In this post: A 30-minute weekly review routine, five common mistakes when reading your records, a quick exercise with eight real rows of scores, and checklists.
Find Recurring Problems · 3 parts
- 1. Why essay counts mislead
- 2. Five steps and a log template
- 3. Weekly review and exercise (you are here)
✦ In this post
5. A 30-minute weekly review (my suggested routine)
A log is only useful if you come back to it at a fixed time. Based on the analysis in Part 2, this is the routine I suggest: once a week, about 30 minutes.
| Step | What to do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| ① Fill the gaps | Complete the four criterion scores, tags and correction status for every essay this week; flag any essay you haven’t corrected yet | 5 min |
| ② Average separately | Work out the four averages for Task 1 and Task 2 separately, compare them with last week, and write down the lowest criterion | 5 min |
| ③ Count the tags | Find the two tags that appeared most often this week | 5 min |
| ④ Put the two lowest side by side | Take this week’s two lowest-scoring essays, compare them against the public band descriptors and find what they share | 10 min |
| ⑤ Set one goal for next week | Choose just one goal, for example “every overview must state the highest value and the most obvious contrast”, and write it at the top of every essay next week | 5 min |
Why “fix only one thing next week”
If you try to fix five things at once, you usually end up fixing none of them properly, and when the score changes you can’t tell which change caused it. If you fix only one thing, next week’s score gives you very clear feedback: if that criterion went up, the method works; if it didn’t, try a different method.
In my own record, Task 2 CC rose steadily over a period and finally settled at 8. You can only “see” a change like that if you have been recording the same criterion all along.
Weekly review template (one per week)
| Item | This week | Last week | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essays (T1 / T2) | |||
| T1 averages (TA / CC / LR / GRA) | |||
| T2 averages (TR / CC / LR / GRA) | |||
| Two most frequent tags | |||
| What this week’s two lowest essays share | |||
| The one goal for next week | Write it at the top of every essay |
6. Five common mistakes when reading your records
| Mistake | Why it’s a problem | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Looking only at the overall score | A 6.5 could be four even scores or one especially low one; you can’t tell what to practise | Record at least the four criterion scores for every essay |
| Averaging Task 1 and Task 2 together | The first criterion differs between the two tasks, so they cancel each other out | Average them separately and find the lowest criterion separately |
| Comparing scores from different markers | Different teachers don’t always use the same standard. From March to May 2024 I had my essays marked by different teachers, so those scores can’t be compared directly with the later 50 | When you look at trends, stick to one marker or one self-assessment standard where possible |
| Jumping from one question type to another | If every essay is a different type, you can’t tell which change worked | Write 2–4 essays of the same type in a row and look at the score sequence |
| Not correcting marked essays | The mistakes have only been “seen”, not “processed”, so they come back in the next essay | Mark the status in the Corrected column, and clear any uncorrected essays first in your weekly review |
I cover the last point in detail in the next post, on how I turn marked essays into notes I can use in the next one: After Your Essay Is Marked: Turning Feedback into Notes You Will Use.
7. Quick exercise: can you find the weak criterion in these 8 rows?
The 8 rows below are real scores taken from my 50 essays (Task 1 and Task 2 mixed together, in date order). Try using the steps from section 3 (in Part 2) to answer the three questions underneath.
| Essay | Task | Type | TA/TR | CC | LR | GRA | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay 1 | 2 | Both views | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Essay 5 | 1 | Bar chart | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Essay 7 | 2 | Agree/Disagree | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Essay 13 | 1 | Process | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Essay 15 | 2 | Outweigh | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Essay 16 | 1 | Bar chart | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Essay 17 | 2 | Two-question | 7 | 6 | 6–7 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Essay 19 | 1 | Map | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
- In the four Task 1 essays, which criterion pulls the score down most often?
- In the four Task 2 essays, which criterion pulls the score down most often?
- If you could fix only one thing next week, what would you choose?
Suggested answers
- Task 1: TA. All four are 5, while CC is 7 or above in every one, so the problem is content accuracy and key features, not the English.
- Task 2: CC. All four are 6; TR ranges from 6 to 8, and LR and GRA are mostly around 7.
- My choice would be Task 2 CC: Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1, and CC is 6 in all four essays, which makes it the most consistent weak point. A concrete goal could be “make the first sentence of every paragraph a topic sentence, and keep to one argument per paragraph”. Task 1 TA would then be the goal for the following week: “after writing, check the overview and the key figures against the chart item by item”.
8. Checklists and further reading
Before you start recording
- ☐ Your log has columns for the four criterion scores, and range scores are recorded as given
- ☐ There is a reference code or link that takes you from the log back to the essay and its corrections
- ☐ You have a fixed list of problem tags ready
After each essay comes back marked
- ☐ The four criterion scores and the overall score are filled in
- ☐ No more than three problem tags are added
- ☐ “Fix only one thing next time” is written down
- ☐ The Corrected column is marked once corrections are done
Weekly review
- ☐ Task 1 and Task 2 averaged separately
- ☐ The two most frequent tags counted
- ☐ This week’s two lowest essays read side by side
- ☐ Only one goal set for next week, written at the top of every essay
- ☐ 2–4 essays of the same type scheduled in a row to test whether the goal works
Looking back over the record of those 50 essays, the clearest change in my scores matches one weak criterion that I had identified (Task 2 CC), rather than all four criteria improving evenly. If you have written lots of essays and are still stuck, try stopping for a week and putting the scores you already have into one table. The answer may already be in there.
If you want to see my whole journey in Writing from 6.5 to 7.0, read From Band 6.5 to 7.0 in IELTS Writing: Looking Back on How I Prepared, which also ends with a map of the whole series.
Further reading
- After Your Essay Is Marked: Turning Feedback into Notes You Will Use
- From Band 6.5 to 7.0 in IELTS Writing: Looking Back on How I Prepared
- Stuck at 6.5 in Writing? My Six Weeks and 50 Essays with Mike’s Marking Service
- IELTS Task 1 Bar Chart Samples: Band 6, 6.5 and 7.5 Compared
- IELTS Task 1 Process Diagram Samples: Band 6.5 vs Band 7 Compared
- IELTS Writing Task 1 Overview: The Four-Paragraph Structure, Key Features and a 20-Minute Plan
- The IELTS Task 2 Essay Framework: Introductions, Topic Sentences, Logic Chains and Conclusions
- How to look up your IELTS sub-scores: a little-known service (in Chinese)
This is the last part of “Find Recurring Problems”. To start again, go back to Part 1.
IELTS Notes in English · Practice Methods (post 3 of 5)
← Previous: From Band 6.5 to 7.0 in IELTS Writing: Looking Back on How I Prepared
Next →: After Your Essay Is Marked: Turning Feedback into Notes You Will Use
Task 1 Structure · Task 2 Structure · Topic Guides · Writing Language · Band Score Samples · Practice Methods · Speaking & Study Tips
✦ Target Your Future
Some days you practise for hours and the score still does not move. I hope these notes remind you that the setbacks are part of the road: every recording you replayed, every essay you rewrote and every sentence you finally dared to say is progress you have already made.
I wrote this down so the next person can take fewer detours. You do not have to follow my method exactly. Find a rhythm that works for you, rest when you need to, and come back for the next small step.
I hope what you take away is more than a number on a score report: a little more confidence in yourself, and the courage to step a bit closer to the world.
— Ting
← Back to IELTS notes in English
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