Hi Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying a relaxing weekend.

Saturday is actually my busiest day of the week, as I teach a regular 6 hour IELTS preparation course in Tokyo. It is also my most satisfying however, as I really enjoy seeing my students improve their listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. Today was the last day of my current course, which always feels a little sad. However, I also felt really happy and proud as I could clearly see the improvement my students had made.

In particular, today, I was really able to help my students improve their Task 2 writing with a simple piece of advice. Three major problems many students have in writing Task 2 are:

• thinking of ideas.
• writing 250 words.
• finishing essays in 40 minutes.

The advice I gave my students can help them with all three problems. What was the advice? The advice was using fake statistics for supporting ideas. What do I mean by this? Well, imagine you are writing a paragraph for a Task 2 essay, and you have written the first couple of sentences:

Increasing the cost of petrol can definitely help to reduce traffic congestion. If the price of gasoline is raised, then people will use their cars less and use public transportation instead. This will result in fewer cars on the road and cleaner air. 

To complete this paragraph, you obviously need more ideas, and using fake statistics can help you with this. Look at how I have finished the following paragraph:

Increasing the cost of petrol can definitely help to reduce traffic congestion. If the price of gasoline is raised, then people will use their cars less and use public transportation instead. This will result in fewer cars on the road and cleaner air. According to a recent article published in the Nikkei newspaper, 60% of people in Tokyo said they would drive less is petrol prices were increased. 

By using this type of sentence, you will be able to more quickly write your essays, and as there are around 25 words in this sentence, it will also help you to write 250 words more easily.

In writing Task 2, you obviously don't want to repeat exactly the same sentences, but we could use this type of sentence a couple of times in different paragraphs, simply by changing some of the words. For example:

According to recent research conducted by the Japanese government, 70% of drivers answered that they would consider car sharing if there was a financial benefit.

Many students ask me if it is OK to use fake statistics in IELTS, and the answer is, yes. The examiners are not checking your statistics. They are only interested in the vocabulary and grammar that you use.

Before you try to use this type of sentence in the IELTS writing exam however, it is extremely important to practice, so that you can remember and use the sentence correctly.

I hope my advice helps you with your study, and most importantly helps you to quickly achieve your target score.

In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Good Luck!!

Mark