🏛 “Formal tone = serious marks.”
🎯 Why It Matters
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is not a casual letter to a friend or a blog post. It’s a formal report based on data.
You’re being tested on your ability to:
- Use appropriate language
- Maintain a professional tone
- Present information factually
🚫 Common Mistakes in Style
| Informal ❌ | Why It’s Wrong | Academic Alternative ✅ |
|---|---|---|
| “The sales went up a lot.” | Too casual, vague | “Sales increased significantly.” |
| “You can see that…” | Uses personal pronoun | “It is evident that…” |
| “The prices got higher.” | Informal verb “got” | “Prices rose” or “There was an increase.” |
| “There’s been a big drop in sales.” | Contraction + informal adjective “big” | “There has been a significant decrease.” |
🔑 Key Academic Style Features
🔹 No contractions
❌ Don’t say: “It’s clear that…”
✅ Say: “It is clear that…”
🔹 Avoid slang or casual terms
❌ “Got,” “a lot,” “tons,” “huge”
✅ “Increased,” “a significant number,” “substantial”
🔹 Objective tone
❌ “I think sales dropped because…”
✅ “Sales dropped between 2010 and 2015.”
🔹 Passive structures (when useful)
“Data was collected from three sources.”
“The figures were measured over a 10-year period.”
✍️ Example Rewrite
Informal Version:
“The number of people got higher over the years, and you can see a big jump in 2010.”
😬 This sounds like spoken English.
Academic Version:
“The number of individuals increased steadily over the years, with a significant rise observed in 2010.”
🎯 That’s formal, factual, and fits the IELTS tone perfectly.
🧠 Quick Practice: Spot the Informal Language
“There’s a big difference in numbers and they got higher fast.”
✅ Your task: Rewrite this sentence in academic style.
Answer:
“There is a significant difference in the figures, which increased rapidly.”
💼 Bonus Tip
Before writing, read a few Band 9 sample answers. Pay attention to:
- Sentence structure
- Tone and formality
- Vocabulary choice
You’ll begin to mirror the style naturally with practice!
🔚 Wrap-Up Reminder
🎯 Use formal vocabulary
📏 Keep tone professional
🚫 No slang or contractions
📊 Present only factual, clear observations
✅ “The more academic your style, the more likely you’ll hit that Band 8+ score!”