How to manage your time in IELTS Writing

Writing is the section where the clock hurts most, because nothing in the paper tells you when you are behind. Reading has numbered passages and Listening has the recording, but in Writing you have a blank screen and a single hour. A candidate can lose marks to time without lacking ideas: by spending 28 minutes on Task 1, or by beginning Task 2 without a plan and discovering a position only at the end of the second paragraph.

This guide sets out what IELTS publishes about the time, how to divide each task, what to do if Task 1 runs over, and a plan you can practise. The plan is a suggestion for practice, not a rule of the test. For the full structure of the paper, see the guide to the Writing test format for Task 1 and Task 2.

What IELTS publishes about the time

IELTS.org’s Academic Writing format page gives the test as 60 minutes with two tasks, both of which must be completed. Task 1 asks for at least 150 words in about 20 minutes, and Task 2 for at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. The General Training page gives the same minimums and the same suggested times for its letter and its essay.

Notice the word “about”. The page describes timings that help you plan, and it does not describe a moment at which Task 1 ends. The clock is one clock, and nothing stops you at 20 minutes. That freedom is also the risk.

On computer, IDP’s article on how computer-delivered IELTS works says the Writing test is 60 minutes, that you can start from any task, and that your answers are saved automatically. It adds that the number of words you have typed is shown on screen. IELTS.org’s format pages do not say how the time is displayed to you, so check the instructions at your test centre.

Why the split follows the weighting

IELTS.org states that Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score, and its scoring page says the assessment of Task 2 carries more weight in marking. Twice the weight, twice the time: 20 and 40 minutes is the same ratio as 1 and 2.

IELTS.org also warns in both directions. On Task 1, it notes that a longer answer may leave you less time for Task 2. On Task 2, it notes that a very long answer may leave no time for checking and correcting, and that some ideas may drift from the question. The consequence is that running over on Task 1 does more damage than running over on Task 2, because the extra minutes come out of the task that counts for more.

Planning, writing and checking inside each task

Neither task is only writing. Each has three jobs, and the quickest of them, planning, is the one candidates skip.

• Planning. For Task 1 Academic, decide the overview and the two or three groups of features you will describe. For a General Training letter, note how you will cover each of the three bullet points. For Task 2, decide your position and the two or three main ideas, with one example for each.
• Writing. This is most of the time. Write in full sentences and connected paragraphs, because IELTS.org says answers must not be notes or bullet points.
• Checking. Look for missing words, small agreement errors, repeated words and whether you answered the whole question.

A suggested split for practice, which you should adjust to your own pace:

The Task 2 figures match the split in our post on Task 2 essay structure. Two minutes of planning looks small, and it is. Task 1 does not need more, because the data or the situation is in front of you.

A minute-by-minute plan to practise

This plan assumes you do Task 1 first. If you choose to start with Task 2, swap the blocks. It is an illustration for practice, and IELTS publishes no such schedule.

The check at 17 to 20 is the first thing to give if you are behind, and the check at the end is the last. As a rule of thumb, cut checking before planning, because a plan prevents problems that checking cannot repair.

If Task 1 runs over

At 20 minutes you may be halfway through your second body paragraph. This is the moment that decides the next 40 minutes, so decide in advance what you will do.

1. Look at the word count and the content. If you have written at least 150 words, covered the overview and the main features, and are only adding detail, stop. IELTS.org says you will not be penalised for writing more, but the extra detail adds little and the minutes are needed elsewhere.
2. If you are under 150 words, finish the point you are on and close. IELTS.org says a short answer may not give enough evidence for higher bands, so do not abandon Task 1 in a state that falls under the minimum.
3. Set a hard stop of about two or three minutes past 20 at most. Write a one-sentence ending if the answer needs one, then move on.
4. Do not shorten Task 2 planning to make up the time. Take it from checking on Task 1, which is the least valuable minutes in the paper.

Afterwards, find out why it happened. Common causes are three: you described every data point instead of selecting, you began writing with no overview, or you rewrote a sentence you were already happy with.

Practise with a timer that stops

Timing is a skill, and it only improves when the clock is real. A few ways to train it.

• Use a countdown that does not pause. If you stop it to think, you are practising a different test.
• Do both tasks back to back. Writing 250 words in 40 minutes in isolation is different from doing it after Task 1, with 20 minutes already gone.
• Record three times. Note the minute your plan ended, the number of words you had at the 20-minute mark and the minute you finished writing. Patterns appear after four or five attempts.
• Practise planning alone. Take five Task 2 prompts and write only the position and two ideas for each, two minutes per prompt. This makes the first five minutes of Task 2 a habit.
• Practise stopping. When the timer ends, stop in the middle of the sentence. You learn quickly where your own writing runs slow.

IELTS Mentor AI’s Writing editor is timed at 20:00 for Task 1 and 40:00 for Task 2, with a live word count against the 150 and 250 minimums, so you can rehearse the split and see when each part of the plan lands.

What to check in the last minutes

With five minutes left, ask four questions in order. Is every part of the question answered? Is the word minimum met? Are there missing words or obvious agreement slips? Is any word or linking phrase repeated more often than it should be? Our guides to word count and to common Writing mistakes explain each, and the answer on how long the Writing test is gives the format facts in brief.