The IELTS Writing Band Descriptors Explained (Plain English)

Quick answer: IELTS Writing is marked on four criteria - Task Achievement/Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy - each scored from 0 to 9 and weighted equally. The official "band descriptors" are the examiner's checklist of what a script must show to earn each band. This guide translates that checklist into plain English so you can see exactly what separates a 6 from a 7 on each criterion, and what to work on.

Curious where you stand now? The free IELTS band-score estimator gives you a quick, honest starting point.

How the marking works

An examiner gives your essay a whole or half band on each of the four criteria, then averages them for that task. Your Task 2 band and Task 1 band are then combined - Task 2 counts double - into a single Writing score from 0 to 9. Because the four criteria are averaged, a real weakness in just one can quietly drag down an otherwise strong piece of writing. That is why understanding all four matters.

Criterion 1: Task Achievement / Task Response

This measures whether you did what the task asked. In Task 1 it is called Task Achievement (did you report the key features accurately and, in Academic, include an overview?). In Task 2 it is Task Response (did you answer the whole question, take a clear position, and develop your ideas?).

• At band 5, the response is partial - it may miss part of the task, be under-length, or make points without developing them.
• At band 6, the task is addressed but some parts are covered better than others; the position may be unclear in places, or ideas are stated but not fully explained.
• At band 7, every part of the task is addressed, the position is clear throughout, and the main ideas are extended and supported - though a point may occasionally over-generalise or lose focus.

How to move up: answer the exact question, cover every part of it, hold one clear position, and support each idea with a reason and an example.

Criterion 2: Coherence & Cohesion

This measures whether your writing is organised and easy to follow - how you sequence ideas, paragraph them, and link them together.

• At band 5, organisation is present but not always logical; linking words are inaccurate or overused, and paragraphing may be missing or random.
• At band 6, information is arranged coherently and there is a clear overall progression, but cohesion within and between sentences can be faulty or mechanical, and not every paragraph has a clear central topic.
• At band 7, ideas are logically organised with clear progression, each paragraph has a clear central topic, and cohesive devices are used well - though occasionally over- or under-used.

How to move up: give every paragraph one clear topic sentence, and use linkers naturally rather than dropping "Firstly / Secondly / Moreover" into every sentence. Referencing words ("this", "these", "such") that avoid repetition also help.

Criterion 3: Lexical Resource

This measures your vocabulary - its range, precision and appropriacy, including collocation and spelling.

• At band 5, vocabulary is limited but minimally adequate; there are noticeable errors in word choice and spelling that can distract the reader.
• At band 6, there is enough vocabulary to discuss the topic and some attempt at less common words, but with errors in word choice, form or collocation that do not usually impede communication.
• At band 7, there is a sufficient range to be flexible and precise, some skilful use of less common and idiomatic vocabulary, and only occasional errors in word choice or spelling.

How to move up: aim for precision, not rarity. Learn strong collocations ("a widespread belief", "raise awareness", "pose a threat") and use them accurately. A common word used correctly beats a fancy word used wrongly.

Criterion 4: Grammatical Range & Accuracy

This measures the variety of grammar you use and how accurate it is.

• At band 5, only a limited range of structures is used; errors are frequent and can cause the reader difficulty.
• At band 6, there is a mix of simple and complex sentences, but errors are still frequent, though they rarely stop the reader understanding.
• At band 7, a variety of complex structures is used, most sentences are error-free, and errors are few and minor.

How to move up: the leap from 6 to 7 here is largely about accuracy. Use complex sentences (relative clauses, conditionals, and linked ideas) but keep them controlled, and reserve time at the end to catch slips in tense, articles and subject–verb agreement.

The pattern across all four criteria

Read the descriptors together and a theme emerges: band 6 is "good but inconsistent", band 7 is "consistently controlled". A band 7 writer does not use rarer words or grander ideas than a 6 - they simply make fewer errors and hold their quality steady from the first line to the last. That is encouraging, because "be more consistent" is a fixable, trainable goal.

The clearest way to see which criterion is holding your band back is to have a tutor mark a real essay against all four. See GE's IELTS Writing Feedback service.

Frequently asked questions

To turn these criteria into a plan, read How to Go From Band 6 to Band 7 in IELTS Writing and our pillar, IELTS Writing: How to Structure Essays and Improve Your Band Score. Passing IELTS is often the first step toward teaching English abroad - see GE's TEFL courses when you are ready.

This article paraphrases the publicly described marking criteria in plain English and does not reproduce the official band-descriptor text.