IELTS Writing Assessment Criteria
IELTS writing is a test in which you are evaluated by your ability of writing. It is one of the tests in IELTS (International English Language Testing System) in which you have to show your skills of writing while completely understanding the provided task. In the test of IELTS writing, the understanding of IELTS writing assessment criteria is essential to get desired bands in IELTS writing.
Explanation of IELTS writing assessment criteria
The task of IELTS writing is divided into two types of tasks- Task 1 and Task 2. In task 1, you have to answer in 150 words while in task 2, you need to write an essay with the word limit 250. IELTS writing assessment is same for both the general and academic tests. The assessment criteria for IELTS writing are divided into four components:
- Task achievement / Task response
- Coherence and cohesion
- Lexical resources
- Grammatical range and accuracy
Task achievement means to answer the questions properly. Write to the point about the topic in the test; do not write general content about the topic. And the important thing is to note that answer all portions of the question.
It also means you have to write an essay of 250 words. It is essential to note down all aspects of the question and express your thoughts in a clear way. Write your essay in paragraphs keeping in mind of introduction, main ideas and conclusion.
Summary
IELTS band score for writing ranges from 0-9. These scores are awarded by IELTS writing assessment criteria. There are four portions for an assessment: task response / task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource and accuracy. All of these four components are essential to assess. As the writing test is divided into two parts- task 1 and task 2.
Task achievement means to answer accurately, while task response means to write an essay with the word limit of 250 words. Coherence and cohesion means to mention your ideas systematically and in a sequence with sense. Lexical resource refers to vocabulary means to have variety of words to write. Grammar and punctuation are also essential to improve. Do not make mistakes of grammar, punctuation, or any spelling error.
IELTS writing band descriptors are mentioned to aware you about IELTS writing scores and its criterions. Tips to get good bands in IELTS writing are very important to note while preparing IELTS writing.
The meaning of coherence and cohesion is to mention your information in a systematic way to easily understandable. Organize your sentences logically and always stay on the track to be easily understandable by the examiner.
Lexical resources refer to write in such a way that your content will not irritate examiner. Write your information with the use of few idioms or phrases to adorn your writing. Avoid to make spelling mistakes.
Grammatical range and accuracy refer to the usage of different types of sentences like complex, compound or simple sentences. It is also important to avoid grammar and punctuation mistakes in your answer.
The writing score ranges from 0-9. Task 1 is about to write a short report with the help of visual data given in the test. While task 2 is difficult task that is about essay writing. If you want to get good bands in task 2, make good strategies on how to improve writing in IELTS task 2.
The assessment criteria for IELTS writing are given below with full explanation to understand well. All of these four criterions of IELTS writing marking criteria are equally distributed carrying the weightage of 25% each. Scores are calculated by these four criterions.
Assessment Criteria for Task 1 (Task Achievement)
| Band Score | Task achievement |
| 9 | The requirements for task are completely filled with satisfaction. There might be no mistake while completing the task. |
| 8 | The requirements for such task are sufficient to get 8 bands. All types of features, key points are completely mentioned and answers are very relevant to task. |
| 7 | The requirements fulfill all the requirements. There are few mistakes and the format is correct. The mistakes are minimal, not common in responses. |
| 6 | The answers are relevant and limited, and the format is also addressed well. Irrelevant information might be seen in the answers or missing information in answers can occur. |
| 5 | The answers meet requirements generally. Answers miss their track in places and change in many places. Limited details are provided with missing information or lost the track to illustrate. |
| 4 | A good try to fill the requirements of the task. Main points are missing or not completed, and the format may also be seen inappropriate. |
| 3 | Most of the repetition is occurred. Answers are mismatched with the requirements. |
| 2 | Information hardly to match requirements. |
| 1 | Responses are not matched with word limit. A little amount of information is provided. |
| 0 | Did not attempt the task. |
Assessment Criteria for Task 2 (Task Response)
| Band Score | Task response |
| 9 | The prompt is presented in an excellent way. It is very difficult to find mistakes. Well-structured answers are there to present appropriate information. |
| 8 | The prompt is presented there in a sufficient manner. Well-structured content is there to provide a relevant information. There might be rare mistakes, you can find. |
| 7 | The format is well addressed. The information is relevant and used in an appropriate manner. There may be minor mistakes in main ideas or lost focus while providing information. |
