✏️ Understanding what is being tested.

The Cambridge Linguaskill General Writing test is a fully online, computer-based test. With a total test time of 45 minutes, the test is to be completed by answering two questions:

• Question 1. Email.
• Question 2. Long Text.

Breaking down the test format.

• Both questions 1 and 2 provide one (1) prompt and three (3) bullet points to guide your answers.
• Use the prompt and bullet points to write your answer. Marks are given based on how well you use the prompt and bullet points.
• Write academically with the purpose of informing as opposed to entertaining. A good way to achieve this is to imagine that you are writing a report or news article.
• By writing academically, you will naturally use the vocabulary and grammar needed to score maximum points in the Writing test.
• Don't be intimidated by the word count. 50 words is approximately 4-5 lines on an A4-sized paper, whereas 180 words is just 14-18 lines—just about one-third the page of an A4-sized paper.
• You will be penalized for writing less than the required word limit. However, you will not be penalized for writing more than the required word limit.
• Always aim to write more than the required word limit.
• Pay equal importance to both questions and aim to do well in both, because both questions contribute an equal percentage of marks to the final result.
• In question 1, writing an email in its proper format will score you marks. Use vocabulary like "Dear", "Yours Sincerely", "Your Truly", "Best Regards", etc.
• In questions 1 and 2:
• Having a proper and varied grammar structure in your writing will score you a lot of marks.
• Spell accurately. Too many poorly spelled words will prevent you from scoring high marks.
• Grammar is more important than vocabulary when it comes to scoring, so if you struggle with writing use simpler words but write them in proper and varied grammatical structure.
• 45 minutes is not a lot of time, so it is important to go into the test with a writing strategy that you are comfortable with (see Final section).
• Keep in mind that in the Email question, you will typically be asked to provide and ask for information; whereas in the Long Text question, you will typically be asked to provide opinions and describe things.
• The Writing test evaluates your writing style, but not whether your writing is factually correct. This means that you have quite some freedom to write just about anything you can think of, as long as it is syntactically correct.

Liguaskill General Writing weighs grammar skills a little more than vocabulary skills. It is critical that you possess sufficient grammar knowledge and the ability to use them successfully in your test.

Moreover, if you're aiming for high scores in the Linguaskill Writing test, you will need to demonstrate that you can properly use a large variety of grammar structures to expand, explain, and justify your thoughts, so you really have to put in effort to learn as many grammar structures as you possibly can.

Additionally, you'll need to have an effective and reliable writing strategy before starting the test. Learn more about this in our guide:

• Writing Strategy: · · Use these strategies to score in Writing.