Word count: why 150 and 250 matter
Short answers to the four questions people actually ask about the minimums.
What are the limits?
| Task | Minimum | Suggested time | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task 1 | 150 words | 20 minutes | One third |
| Task 2 | 250 words | 40 minutes | Two thirds |
What happens if I go under?
It is penalised under Task Achievement or Task Response — the criterion about whether you did the job. The reasoning is not arbitrary: below the minimum you almost certainly have not developed the ideas far enough to meet the higher descriptors, whatever the individual sentences are like.
Which means it caps a quarter of that task's score regardless of the rest. A 240-word Task 2 with excellent grammar still loses marks, and the grammar cannot buy them back.
Does writing more help?
No. There is no upper limit and no reward for length, and three things go wrong when people pad to be safe:
- More words, more errors. Grammatical Accuracy considers how often errors appear. Padding adds errors without adding ideas, which moves the ratio the wrong way.
- Repetition. Restating a point in different words is visible to a reader whose job is noticing it, and it counts against Coherence.
- Time. An over-long Task 1 is stolen from Task 2, and Task 2 is worth double.
A well-developed Task 2 usually lands somewhere around 270 to 320 words. If you are regularly writing 400, the question worth asking is whether the last hundred contain an idea.
How do I count in the exam?
The computer-delivered test shows a counter. On paper there is none, so you need a rough sense of your own handwriting: count the words in a few typical lines, then count lines. Do that once in practice and you will never need to count in the exam.
A practical target. Aim comfortably above the minimum rather than exactly at it: about 170 for Task 1 and 270 for Task 2. That leaves room for miscounting without inviting the padding above.
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