What do the IELTS Writing band descriptors mean?

What the IELTS Writing band descriptors are

The band descriptors are the tables IELTS examiners use to mark your writing. There's one table for Task 1 and one for Task 2. Each has a column for each criterion and a row for each band from 0 to 9.

The current version is dated May 2023, and you can download it free from ielts.org. Academic and General Training use the same tables.

For each criterion, the examiner finds the band that fits your answer best. To get a band, your writing has to show everything that band describes. Some faults are printed in bold in the tables. If your answer has one of them, that criterion can't go higher, however good the rest is.

What separates band 6, band 7 and band 8

For an Australian visa, Home Affairs asks for 6, 7 or 8 in each IELTS skill, depending on the level you need. That makes the step from 6 to 7, and from 7 to 8, the part of the descriptors worth reading most closely.

Task Achievement and Task Response

This criterion checks whether you did what the question asked. In Task 2 it's called Task Response. In Task 1 it's called Task Achievement.

In Task 2, a band 6 essay covers the main parts of the question, but some get less attention. It has a position, but some ideas are not developed and the conclusion may be unclear. At band 7, the position is clear all the way through and each main idea is explained and supported. The descriptors allow a band 7 essay to over-generalise a little. At band 8, ideas are well extended and relevant, with only occasional gaps.

Take the question "Governments should spend money on railways rather than roads." A band 6 idea might read: "Railways are good because they are fast and good for the environment." A band 7 writer explains the idea: "I agree that railways deserve more money, because one full train can take hundreds of cars off the road." A band 8 writer supports it too: "In a city where most people take the train to work, the roads stay clear for buses and delivery trucks."

In Academic Task 1, the big difference between band 6 and band 7 is the overview. At band 6 you try one. At band 7 you give a clear overview of the main trends or differences. "The graph shows information about tourists" says what the chart is, not what it shows. "Overall, visitor numbers rose steadily, and by the end of the period cruise visitors outnumbered hotel guests" is an overview. At band 8, you choose the most important features and support each one with the right figures.

In General Training Task 1, the letter needs to cover every bullet point, make its purpose clear and keep a tone that suits the reader.

Coherence and Cohesion

Coherence means your ideas come in a sensible order. Cohesion means the words that link them, like "however", "as a result" and "this".

At band 6, the reader can follow your answer, but the linking can feel forced. Linking words may be wrong, used too often or missing. Pronouns and other words that refer back may be unclear, so you repeat nouns. At band 7, the order is logical from start to finish and you use a range of linking words with some small errors. At band 8, the reader follows you with ease and hardly notices the linking.

Compare these. Band 6: "Firstly, cars are expensive. Secondly, cars are expensive to repair. Moreover, cars cause pollution." Band 7: "Cars cost a lot to buy, and they keep costing money after that. Repairs and fuel add up, which is one reason many young people take the bus." The second version joins the ideas through what they mean. The first lines them up behind markers.

Paragraphs count here too. From band 7, each Task 2 paragraph should have one clear main idea.

Lexical Resource

This criterion is about vocabulary, including spelling and word forms.

At band 6, you have enough words for the task and the meaning is clear, but the range is narrow or some words are not quite right. At band 7, you use some less common words and show that you know which words go together, though you still make some mistakes. At band 8, you use a wide range of words to say what you mean with precision, and wrong choices are occasional.

Band 6: "Many people have a big problem with money in cities." Band 7: "Many city workers struggle to cover the cost of rent." Band 8: "For many city workers, rent swallows most of their monthly pay."

Longer words are not always better. The band 6 descriptor warns that a writer who takes risks with vocabulary may show more range but make more errors. A precise common word beats a rare word used wrongly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

This criterion looks at the types of sentences you use, how many are free of errors, and your punctuation.

At band 6, you mix simple and complex sentences, but the complex ones have more errors. At band 7, you use a variety of complex sentences, and many of your sentences have no errors at all. At band 8, most of your sentences are error-free and the errors that remain are rare.

Band 6: "If the government will build more roads, the traffic become worse." Band 7: "If the government builds more roads, traffic may get worse, because more people will choose to drive." Band 8: "Had the city invested in trains ten years ago, its roads would be far less crowded today."

To move from 6 to 7, count your error-free sentences. Band 7 needs many of them, so check each long sentence before you move on.

How your IELTS Writing band is worked out

The examiner marks each task on its own. Each task gets a band on all four criteria, and the four count the same, so the task's result is their average.

Then the two tasks are combined, and Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1. In the example below, Task 1 averages 6 and Task 2 averages 7.5. Count Task 2 twice: add 6, 7.5 and 7.5, divide by 3, and you get 7.

Swap the two results and the Writing band falls to 6.5. That's why IELTS suggests about 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 for Task 2.

IELTS doesn't publish how it rounds a Writing result that falls between two half bands, so we chose numbers that divide evenly. Your Writing band is then averaged with your other three skills to give your overall band.

How our Writing marking uses the band descriptors

Our engine marks your writing on the same four criteria, against the public band descriptors. You get a band for each criterion on each task, and corrections on your own sentences.

Our band is an estimate, not an official IELTS result. Use it to find the criterion holding you back.

Speaking has its own band descriptors. Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy appear there too, next to Fluency and Coherence and Pronunciation.