IELTS Vocabulary

Lexical Resource is 25% of your Writing and Speaking score. Examiners reward a range of accurate, natural vocabulary and collocations — not memorised “big words”. Learn words in topic groups and always with their common collocations.

High-frequency topic vocabulary

Linking words (use sparingly and correctly)

• Adding: moreover, furthermore, in addition
• Contrasting: however, whereas, nevertheless, on the other hand
• Cause/effect: consequently, therefore, as a result
• Examples: for instance, to illustrate, namely

Golden rule: one wrong collocation is more noticeable than a plain word used correctly. When in doubt, choose accuracy over ambition.