IELTS Collocation List: 50 High-Band Phrases for Writing Task 2

One of the fastest ways to raise your IELTS Writing Task 2 score is to stop thinking about vocabulary one word at a time. Native speakers and high-band candidates do not simply collect impressive words — they collect word partnerships. These partnerships are called collocations, and they are a core part of what IELTS examiners are looking for when they assess your Lexical Resource.

What Is a Collocation?

A collocation is a pair or group of words that naturally go together in a language. Native speakers use these combinations instinctively, and when a non-native speaker gets them wrong, the text sounds unnatural — even if every individual word is correct. For example, in English we say 'make a decision', not 'do a decision'. We say 'strong argument', not 'powerful argument', in most academic contexts. Getting these partnerships right is a mark of genuine vocabulary command.

Collocations fall into several categories: verb + noun (raise awareness), adjective + noun (growing concern), adverb + adjective (deeply concerned), and noun + noun (carbon footprint). All of these appear in high-scoring IELTS essays.

Why Collocations Are Worth 25% of Your IELTS Score

IELTS Writing is marked on four criteria, each worth exactly 25% of your total score: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Lexical Resource (LR) is entirely about your vocabulary — and the official band descriptors at Band 7 explicitly state that the candidate uses 'a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision' and shows 'some awareness of style and collocation'. At Band 8, collocational control becomes even more prominent.

This means that using natural, topic-appropriate collocations directly signals to the examiner that you are operating at Band 7 or above. Candidates who write grammatically correct sentences using only basic, generic vocabulary tend to plateau at Band 6 — not because their grammar is wrong, but because their word choice lacks the precision and naturalness that higher bands require.

50 High-Band Collocations Organised by Topic

The following collocations are grouped by the five most common Task 2 topics. Each one appears frequently in high-scoring model essays and in academic writing more broadly. Study them in their topic groups so you can recall them under timed exam conditions.

1. Environment (10 Collocations)

2. Technology (10 Collocations)

3. Education (10 Collocations)

4. Health (10 Collocations)

5. Society (10 Collocations)

How to Use Collocations — Not Just Memorise Them

Memorising a list is only the first step. Examiners penalise candidates who insert sophisticated-sounding phrases awkwardly or in the wrong context — this is known as 'inappropriate word choice' and it actively lowers your LR score. The goal is to use collocations naturally, in the right grammatical slot, with the right meaning.

Step 1: Learn the Grammatical Frame

Every collocation fits into a grammatical pattern. 'Pose a threat' requires a subject that does the posing and a noun phrase after it. 'Broaden horizons' requires a human subject or a gerund. When you study a new collocation, note down a full sentence, not just the phrase — this anchors the grammar in your memory.

Step 2: Use Them in Context, Not as Decoration

A common mistake is to force a high-band phrase into a sentence where it does not fit logically, simply to impress the examiner. Examiners are trained to spot this. Each collocation you use should serve the argument — it should make your point more precise, not simply sound impressive.

Step 3: Practise Paraphrasing With Collocations

Take a simple sentence and rewrite it using at least one collocation from this list. Do this for five sentences every day when preparing for the exam. Over two weeks, you will build a genuinely flexible vocabulary that you can deploy under pressure.

Step 4: Group Collocations by Essay Function

As well as grouping by topic, try grouping by function: collocations for introducing a problem (pose a serious threat to, exacerbate social problems), for proposing solutions (tackle inequality, mitigate the effects of), and for conceding a point (it is undeniable that, while it is true that). Functional grouping makes retrieval faster under timed conditions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Mixing formal collocations with informal language in the same sentence ('it is imperative that we fix this massive problem').
• Using a collocation correctly in isolation but placing it in the wrong paragraph where it does not support the argument.
• Over-repeating one or two impressive-sounding phrases — examiners notice repetition.
• Confusing similar collocations, e.g. 'raise awareness' (correct) vs 'rise awareness' (incorrect).
• Translating collocations directly from your first language — these almost always sound unnatural in English.

Quick Reference: Verb Collocations for Essay Arguments

Mastering collocations takes time, but it is one of the highest-return investments you can make for your IELTS Writing score. Start with the topics most likely to appear in your exam, practise using each phrase in a full sentence, and review regularly. The goal is not to sound academic — it is to communicate your ideas with precision and naturalness. That is exactly what examiners reward.