IELTS Writing
Common IELTS writing mistakes: a teacher's guide to turning them into lessons
By the IELTS Laboratory team. Published 22 October 2026. Updated 22 October 2026.
Short answer: The most common IELTS writing mistakes fall into two groups: whole-essay problems (unclear position, undeveloped paragraphs, not answering every part) and recurring sentence problems (linkers, articles, verb patterns). Teach the whole-essay problems first, because they do the most damage, and handle the sentence problems with short, personal practice.
Lists of common IELTS mistakes are everywhere, and most are written for candidates. This one is for teachers. It ranks the usual problems by how much they hurt an essay and gives a short classroom activity for each.
The real list for your class will differ, so treat this as a starting point and check it against your learners’ own scripts.
How do you rank IELTS writing mistakes?
By damage: how much each mistake gets in the way of the reader, multiplied by how many learners make it.
Damage level | What it means | Weight |
|---|---|---|
Blocking | The reader has to stop or guess what is meant | 3 |
Limiting | Clearly wrong but still understood | 2 |
Cosmetic | Most readers would not notice | 1 |
A blocking problem that half the class shares is next week’s lesson. A cosmetic slip that one learner makes belongs on their personal worksheet.
What are the most common whole-essay mistakes in IELTS Writing Task 2?
Missing or shifting positions, paragraphs that list instead of develop, and answering only part of the question.
Mistake | Usual damage | What it looks like (invented) |
|---|---|---|
No clear position | Blocking | “There are many advantages and disadvantages.” |
Position changes halfway | Blocking | Agrees in the introduction, disagrees in the conclusion |
Ideas listed, not developed | Blocking | Three claims in three sentences, no explanation or example |
Only one part answered | Blocking | A “discuss both views and give your opinion” essay with no opinion |
Memorised, off-topic phrases | Limiting | A stock opening that does not fit the question |
Activity: “What does this writer think?” (10 minutes). Show four anonymised introductions. Learners say in one sentence what each writer believes. The one with no position becomes obvious, and pairs rewrite it.
What are the most common grammar mistakes in IELTS writing?
Articles with general nouns, verb patterns, subject–verb agreement in long sentences, and tense consistency in Task 1.
Articles: “The pollution is a big problem” (general meaning needs no article) and “good for economy” (needs the).
Verb patterns: “suggest to do”, “recommend them to go”.
Agreement in long subjects: “The number of cars in big cities are rising.”
Comparatives: “more cheaper”, “the most biggest”.
Tense control in Task 1: switching between past and present when describing the same past data.
Activity: personal find-and-fix (10 minutes). Give each learner three of their own flagged sentences, with the problem type named but not the fix. They correct, then check with a partner.
What are the most common vocabulary and linking mistakes?
Linkers chosen for sound rather than meaning, overgeneralising, and repeating the words of the question.
Linker meaning: moreover before a contrast, therefore without a cause, on the other hand without a first hand.
Overgeneralising: “everyone”, “always”, “nowadays all people”.
Copying the question: whole phrases lifted from the prompt rather than paraphrased.
Forced “high-level” words: a rare word used with the wrong collocation.
Activity: linker relationship sort (10 minutes). Give pairs of sentences with a gap. Learners first name the relationship (addition, contrast, cause, result) and only then choose the linker. Our guide to teaching coherence and cohesion takes this further.
How do you teach IELTS writing from a common mistake?
Notice it in anonymised examples, explain it, practise it on fresh text, then rewrite learners’ own sentences.
Notice (5 minutes): show two or three anonymised examples and ask what is wrong.
Explain (10 minutes): work out the pattern together, with one clear rule of thumb.
Practise (10 minutes): short items that target only this mistake.
Fresh text (10 minutes): a new paragraph containing the mistake several times, for groups to fix.
Personalise (10 minutes): each learner rewrites their own flagged sentences.
Review a week later: bring back only the items each learner got wrong.
This is the method in our pillar guide, Create IELTS lesson plans from the learners’ own mistakes. For a full 60-minute example built on three of the mistakes above, see the Writing Task 2 lesson plan.
Why do the same mistakes keep coming back?
Because one correction rarely changes a habit, especially under time pressure in a 40-minute essay.
Plan for return visits. Check the next essay for the same problem type, and if it is back, give it another short round of personal practice. Learners who keep making the same mistakes often feel stuck, and our article on why students plateau at band 6 looks at that pattern.
How can IELTS Laboratory help?
IELTS Laboratory (ielts-laboratory.co) is an independent online platform for IELTS teachers and learners that turns learners’ own Writing and Speaking mistakes into flashcards, lesson packs and practice. It is not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
Sol, our AI, marks each essay first, with band estimates and flashcards ranked most important first. You check, edit or remove them and add your own. Each card carries an error code, so the Mistakes tab can rank the class’s mistakes by damage.
Lesson packs group the mistakes you send to a class by type, so the common ones are easy to see.
A class puzzle is an anonymised practice text built from the class’s mistakes, like the fresh-text stage above. Personal puzzles cover each learner’s own items.
Flashcards go into each learner’s own deck, and cards they miss come back sooner.
Nothing in the product is an official IELTS score. You decide what to teach.
FAQ
What is the most common mistake in IELTS writing?
In most classes, it is a whole-essay problem such as an unclear position or undeveloped paragraphs, rather than grammar. These also do the most damage.
Should I teach grammar mistakes to the whole class?
Only the ones most learners share. Individual grammar slips are better handled with personal worksheets.
How many common mistakes should one lesson cover?
Two or three problem types at most. Cover more and learners tend to remember none.
Are Task 1 mistakes different from Task 2 mistakes?
Partly. Task 1 adds problems such as a missing overview and inaccurate data description. See How to teach IELTS Writing Task 1.
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IELTS Laboratory is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to IELTS, the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia or Cambridge University Press and Assessment.
About the author. Will Salisbury is a TESOL and Applied Linguistics specialist and the founder of IELTS Laboratory. He has taught English for Academic Purposes and ESL for over 14 years at universities in the UK and Canada. More about Will →