What is IELTS Writing Called?

In formal academic English, any writing task is called a composition. When writing a composition, it is important for you to understand what you are required to write. A composition can be a letter, an article, or a report.

Letter Writing in IELTS

LETTERS are written to a person (e.g. friend, a principal, a local leader, an magazine editor, a manager, etc.) or a group of people for a specific reason (e.g. to give advice, to make a complaint, etc.).

In IELTS, you frequently encounter the following types of letters.

Informal letters - to people you know well, written in a personal, chatty style.

Formal letters – officials, or people in positions of authority, written in a polite formal style.

Semi formal letters – to people you do not know well or people you know but you want to sound polite and respectful e.g. a teacher of yours, your friend's friend, etc., written in a polite and respectful style.

Essay Writing in IELTS – Writing Task 2

ARTICLES are found in magazines and newspapers. Article writing style is used when describing something. Descriptions of places, events, buildings, objects, etc.

Narratives are about events which happened in the past. Narratives are primary used in the speaking section of IELTS – especially when dealing with the cue card round.

They can be written in the first person (first-person narratives) when the writer is the main character of the story or in the third person (third-person narratives) when the writer is describing what has happened.

You can learn more about narratives here.

Report style is when facts are being presented objectively and unemotionally. An example would be film reviews.

Discursive essays – essays that present arguments – for example:

• For and Against essays
• Opinion Essays
• Solutions essays