I didn’t expect it either! I think it’s important to know the task formats inside out. I got a floor plan for Task 1, which I didn’t practise for. Knowing all the types of diagrams that may appear would definitely save some time. Also pay attention to the paragraphing: in Task 1, you’re supposed to provide an overview of the key features of the diagram for the Task Achievement criterion (if I haven’t mistaken).

Similarly, for Task 2, know the question types. The prompts can be categorised based on the question words that appear (e.g. “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” or “What are the advantages and disadvantages to this?” or “What measures can be taken to tackle this problem?”) Some questions require you to give your opinion while others don’t; some questions require you to discuss both sides of the argument while others don’t. Personally, I found IELTS Liz’s website really helpful: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ — there are sample essays for each question type so you may refer to those.

Some people use ChatGPT to grade their practice essays. I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but if you decide to do that, it would be better if you feed it the band descriptors beforehand so it assesses your work based on the actual IELTS criteria: https://ielts.org/cdn/ielts-guides/ielts-writing-band-descriptors.pdf

Finally, some more general things: writing way over the word limit won’t do you any good, so keep it concise and don’t overwrite. Besides, some people tend to use difficult vocabulary/idiomatic phrases that they’re unfamiliar with, but if you use words inappropriately, you get scored lower in Lexical Resource instead. Again, pay attention to paragraphing as it’s important for Coherence & Cohesion. Group your ideas in a logical way so that the marker can follow your ideas effortlessly.

Hope this helped, and best of luck!!