IELTS General Training module
IELTS General Training Writing correction
IELTS General Training Writing asks for a letter in Task 1 and an essay in Task 2. The letter has its own rules — register, tone and covering every bullet point — that many candidates get wrong. A qualified teacher corrects both tasks against the four official criteria and shows you how to lift your band.
In short
- General Training Task 1 = a 150+ word letter (formal, semi-formal or informal).
- General Training Task 2 = a 250+ word essay, weighted twice as heavily as Task 1.
- A teacher marks both against the four criteria and returns a band estimate in 48 hours.
The two pieces of IELTS General Training Writing
| Task 1 | Task 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Write a letter responding to a situation | Write an essay |
| Registers | Formal, semi-formal or informal | Neutral / semi-formal |
| Minimum words | 150 | 250 |
| Suggested time | 20 minutes | 40 minutes |
| Weighting | One third of the writing band | Two thirds of the writing band |
The letter: get the register right
General Training Task 1 gives you a situation and three bullet points. The single biggest avoidable error is the wrong register — writing to a friend as if to a stranger, or to an official as if to a friend. We check register, bullet coverage and the conventions of the letter type.
The essay still decides your band
As in Academic, Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1, so the essay usually sets your General Training writing band. We make sure you answer the full question and use the range of language band 7+ needs.
Both corrected together
Submit a full exam pair and get the letter and the essay marked against all four criteria for a complete picture of your General Training writing.
Get your IELTS writing corrected
A qualified teacher marks your writing against the four IELTS criteria and returns band-scored feedback within 48 hours.
IELTS General Training — common questions
Is the IELTS General Training essay the same as Academic?+
Task 2 is essentially the same essay in both modules and is marked on the same four criteria. The difference is Task 1: General Training is a letter, Academic is a data description.
What letter types appear in General Training Task 1?+
Formal (to an official or company), semi-formal (to a named person you know slightly) and informal (to a friend or family member). Matching the register is essential for Task Achievement.
Do you correct both the letter and the essay?+
Yes. Submit a full exam pair and both are marked against Task Achievement/Task Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range & Accuracy.
How fast is a correction?+
A single task is returned within 48 hours (Friday to Tuesday).