What are the differences between Academic and General Ielts writing?

We're glad you asked! Even though the differences between Academic and General Ielts writing are not that great, they do require a special page devoted to them and... you've found it!

One of the main differences in the Ielts writing is that of the first task.

Although there are many similarities in the second task for both exams, the first task is completely different.

For instance, the General Ielts writing requires a letter; either formal, semi-formal, or personal. While the the Academic Ielts writing requires information interpretation from a chart or other source.

The table below showsthe differences between the Academic and General Ielts writing tasks.

	General Training Writing	Academic Writing
Task 1	informal, semi-formal or formal personal letter with some information provided	Interpreting information from a diagram, graph, chart, or process, etc., from your own words
Task 2	discursive essay on general topic of interest	discursive essay on academic topic addressed to educator

The differences between Academic and General Ielts writing tasks are clearly shown in the above chart.

The second tasks are quite similar in that they are both discursive essays. You may need to present a solution to a problem or justify an opinion about a topic.

That's about all the differences between Academic and General Ielts writing there are. Use the previous link to return to the General Ielts Training page.

To learn about our popular ebook that teaches you how to succeed on the Ielts writing tasks, click on Writing Proficiently now... like many, many, other students, you'll be glad you did!