IELTS Writing Task 2: 10 Common Mistakes (Especially for Turkish Speakers)

We compiled the mistakes below from two sources: the official IELTS band descriptors and academic research into the written English of Turkish-speaking learners. For each one, we show why it costs marks and how to fix it.

A quick reminder: how is Task 2 marked?

Writing is assessed on four equally weighted criteria:

You are expected to write at least 250 words in Task 2 and to spend about 40 minutes on it.

Task Response mistakes

1. Not answering every part of the question

Many Task 2 questions ask for more than one thing — for example, "Discuss both views and give your own opinion." If you discuss both views but never state your own, part of the question is missing.

The official descriptors make the difference clear: at Band 6 the main parts of the prompt are addressed, though some more fully than others; at Band 7 the main parts are all appropriately addressed.

Fix: Before writing, underline every task in the question and note which paragraph will answer each one.

2. Drifting off topic

If the question is about the effect of online learning on university students, writing generally about the benefits of technology is off topic — and off-topic writing is penalised.

Fix: After writing the first sentence of each paragraph, ask yourself: "Does this answer the exact topic, or a broader one?"

3. Not taking a clear position

In a "To what extent do you agree?" question, saying "I agree in some ways and disagree in others" without making clear why and how far limits your Task Response score.

Fix: State your position clearly in the introduction, support it in the body and restate it in the conclusion. It should not change halfway through.

4. Copying the question word for word

Copying the prompt neither shows your range nor counts towards your answer — copied wording is discounted. If 30 of your 260 words came from the question, the assessed text may fall below 250.

Fix: Paraphrase the topic in your own words in the introduction.

5. Relying on memorised phrases

Ready-made openings such as "In this day and age, it is an undeniable fact that…" are very familiar to examiners. In the official descriptors, over-reliance on memorised language limits vocabulary and grammar scores — and responses shown to be wholly memorised receive no score.

Fix: Instead of memorising templates, learn flexible structures you can adapt to any topic, and always write your introduction for the specific question.

Coherence and Cohesion mistakes

6. Using linking words mechanically

Starting every sentence with Firstly, Secondly, Moreover, Furthermore, In addition does not make a text cohesive — it makes it sound artificial. Coherence comes from the logical progression of ideas, not the number of linking words.

Fix: Use linkers only when they express a real relationship (contrast, result, addition). You can also connect sentences with referencing words such as this, these, such, the former.

7. Not building each paragraph around one idea

Touching on three ideas in one body paragraph means developing none of them properly.

Fix: Build each body paragraph around one main idea: topic sentence → explanation → example → link.

Language mistakes: the influence of Turkish

A study of Turkish university students' English essays (Educational Process: International Journal, 2017) identified the most frequent error types as articles, word choice, prepositions, word order and subject–verb agreement, and named first-language (Turkish) interference as the leading cause. The next three mistakes reflect those findings.

8. Article errors (a / an / the)

Turkish has no articles, so Turkish speakers often leave them out or add them where they are not needed.

9. Subject–verb agreement and plurals

Turkish verbs do not take a third-person "-s", but English verbs do. And after quantity words meaning "many", Turkish uses a singular noun while English needs a plural.

10. Word-for-word translation: prepositions and phrases

Thinking in Turkish and translating directly produces unnatural English.

Fix: Learn words together with the words they naturally go with (collocations): do research, make a decision, take responsibility, raise awareness.

A 40-minute plan for Task 2

That final 5-minute check is the most effective habit for catching mistakes 8 and 9.

How to raise your Writing score

The most reliable way to improve your Writing is to have your essays assessed against the official criteria and to be told clearly which criterion is costing you marks. "Write more" is rarely helpful if you don't know which mistakes you keep repeating.

Our Language Assessment Test (LAT) includes a Writing task that is assessed by our teacher, and in a one-to-one consultation we go through your strengths and weaknesses criterion by criterion.

Start your free level assessment →

We explain how the 6.5 vs 7.0 gap appears in the criteria in How Is the IELTS Band Score Calculated?