Which writing task first? How the hour and the two tasks are weighted
Task 2 carries more weight, the 20 and 40 minute split is a recommendation, and no exact ratio is published. How to spend the hour knowing that.
Band descriptorsWritingUpdated 6 min read
Three facts decide how you spend the Writing hour, and all three are narrower than the advice most candidates are given. Task 2 contributes more to your Writing band than Task 1. The suggested 20 minutes on Task 1 and 40 minutes on Task 2 is a recommendation, not a rule anyone enforces in the room. And the published sources do not state a ratio for how the two task bands combine into the Writing band, so the precise figures candidates trade among themselves are not something you can plan around. That is still enough to settle every decision that matters: protect Task 2's minutes, and treat a task you did not finish as the only genuinely expensive outcome.
What is published, and what people invent
The format is fixed: 60 minutes, two tasks, at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 for Task 2 — what an underlength answer actually costs is its own question — with the advice to spend roughly 20 minutes on the first and 40 on the second. Task 2's greater contribution is stated plainly. What is not stated is a number. You will hear confident arithmetic about fixed shares of the band, or task scores doubled and averaged; those are reconstructions, not published policy, and building your hour around one means trading on fictional exchange rates.
Nobody takes Task 1 away from you at minute 20; the hour is yours to split however you like. Both tasks are marked against four criteria each, and both are marked properly, so "Task 1 barely counts" is false. But when the two tasks compete for the same scarce minutes, the heavier one wins the argument, every time.
Two hour plans, with abandon points
Both of these work. Pick one, rehearse it until the minute markers feel automatic, and stop switching.
Plan A: Task 2 first
- 0-3 min. Read both prompts. Identify the Task 2 question type and note the Task 1 chart type. Reading Task 1 now lets it sit at the back of your mind while you write.
- 3-8 min. Plan Task 2 only: your position in one sentence, two body paragraph ideas, one example each.
- 8-38 min. Write Task 2 straight through. No re-reading paragraphs you have finished.
- 38-40 min. Conclusion, one or two sentences. Abandon point: minute 40. Whatever state the essay is in, write the conclusion and stop.
- 40-45 min. Task 1: select the features worth reporting, and draft the overview sentence before anything else.
- 45-57 min. Write Task 1: overview, then two grouped body paragraphs.
- 57-60 min. Proofread. Verbs and articles first, spelling second.
Over-run rule: if minute 36 arrives with your second body paragraph half built, land the sentence you are in, add the conclusion and move on. A short second paragraph costs less than a Task 1 that never reaches an overview.
Plan B: Task 1 first
- 0-2 min. Read both prompts.
- 2-5 min. Task 1: choose the key features, group them, fix the overview in your head.
- 5-18 min. Write Task 1: overview first, then the detail.
- 18-19 min. Abandon point: minute 19. Finish the sentence in progress and stop, even if you had a third comparison in mind.
- 19-24 min. Plan Task 2 properly. This is the paragraph plan, not warming up.
- 24-55 min. Write Task 2 including the conclusion.
- 55-60 min. Proofread Task 2 first, then Task 1 with whatever is left.
Over-run rule for Plan B is the one candidates get wrong: Task 1 running long is not a sign to keep going, it is a sign to cut. If minute 17 arrives with detail still unused, leave it unused. Every minute past 19 comes out of Task 2's block, and you cannot buy it back.
Three realistic bad endings, and what each one damages
| Outcome | What the examiner sees | Criteria hit hardest | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task 1 unfinished | Around 100-120 words, no overview, one trend described and the rest ignored | Task Achievement: the task asks for an overview, there is none, and the answer sits under 150 words. Then Coherence and Cohesion | Real, but contained in the lower-weighted task |
| Task 2 unfinished | Around 180 words, second body paragraph a single stranded sentence, no conclusion | Task Response: the position is never sustained and the answer sits under 250 words. Then Coherence and Cohesion, for the broken progression | The most expensive of the three, on the heavier task |
| Both thin | Both at bare minimum length, safe vocabulary, short simple sentences, nothing extended | Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, across both tasks at once | Broad rather than deep: the same ceiling shows up twice |
The first two rows are timing failures with different price tags, and that difference is the whole reason to put Task 2 in the protected block. The third row is not a timing failure at all: it is what happens when the hour is spent safely. If your practice essays keep finishing early and reading flat, your problem is range, not scheduling, and the band 7 criteria for Task 2 is the better place to spend your attention.