Importance of Reading Instructions in the IELTS exam
You may be already aware that there are instructions given before every question type in the IELTS. A lot of students read the instruction before they start answering the questions but there are a few students who straight away jump to the question without reading the instructions. You may be saving some time by skipping the instructions but, it may result in a lower band score.
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS carefully to avoid mistakes. A lot time the instructions tell you the number of words or numbers you can use to answer the questions. These instructions are very common in short answer questions, note- completion and summary completion questions.
The best is to very quickly scan the instructions and underline the key words in the instruction. The common instructions in the reading and the listen sections are: Write ONE WORD ONLY, NOT MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER, NOT MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER, Choose an option or Choose two options.
It is very important that you write your answers as per the instructions given. In case you do not follow the instructions and exceed the word limit, your answers will be marked incorrect. Questions where you have to write words from the reading text or the listening audio, you should also make sure that the words will grammatically fit in.
You should only write one word when the instructions says write ONE WORD ONLY. You can write one word, two words, one word and a number or two words and a number when the instruction says write NOT MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER.
Always read the instruction code for TRUE/ FALSE/ NOT GIVEN or YES/ NO/ NOT GIVEN questions. Some questions may require you to only use the code T, F, NG while some questions may require you to write YES, NO or NOT GIVEN.
The instruction in the writing section is quite clear and not as important as the instructions in the reading and listening sections. You are only asked to write at least 150 words in Writing Task 1 and at least 250 words in the Writing Task 2. You could be penalized in case you do not write the minimum number of words which could affect your writing band score.
It is important to understand the importance of reading the instructions in your IELTS as this can directly help you improve your scores or even lower your band scores. You have to be really careful in the reading and listening sections and the best way is to simply encircle the number of words or other instruction.
