Writing
Writing in the Oxford ELLT tests your ability to produce clear, organised English for academic and everyday purposes. You typically complete a shorter transactional task, such as an email or letter, and a longer discursive task, such as an essay or opinion piece. Scripts are judged on task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. A simple, controlled answer usually scores better than an ambitious, error-heavy one.
Core rules
- Answer the exact prompt: identify the audience, purpose and register before writing.
- Use paragraph structure: topic sentence, support, link. One main idea per paragraph.
- In discursive tasks, state a position and develop it; do not just list advantages and disadvantages.
- Show range with control: use complex sentences when you can keep them accurate.
- Respect the word limit: too short loses task achievement; too long costs editing time.
Worked example
Prompt: 'Some students prefer online study; others prefer campus. Discuss both and give your opinion.' Weak: 'Online is good. Campus is good. I think both.' Stronger: 'While online study offers flexibility, campus learning builds routines and peer contact that many students need. This essay argues that a blended model is preferable.' Reasoning: the stronger version names both sides, signals the essay structure, and states a position. The weak version repeats the prompt without development, so it loses task achievement and coherence marks.
Traps that cost marks
- Memorised phrases that do not fit the question.
- Informal register in a formal essay: 'a lot of', 'stuff', contractions.
- No clear position in an opinion task.
- Cohesion by repetition rather than referencing: 'this approach' beats repeating 'online study' four times.
- Ignoring the email conventions: greeting, purpose, closing.