IELTS Writing Word Limits

by Divya

What if I exceed the maximum word limit?

What will happen if, in writing, I exceed the words more than the maximum limit?

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Nov 03, 2013
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IELTS Writing words limit
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

I think you are getting mixed up.

There is no maximum word limit. There is only a MINIMUM.

You cannot write less than 250 words in the Task 2 and less than 150 words in Task 1.

You can write as much as you want over that. You should not write too much though because quality is more important than quantity.

You need time for analysing the question, brainstorming, outlining, writing and checking your grammar.

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What are the maximum IELTS writing word limits?

by noel - anu
(New Zealand)

Hi all,

I am not familier with the IELTS exams. In acadamic writing part 1 we have to write 150 words and part two 250 words. what is the maximum number of words we could write. I looked at few examples but couldn't get the idea of how many maximum words to write

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Jun 20, 2015
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IELTS Writing Word Limits
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Noel,

There are no maximums, only the minimums.

The amount you write will obviously depend on how competent a writer you are.

However, it is not recommended that you write too much. You only have 20 minutes for task 1 and 40 for task 2 and you need time to brainstorm your ideas, plan and check the grammar.

You must exceed the minimums but it's about quality, not quantity.

Jun 20, 2015
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what matters is relevancy of ideas
by: Adebiyi A.

Hi,

There's no maximum word limit in the writing test. The test is to examine your writing skills and how you can cover all relevant tasks within the given time. You will be penalized for any irrelevant ideas in your writing.

Therefore, it's advisable you adhere strictly to to instructions,less grammatical errors and be on point always.

All the best.

Jun 20, 2015
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thank you - maximum IELTS writing word limits?
by: Anonymous

Hi
Thank you, it's really a value point for me.

Nov 02, 2015
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The answer is simple
by: Anonymous

As far as I know there are no maximums

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What is the IELTS word length penalty?

by sammy

Please tell me how much of the overall writing band can i lose if i write under the word limit?

My essays had proper grammar and vocabulary, and i did not go off topic. However, my words were about 130 for Task 1 and 200 for Task 2.

Will i be able to get at least 6 bands now in the writing section?

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Mar 28, 2015
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IELTS word length penalty
by: IELTS buddy

The kind of penalty you get for being under-length is not made public so you won't be able to find this out unfortunately.

You'll just need to wait for your result.

Feb 18, 2016
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Ilets writing less word
by: Anonymous

I did same thing like u bro
Plz tell did u get ur result and how was ur score. .
BR
Badr

May 06, 2017
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Incomplete words in task 2 NEW
by: Syed irfan

I have wriitten less than 250 words in task 2 how many bands i will get ..pls reply soon im worried...

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What happens if a student writes less than the minimum word lengths?

by Gurbuz Asici
(Turkey)

Hello,

I've been searching online for a couple of days now and couldn't find the accurate information about the problem that I'm having. The problem is IELTS students are supposed to write at least 150 words for the 1st task and supposed to write at least 250 words for the 2nd task.

However, what happens if a student writes less than those numbers? How much points should be taken away and where should it be taken? Is there a chart or a scale to guide me about this?

Thank you.

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Feb 20, 2014
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word length makes significant impact on overall score
by: Anonymous

if u write less than minimum word limit, you will be penalized heavily for task response.

so, they won't give you more than band 5 for TR if you haven't had clear intro, conclusion and supporting paragraphs with examples, as examples are mandatory to convince reader.

Nov 21, 2016
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writing task 2
by: Anonymous

Hi

Last week I had my exam, all modules went well except writing, in task 2 I was able to write 220-230 words only due to poor time management.

So how much score I will get.

Nov 22, 2016
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Not writing enough words in the IELTS Essay
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

It's really not possible to say. You are not just marked on the number of words. There are lots of factors taken into account in the scoring so you can't pick up on one thing and work out how it could affect the score.

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