IELTS Writing Band Descriptors and How to Raise Your Score

If you have finished a timed writing task feeling that it went reasonably well and then received a band that seemed to come from nowhere, the missing piece is usually the marking scheme rather than your English. IELTS Writing is not marked on how impressive your ideas sound: examiners apply published band descriptors to four separate criteria, and the same descriptors are used for every candidate.

This guide explains what those criteria measure, what changes between Band 6 and Band 7, and how to get real value from an ielts writing practice test with answers. Facts come from the official IELTS and British Council pages linked below, read on 27 October 2026.

How IELTS Writing Is Marked

You get 60 minutes for two tasks. The British Council recommends 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 minutes for Task 2, because Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1 in your writing band. Task 1 requires at least 150 words: in Academic you describe the main features of a graph, table, chart or diagram, and in General Training you write a letter. Task 2 is a formal essay of at least 250 words responding to a point of view, an argument or a problem, supported with examples.

Each task is judged against four criteria: Task achievement for Task 1 or Task response for Task 2, Coherence and cohesion, Lexical resource, and Grammatical range and accuracy. The criteria carry equal weight within the task, and your writing band is their average, reported in whole and half bands. Your overall score is the average of your four section bands rounded to the nearest half band.

Two official details are worth memorising. The descriptors state that a script must fully fit the positive features of the descriptor at a particular level, with bolded text marking the negative features that limit a rating, so one persistent limitation can hold an otherwise strong script down a whole band. And responses of 20 words or fewer are rated at Band 1.

If you want the same criteria explained for the spoken test, the IELTS Speaking band descriptors follow an identical four-criterion logic.

What Task Achievement and Task Response Reward

At Band 6 an Academic Task 1 response focuses on the requirements, highlights the key features, attempts a relevant overview and supports information with figures, while some details may be missing or excessive. At Band 7 it covers the requirements and the selected features are clearly highlighted. In Task 2, Band 7 expects a clear position developed throughout, where Band 6 tolerates ideas that are insufficiently developed or briefly irrelevant.

What Coherence and Cohesion Reward

Band 6 describes ideas that are generally arranged coherently with a clear overall progression, but cohesion that may be faulty or mechanical because cohesive devices are misused, overused or omitted. Band 7 asks for logical organisation with a clear progression throughout and a range of devices, including reference, used flexibly. So instead of starting every sentence with a linking adverb, carry meaning forward with reference: a paragraph can say this trend or such measures instead of repeating the noun.

What Lexical Resource and Grammar Reward

Lexical resource is measured as range, precision and accuracy. Band 6 is generally adequate, with meaning clear in spite of a restricted range. Band 7 needs enough resource for some flexibility and precision, some use of less common items, and an evident awareness of style and collocation.

Grammatical range and accuracy has the same shape. Band 6 shows a mix of simple and complex forms with limited flexibility and errors that rarely impede communication; Band 7 shows a variety of complex structures used with some flexibility and accuracy, and frequent error-free sentences. Precision pays better than rarity: The figure for car use rose sharply between 2005 and 2015. earns more than a vague sentence built from memorised phrases.

What Actually Changes Between Band 6 and Band 7

Three shifts matter more than any vocabulary list. Coverage becomes completeness: focusing on the requirements becomes covering them, and a relevant overview becomes one that selects and highlights the important features. Linking becomes invisible: mechanically used or overused cohesive devices are named as a Band 6 limitation, so the goal is fewer, better-placed connectors. Errors become occasional rather than persistent: Band 7 expects frequent error-free sentences.

Half bands are normal because the writing band is an average: a task scored 7, 7, 6, 6 sits at 6.5, which is why fixing one weak criterion moves the score more reliably than polishing a strength.

Using a Practice Test with Answers Properly

A writing practice test with answers is only useful if you mark your own work the way an examiner would. Sit one task under real time, without pausing to look anything up. Then score each of the four criteria separately, in writing, using the official descriptors rather than an impression of the whole answer. Only then compare your response with the official sample answers, because a sample shows what a strong answer contains, not what you personally missed.

Two rules keep this honest. Do not exceed the recommended minimum word count by more than about 20 per cent, since extra irrelevant content earns nothing. And when you compare with a sample, name the missing features in the language of the descriptors: an overview in the first paragraph, data selected for the point it supports, a position held from introduction to conclusion.

Free official material comes from the two organisations that own the test. The British Council publishes free IELTS Writing practice tests for Academic and General Training, and IELTS publishes Academic sample test questions and General Training sample test questions. The marking rules are in the Writing band descriptors and the scoring explanation.

A weekly loop keeps the work pointed at one target: read the descriptors and write a timed Task 2, rewrite the same essay fixing only your weakest criterion, rehearse the 20-minute and 40-minute split, then run two complete sections and keep a page of the errors that recur, because recurring errors are what the bolded negative features are about.

Computer Delivery and the Writing on Paper Option

Delivery has changed. From mid-2026 IELTS is no longer offered as a paper-based test: all tests are delivered on computer, with exact timelines varying by market. In selected markets a Writing on Paper option lets you hand-write the Writing component, and the IELTS partners state that this does not change the skills assessed, the test construct, or the way results are interpreted. A One Skill Retake of Writing must be taken in the same delivery mode as the original test.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is IELTS Writing scored, and how can I raise my writing band from 6 to 7?

Each task is marked against four criteria, with Task 2 worth twice as much as Task 1. Moving from 6 to 7 usually means removing persistent limitations rather than adding rare vocabulary: cover every part of the task with a clear overview or position, replace mechanical linking with logical order and reference, and reduce errors until error-free sentences are frequent.

how many questions are there in ielts writing

There are two tasks rather than a set of numbered questions. Task 1 asks for at least 150 words describing a graph, table, chart or diagram in Academic, or a letter in General Training. Task 2 asks for a formal essay of at least 250 words. You have 60 minutes for both.

how to score 6.5 in ielts writing

A writing band of 6.5 is an average, so the target is usually one criterion at 7 and one at 6 for a task, or solid 6.5-level work across all four. In practice that is an answer that covers the task fully, links ideas mainly by ordering and reference, and produces frequent error-free complex sentences.

how to improve writing skills for ielts

Improve in the order the exam marks you. Answer the whole question first, because a misread task caps the score whatever your grammar is like. Then work on organisation with one idea per paragraph and reference words instead of extra connectors. Then widen vocabulary with topic collocations, and finally audit recurring grammar errors in your own sentences.

how to score band 8 in ielts academic writing

Band 8 asks for key features that are skilfully selected and clearly presented, logically sequenced information, a wide resource used fluently and flexibly, and a wide range of structures with the majority of sentences error-free. Planning matters more than volume: select the two or three features that carry the message in Task 1, and hold one clearly stated position in Task 2.

how to improve ielts speaking and writing

The two sections share three of their criteria, so practice transfers. Both descriptors reward coherence, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy, which means a routine that fixes one weakness helps both. Practising IELTS speaking at home with recorded answers builds the same habit of reviewing your own output against criteria.