What words should I count towards a Task 1 or Task 2 word count?

Students often ask if they want to work towards a word count for both Task 1 and 2, what words can the include in the count.

What words are counted in an IELTS essay?

The general answer is ALL of them!

Some of the words included in the word count but often ignored by students include

articles (a / an / the)

and

prepositions (in / on / at / of/ )

In some languages, such as Slavic Languages, articles are used less or even don’t exist, or prepositions are completely different, as in French or Italian.

This may explain why some students forget to use them!

But in the IELTS exam every “a” or “on” has the same value as a long word like “propaganda”, “internationalism” or “environmentalism”!

Previously, IELTS used complicated rules about what counted as one word and what counted as two.

Examples included words with a hyphen were one (e.g self-service = ONE), while figures and a symbol separated by a space where two (e.g. 60 % = TWO!)

Now those small differences are no longer so important because examiners need only estimate if a task is underlength.

However, I believe it is still a good idea for students to be able to gauge what 250 words and 150 words looks like in their own handwriting to negate the need of a word count. Just like examiners do!

The best way to do this is to practice writing on the official IELTS answer booklet paper. I’ve done this and 150 words in my handwriting is about a side and a half, and 250 is about 2 and a half sides.

Being able to estimate how much you have written is also useful to make sure you are on track in the exam – unless, of course, you are sitting the IELTS computer -based test, which has a word count!

I’m Jonathan

I’ve taught IELTS and University English in more than a dozen universities and schools around the world.

I’m a parent, traveller and passionate about language teaching and helping students achieve their dreams.

Whilst living in Austria or working in Asia, I run IELTS courses to help students get to where they want to be.

If you are serious about IELTS, connect with me to see how I can help you.