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I gave IELTS 4 times and my score was consistently 6.5 in writing.
I started doing personal mentoring with a native teacher and found out that I was making mistakes on grammar, especially with 'articles' and 'prepositions', and occasional subject-verb agreement. Another important factor was my handwriting. When I write essays, some of the words were not understood because of my writing style. So, just want to tell you guys that if you are failing just because you are 0.5 less than your target score, give attention to grammar and handwriting, especially when you are giving exams overseas and the examiners are native English speakers.
I am going to practice more on my grammar and handwriting because I believe my vocabulary is enough to get band 7.

One more thing I almost forgot is that, record your speaking on number of topics and listen carefully, and try to find grammatical errors. This is because, in an IELTS exam, you do not have sufficient time to think more and write, and many of us would just write the sentence just as how we would speak. So, reducing errors in speaking will do help to write effectively in exams.

Just wanted to share.
If you guys have more ideas then please do share.

Thank you for sharing the advice, ieltscrazy. Yes, I'd agree that grammar can often be the challenge that holds candidates back from their target. Weak grammar so often acts as the precursor to other issues, such as problems with coherence and achievement of task.

I hope you get the marks you need next time around. Your work with your tutor likely has you on the right path.

Good luck,
Ryan

i strongly agree with you buddy. I think my handwritting is bit confusing sometimes, which makes the paper bit harder to be read. But, i would say gramma that requires more efforts in order to make it right. I have scored 6.5 for 4 times already !!!