In IELTS Academic Writing, you often need to reference ideas — what studies have found, what people argue, what experts suggest. Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is the grammatically correct way to do this. It also adds variety to your sentence structures.
Why Reported Speech Matters for IELTS
Direct quotes (using someone's exact words with quotation marks) are rarely used in academic writing. Instead, you report the idea: "According to Smith (2020), educational investment yields significant long-term returns." This demonstrates academic register — one of the markers of high-band Lexical Resource.
The Grammar: Tense Back-Shift
When reporting what someone said or found in the past, tenses shift back:
- Present simple → Past simple: "The report says..." → "The report said..."
- Present perfect → Past perfect: "Research has shown..." → "Research had shown..."
- Will → Would: "Experts believe it will improve." → "Experts believed it would improve."
Exception: when reporting universal truths or still-valid facts, present tense is acceptable: "Einstein argued that energy and mass are equivalent."
Academic Reporting Verbs
Vary these instead of repeating "said" or "stated":
- For findings: found, demonstrated, revealed, identified, observed
- For arguments: argued, contended, maintained, claimed, asserted
- For suggestions: recommended, proposed, suggested, advocated
- For beliefs: believed, posited, theorised, hypothesised
- For agreements: confirmed, acknowledged, supported, concurred
IELTS Writing Examples
"A recent study argued that prolonged screen time adversely affects children's cognitive development."
"Economists have suggested that raising the minimum wage would reduce income inequality without significantly increasing unemployment."
"The World Health Organisation recommended that governments prioritise mental health services alongside physical healthcare provision."
Common Mistakes
- Using quotation marks instead of reported speech in academic writing
- Forgetting tense back-shift in past reporting contexts
- Using "said that" for everything — vary your reporting verbs