teams in almost all workplace settings. If students graduate without ever having done this, they will struggle to function effectively in a diverse work environment. Furthermore, real life leads to relationships, both romantic and otherwise, between the sexes. Due to their lack of exposure to the other sex, children educated in a single-sex environment are much more likely to be awkward and less successful in these mixed-gender relationships as they enter adulthood.

In conclusion, going to single-sex schools does have a few benefits in the short-term; however, if the aim of school is to prepare for real life, a mixed-gender education is necessary. Therefore, I am of the opinion that it is best for children to go to mixed schools.
(270 words - band 8+) - @passyourieltsofficial

By the way, the ideas I used for the above essay are taken from this interview. - https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/449095-andrew-yang-breaking-up-big-tech-wont-solve-fundamental-problems-of-social -

Companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Google are becoming incredibly large, powerful and profitable. Some people think that these companies should be broken up to ensure competition in the market. Others feel that breaking up big tech is not appropriate.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.


Tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook are becoming the most powerful and influential corporations of the 21st century. Many people feel that these companies need to be broken up to ensure a more competitive environment. However, I think that breaking up these companies is not the best option.

Admittedly, there are situations in which it might be appropriate for big tech companies to divest certain parts of their businesses. An obvious reason for this is that some of these companies are monopolizing certain industries, which is resulting in a few companies having too much influence over markets and our lives. For example, Facebook could be forced to give up control of Instagram or Whatsapp seeing that it currently controls almost the entire social media market, giving it influence over the data and dissemination of news and information to more than two billion people.

However, a 20th century style breakup of big tech companies is not the best course of action. Having one company being the best in a certain technology-related field is actually a good thing. Fantastic free products like Google’s maps or search engine have made life much easier. Nobody wants to use the fourth best navigation app, and nobody is binging anything. Splitting up a company like Google would either result in an inferior quality search engine or people quickly identifying the best product, leading to a return to a single dominant market leader very quickly.

In conclusion, in certain contexts, the monopolistic nature of certain companies means that limits should be placed on what actions these giant companies should and should not be able to do. However, a total breakup of these companies would likely not have the intended results and would detract from the benefits that these companies bring to our lives. Therefore, I believe that breaking up big tech companies completely is not an appropriate course of action. (315 words)
@passyourieltsofficial

I practiced rigorously for 2 days and just a day before my exam, I submitted 3 more essays and requested him to evaluate them on the same day. He did consider my request and evaluated my essays within 4 hours of submission for which I am utterly grateful. This time my scores were as follows:

Task 1: 6.5
Task 2: 7

- I was left with a few hours to practice so I carefully looked into the errors he pointed out.
I got my result today and it was as follows:

Speaking: 7.5
Reading: 7.5
Writing 7.5
Listening: 8

I was shocked to see a “7.5” in writing. I am so thankful to Almighty for this unexpected figure. The guidance provided by “Pass my ielts” helped me get this score. If he gives you a 7 in writing, Ielts will surely give you the same or more. Highly recommended!