IELTS Academic Writing · Vocabulary

Vocabulary for IELTS Writing, organised by what you are trying to write

Every vocabulary book for this exam is organised by topic — health, education, the environment. That helps you read. It does not help you write, because nobody sits down in front of a chart and asks which transport words they know. They ask how to say that something rose steeply and then flattened. That is a section of the exam, or a function — and those are the two axes this hub uses.

10 unitsone page each, with the full four-block route

217 entriesin 42 groups, every one with its pattern

Guided practiceyou write first, the model comes after

No auto-bandevery wrong option explains itself

Official criteria and WeLearn strategy

Lexical Resource is not a count of long words

Official format versus WeLearn strategy

Official format: Lexical Resource is one of the four official criteria in both Writing tasks. It assesses range, precision and control — including collocation and word formation — not the number of unusual words a response contains.

WeLearn strategy: WeLearn organises vocabulary by section and by function, because a topic list cannot tell you which word a sentence needs. Every unit opens with the same sentence written vaguely and precisely, so the gain is visible before any list appears.

Answer review

Review focus: Choose the word the sentence needs, then check it takes the pattern you gave it.

Explained answer: A rare word in the wrong pattern scores lower than a plain word in the right one. Nothing here is scored automatically.

IELTS Academic source IELTS samples Writing rubric Task 2 hub Model answers Compare General Training

Task 1 · by section

The words each part of a Task 1 response needs

Task 1 introduction · Vocabulario para la introducción de Task 1

It restates what the visual shows, without reusing the words printed above it.

21 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Task 1 overview · Vocabulario para el overview de Task 1

It states the two or three biggest things the visual shows, without a single figure.

20 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Trends over time · Vocabulario de tendencias en inglés

It reports change over time: the direction, how big it was, and how fast it happened.

31 entries · 6 groups · 3 exercises Comparisons · Vocabulario para comparar en inglés

It states how two or more things differ, and by how much.

22 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Processes · Vocabulario para describir procesos en inglés

It reports a sequence of stages in order, with the doer left out because nobody is named.

22 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Maps · Vocabulario para describir mapas en inglés

It reports what changed in a place, and exactly where.

22 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises

Task 2 · by section

The words each part of a Task 2 essay needs

Task 2 introduction · Vocabulario para la introducción de Task 2

It restates the prompt in your own words and says, without hedging into invisibility, where you stand.

19 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Body paragraphs · Vocabulario para los párrafos de cuerpo

It opens a paragraph with one claim, develops it into a chain, and supports it without inventing sources.

21 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Task 2 conclusion · Vocabulario para la conclusión de un ensayo

It restates the position in different words and closes without introducing anything new.

19 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises Final revision · Vocabulario para la revisión final

It names what to hunt for in the last five minutes, and what to put in its place.

20 entries · 4 groups · 3 exercises

The one rule

A rare word in the wrong pattern costs more than a plain word in the right one

This is where most vocabulary work goes wrong.
“Peaked to 40%”. “Detrimental for small businesses”. “The figure raised”. “Tend to investing”. Every one of those is a word somebody learned and then used without the construction it demands — and every one reads worse than the plain word it replaced. That is why all 217 entries here carry their pattern, and why the guardian fails the build if one is published without it.

Where this connects

Vocabulary is the argument, not the decoration

The eight functions

Hedging, asserting, attributing, quantifying, causing, evaluating, proposing and register.

Paraphrasing

Restating a prompt needs precise synonyms. This is where they come from.

Linking language

Connecting ideas is its own skill: seven relationships, a page each.