Students faced difficulties producing a good essay due to ineffective writing strategies. One way to address this challenge is by employing metacognitive strategies. Metacognitive strategies are essential strategies that help learners plan, monitor and evaluate their writing. These strategies will help students become autonomous and overcome the challenges they face in the writing process. This study investigated the relationship between students’ use of Metacognitive strategies and their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) writing score. A survey design using a set of questionnaires was administered to 102 foundation studies participants enrolled in a language programme. The questionnaire investigated participants’ use of metacognitive strategies in academic writing. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, revealing a high mean score for using the three stages of metacognitive strategies (planning, monitoring and evaluating). However, the correlation test indicated that there was no significant relationship between participants’ use of metacognitive strategies and their MUET writing score. The findings showed that although students claimed to use metacognitive strategies, this was not evident in the results of their MUET test. These findings are essential for students to improve their writing skills, and at the same time, teachers need to be aware of the strategies to guide their students.
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