What is the IELTS Writing test format?

Certificated examiners mark each task on four criteria: Task achievement (Task 1) or Task response (Task 2); Coherence and cohesion; Lexical resource; and Grammatical range and accuracy. The criteria are weighted equally within a task, and Task 2 carries more weight than Task 1 (ielts.org). The full descriptors are in our guides to Task 1 Academic, Task 1 General and Task 2.

ielts.org says you will be penalised if your answer does not relate to the topic or is written as notes or bullet points rather than connected text, and severely penalised for plagiarism (ielts.org).

Below the minimum: there may not be enough evidence of the language features needed for higher bands. Above the minimum: you are not penalised, but a long Task 1 eats into time for Task 2, which is worth double.

The British Council's own tip is not to go more than about 20% over the minimum (British Council). In General Training Task 1 you do not need to write addresses at the top of the letter (ielts.org).

On IELTS on computer you type your answers on screen. On IELTS on computer (Writing on Paper) you handwrite them on the answer sheet with the pen provided. Either way you may use the note-taking tool, but examiners do not see your notes (ielts.org). The British Council supplies black ink pens for Writing on Paper and does not allow pencils (British Council).