Free IELTS study resources
300+ short, practical vocabulary, grammar, and strategy guides for Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking — not another question bank.
IELTS grammar: Negation and Double Negatives
Standard written English uses exactly one negative per clause — the any/some pairing rule, the hidden negatives in words like "hardly" and "barely" that trigger accidental double negatives, negative prefixes, and the deliberate litotes construction that looks like an error but isn't.
10 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Cause and Effect
Almost every Task 2 argument and every Part 3 answer eventually has to explain why something happens or what it leads to — and most candidates lean on the same three words ("because," "so," "this causes") for the entire test. Here is a much wider bank of cause-and-effect language, organised by function, with the grammatical and register differences that actually matter for scoring.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Comparison and Contrast
Task 1 reports live or die on precise comparison language, and Task 2 discussion essays constantly need to weigh one view against another — yet many candidates rely on "more than," "but," and "different" for the whole test. This bank organises similarity, difference, and degree language together with the grammar that keeps each pattern accurate.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Expressing Opinions
Task 2 opinion essays and Speaking Part 3 both hinge on stating a clear, well-calibrated personal position — but leaning on a flat "I think" throughout an entire test undersells range that examiners are specifically listening and reading for. Here is a fuller set of opinion phrases, sorted by how confident or how formal they sound, plus the grammar that keeps each one correct.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Giving Examples
A claim in a Task 2 essay that is never followed by a concrete example reads as underdeveloped, no matter how reasonable the claim sounds — and "for example" used five times in one essay reads as narrow. This bank covers ways to introduce, frame, and connect examples, plus how to make an example specific enough to actually persuade.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Speculation and Probability
Speculation is not the same skill as hedging a claim you already believe — it is about expressing calibrated degrees of certainty about something genuinely uncertain, which comes up constantly in Speaking Part 3 predictions and Task 2 discussions of future trends. This bank sorts probability language by strength and shows how it differs from the opinion and hedging language taught elsewhere.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Sequencing and Process
Academic Task 1 process diagrams, and any answer describing an ordered sequence of events, depend on signalling order clearly and varying it enough to avoid a monotonous "then... then... then" pattern. This bank works through beginning, middle, simultaneous, and end-of-sequence language, plus the grammar each pattern requires.
7 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Summarising and Paraphrasing
This is not about paraphrasing technique in general (that is covered elsewhere) — it is specifically the language used to signal that you are restating, condensing, or drawing a conclusion from something already said: phrases like "in other words," "essentially," and "this suggests that." These recur constantly in conclusions, in explaining an implication, and in Speaking Part 3 clarifications.
7 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Emphasis
Beyond cleft sentences and grammatical inversion, there is a whole everyday layer of emphasis language — adverbs, connectors, and deliberate repetition — for making your single most important point stand out clearly to an examiner working through dozens of similarly structured essays. Used on every sentence, though, this language flattens rather than sharpens an argument.
7 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Concession (Although, Despite)
Acknowledging a valid counterpoint before making your own point is a strong, examiner-visible technique, but candidates who lean on "although" and "despite" for every single instance flatten a whole family of concessive language into two overworked words — here's the full range, with the grammar and register that make each one work.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Quantifying Language
Quantifying language is the connective tissue of a Task 1 report and shows up constantly in Task 2 argument too — here's the full range for describing amounts, proportions, frequency, and degree with the precision "a lot" and "a bit" never quite achieve.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Line Graphs
Line graphs are the most common Academic Task 1 chart type, and the entire task hinges on movement verbs a candidate actually controls for speed and smoothness — here's the full range for describing a trend over continuous time precisely, rather than reaching for "increased" and "decreased" every single time.
9 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Bar Charts
Bar charts compare discrete categories rather than track change over time, and that calls for an entirely different toolkit — ranking, multiplier, and grouping language — from the trend verbs a line graph needs. Here's the full range for describing that comparison precisely.
9 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Pie Charts
Pie charts describe proportions of a single whole, which calls for share language and zero-sum comparison — an entirely different toolkit from a line graph's movement verbs or a bar chart's ranking language. Here's the full range for describing segments precisely, without simply listing every percentage in turn.
9 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Tables
Tables carry the most raw data and the least visual guidance of any Task 1 chart type, so the language needed is less about a single kind of movement and more about referencing specific rows, columns, and figures precisely while selecting only what actually matters.
9 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Maps
Maps typically show change between two time points across a physical space, and that calls for spatial and transformation language found nowhere else in Task 1 — location, direction, and the passive constructions for describing what was built, demolished, or replaced.
9 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Processes and Diagrams
Process diagrams describe a repeating sequence, not a trend — here's the passive-voice and stage-transition language they specifically require, richly exemplified.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Task 1 Mixed Charts
When a Task 1 prompt combines two chart types, the real test is synthesis — here's how to signpost between charts and find the one comparison that connects them.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Formal Synonyms for Common Words
Beyond a vocabulary list — formal alternatives to the words that quietly cap weaker Task 2 essays, with register notes on when the upgrade helps and when it reads as stiff.
8 min readWritingIELTS language bank: Academic Word List Overview
Not a word dump — a genuine orientation to how the AWL is built, why its sublists matter strategically, and how to practise using its words correctly rather than just inserting them.
8 min read