Your IELTS test is four weeks away. You have time to improve how you write, but you need a clear focus. This plan gives each week one job: find your weaknesses, work on them, practise under time pressure, and rehearse the complete test.
Week 1: Find out what is holding you back
Begin with a full writing practice test: roughly 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 minutes for Task 2. Write independently and save the original answers. Then get feedback from a teacher or a tool such as IELTS Writing Practice, which provides a writing simulator and feedback.
Look beyond the estimated score and identify two recurring problems. Perhaps you leave ideas unexplained, miss a Task 1 overview, or make frequent sentence errors. Spend the rest of the week revising those passages and understanding the corrections. By the end of the week, you should know exactly what your next practice session needs to address.
Week 2: Practise your two weakest skills
Set aside 30–40 minutes a day for the problems you identified. If your paragraphs lack development, take one point and explain why it matters, then support it with a relevant example. Instead of stopping at “public transport reduces traffic,” explain how a reliable service could encourage commuters to leave their cars at home.
If grammar is the main problem, correct recurring errors and write fresh sentences using the same structures. For Academic Task 1, practise selecting the main features and writing an overview; for General Training, practise covering the letter's bullet points in an appropriate tone. Later in the week, use a new question to check whether you can apply the improvements without copying your revisions.
Week 3: Write better within the time limit
Alternate between timed Task 2 and Task 1 practice, and review each response before attempting another. For Task 2, try five minutes of planning, 30 minutes of writing, and five minutes of checking. Adjust that split if necessary, but deliberately leave time to review. For Task 1, work towards completing the response within 20 minutes. Keep the official minimums in view while you do it: the official Writing requirements ask for at least 150 words in Task 1 and 250 in Task 2, with both tasks completed.
After each attempt, check whether you answered every instruction and whether your two target problems returned. If a weakness persists, use the next session to work on it rather than immediately writing another full answer. Your aim this week is to make improved writing possible under pressure, not only when time is unlimited.
Week 4: Rehearse the test and consolidate your progress
Complete two full 60-minute writing simulations on separate days, using unfamiliar questions and no outside help. Use the days between them to review and revise. Compare these responses with your first-week originals: are your explanations clearer, your answers more complete, and repeated mistakes less frequent?
Keep the final day light by reviewing your recurring errors and planning a couple of answers. Four weeks cannot guarantee a particular band increase, but this process gives you a clear way to practise, check progress, and arrive at the test knowing how to use your time.
