Is there any penalty for an essay length of over 400 words in the IELTS test?

For candidates preparing for the IELTS already an idea about the exam pattern. In IELTS, there are certain regulations that the test-taker needs to consider. The main concern is about the IELTS writing section. Candidates are often curious if they have to incur a penalty if they cross the benchmark of 400 words while writing the essays. The IELTS exam guidelines state that IELTS writing task 1 requires the candidate to write 150 words and IELTS writing task 2 requires you to write 250 words.

It has been mentioned that there is no upper limit in the IELTS writing test. Though candidates will be penalized if they don’t meet the stated word limit. But the question is, will they be penalized for overwriting? Let us first know what is the advised word count that one should follow. Only because the instructed word count is 150 and 250, candidates need to abide strictly by that. It is advisable that candidates write slightly above the word count - for IELTS writing task 1 170 to 190 and for IELTS writing task 2 - 270 - 290.

Now it should be noted that writing 400 words in IELTS essays will not cost any marks to the candidates. What will actually cost marks are:

1. Writing below the instructed word count. This means you have not illustrated your ideas and thoughts. This will definitely lower your IELTS writing score
2. Putting insignificant and incoherent points that will increase your essay length but lower your score. IELTS writing guidelines state that candidates should only write relevant points.

The main concern with writing 400 words is assuming the fact the candidate has probably put in a certain amount of insignificant ideas that are irrelevant. The IELTS writing topics are designed in such a way that candidates can only write a crisp, factful, and coherent essay around that word limit. The word count is agreed upon because anything drastically higher than that would result in an immaterial piece of writing.

The IELTS academic writing task 1 features infographic content like bars, graphs, diagrams, tables, flow charts, and more. Test-takers are supposed to analyze those and write the essay in 150 words in 20 minutes. Here, only the facts are required to be provided, and no story-making. The IELTS general writing task 1 is a letter-writing task that comprises writing a letter for academic, or corporate or general purposes. The test-takers will only provide information abiding by the letter’s purpose like requesting or problem-solving or inquiring about a specific topic.

Questioning about writing a word count of 400 in IELTS writing(assuming it to be IELTS writing task 2) states the candidate has not completely perceived the aim of the IELTS exam. Writing around 250 words is considered adequate for an IELTS band score of 9. 400 words for an IELTS writing task 2 is usually unmanageable. Since IELTS is taken by non-native English speakers, the higher your word count is, the higher is the probability that you will commit a grammatical or development error. Furthermore, you will also pin ideas that are not candidly relevant that will result in loss of score. Another critical point to be noted is that time is a big factor in the exam. Writing a 400 words essay will cost you an extensive amount of time. You would definitely not want to answer all the other questions whose answers you’re aware of. Since the IELTS writing score will be added to the total IELTS score, the points matter.

Writing within the advisable time should be practiced during the IELTS preparation. This cannot be magically performed during the actual exam since you will be utterly confused. Take numerous IELTS writing practice tests to not exceed the word limit of a maximum of 270 to 290. Try taking IELTS practice tests from authentic sources like the British Council, Magoosh, Princeton Review, and more. They will offer questions that have previously appeared in the exams. Also, try enrolling in IELTS preparation courses to provide you with a real-time test setting. This will help you anticipate the actual test day feel.