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On Cambridge IELTS 11 Academic Writing Test 4, candidates face a Task 1 table followed by a Task 2 discussion essay — a combination that rewards planning more than raw writing speed. Task 1 asks you to summarise the numbers of visitors to Ashdown Museum during the year before and the year after it was refurbished. Task 2 then turns to a discursive prompt: Many governments think that economic progress is their most important goal.
Round large numbers when comparing — '£12.4 million, almost double the 1999 figure' beats four decimal places. Use two body paragraphs, one per view, then a balanced concluding paragraph that explains why both perspectives have merit. Use evaluative connectors — 'while it is true that', 'a stronger case can be made for' — to keep the discussion analytical rather than purely descriptive.
Hold yourself to a hard twenty-minute Task 1 cap: planning two minutes, drafting fifteen, editing three. Move to Task 2 even if Task 1 feels unfinished, because the discussion essay carries double the weight. Reserve the last six minutes for a single read-through across both answers — almost every band-7 candidate fixes at least two grammar slips during that final pass.
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