In a growing number of test centres around the world, you can do the IELTS writing test (as well as listening and reading) on computer instead of on paper.
The questions in the computer-based test are exactly the same as for the paper-based test.
The main difference between the paper-based and computer-based writing tests is that you type your essay on the computer keyboard.
Word Count
You will also see the word count on the screen, so you don’t need to count your words to see how much is written.
Spelling
But there is no spell-check tool, and you won’t be able to use a dictionary.
Planning Your Writing
You can use paper to plan out your essay before you type it, but it’s also possible to type your plan into the space provided for your essay – this is quite a good idea as it means you can simply copy and paste your notes into the correct part of your essay. Just remember to delete your plan at the end!
If you prefer typing to handwriting, the computer-based test is perfect for you.
More Information
IELTS Australasia has put together a useful page of information about the computer-based IELTS test. It includes a free mock computer-based writing test for both Academic and General Training, so you can practice using the software that IELTS uses. Here is the link to that page: https://ielts.com.au/computer-delivered-ielts/computer-delivered-writing-practice-test/ and scroll down to where it says “Start the computer-delivered IELTS Writing test”.
Here’s a short video from IELTS about the Computer-Delivered IELTS Writing Test.