| 6 | The information is clearly provided while completing the task. The main ideas are also good presented, there can be seen minor mistakes and the repetition of words can be found. |
| 5 | The prompt is not addressed in an excellent way. The main ideas are not complete to match requirements. The repetition can be easily found in different places. |
| 4 | The prompt (due to misunderstanding of the task) is not relevant or used in a way, not able to clear the concept. The main ideas are difficult to understand. |
| 3 | The prompt is very difficult to understand. Few ideas are irrelevant. Main ideas are not presented in a required way. |
| 2 | The content is hardly to understand. Little number of lines match the requirements with inappropriate format. |
| 1 | The content is totally irrelevant. The word limit is also nearly to 20 instead of required limit. |
| 0 | It is awarded when a candidate does not attempt the test. Use of different language instead of English or the answers are totally memorized. |
IELTS Writing Assessment Criteria Task 1 and Task 2
| Band Score | Coherence & Cohesion | Lexical Resources | Grammatical Range & Accuracy |
| 9 | The content is used in such a way that cohesion generally is not found. The mistakes in cohesion and coherence are very rarely to spot. | A wide range of vocabulary is used with very minimal mistakes in the information. | Different types of sentence structures are there. It is difficult to spot mistakes in sentences. |
| 8 | The information is managed perfectly and cohesion is also good organized. Passaging is used with good techniques. It is hardly to find mistakes. | A wide range of vocabulary is used with occasional errors in content about spellings or formation of word. | Variety of sentences is presented in a better style of accuracy. There might be few mistakes in content. |
| 7 | Well-structured information is provided. Cohesive devices are used in a good way with few mistakes or inaccuracies. Paragraphing is systematically used to aid coherence. | Good quality of vocabulary is sufficient. Might occur few mistakes in spelling, word formation or choice of the word. | Good variety of sentences are used there. It decorates to show good command on grammar. |
| 6 | The information and ideas are penned coherently to present the information well structured. There are few mistakes while applying the techniques of coherence and cohesion. | The information contains common vocabulary. Some mistakes are easily spotted regarding choice of word, formation of sentence structure or spelling mistake. | Communication is good, but there are some mistakes regarding grammar or punctuation. |
| 5 | The information is not logically sequenced and the sentences are not organized in a better way. There are mistakes regarding the use of linking words. Paragraphing or main ideas are missing. | The content vocabulary is used in limited version. An examiner can face difficulty while understanding provided answers. | There is use of complex sentences, but simple sentences are also correct. Some mistakes usually appear regarding grammar or punctuation. |
| 4 | Main ideas and information are not coherently organized and there is no clear development of cohesion. The referencing is not clear. Paragraphing is not organized in a good way. | The content contains simple sentences. Most of the mistakes are there, which appear regarding spellings or sentence structure. | Some sentences are totally faulty. Most of the sentences are good and used in simple strategies. |
| 3 | The main ideas are there but difficult to understand. The use of cohesive devices is hardly to find. Referencing is also not clear to spot. | Basic vocabulary is used while providing information. Repetitive words can be seen in the content. | Different types of sentences are there with many mistakes in grammar and punctuation. |
| 2 | The content is irrelevant, and a lot of lapses are very easy to find out. | Basic sentences are there to provide information in limited form with a lot of lapses and repetition of the words. | There are limited sentences with a lot of mistakes. Most of the sentence are irrelevant. Some of them are relevant. |
| 1 | The word limit is 20 or fewer is mentioned and does not touch the word limit. | A few words are mentioned. | There is not proper use of sentence forms. |
| 0 | Did not appear in the test. Did not attempt the test. Memorized sentences are written. | ||
Tips to improve IELTS writing band score
The golden tips for improving IELTS writing band score are essential to get good bands in IELTS writing test. There are some useful tips mentioned below to acknowledge you more about IELTS writing band score.
- Provide accurate information.
- It is also essential to answer all portions of the question to get good bands.
- Main ideas are important to be clear in your information.
- Good command on vocabulary helps a lot to write well and clear.
- Must have good command on grammar and do not make any grammatical and punctuation mistakes while writing the answers of the questions.
In a nutshell (IELTS Writing Assessment Criteria)
IELTS writing marking criteria is important to note before preparing IELTS writing test. By doing this, you can understand the IELTS writing band descriptors and key assessment criteria which will help you to know how many bands you require and how much study and preparation you need to get that one.
There are four components for each task- task 1 and task 2. By understanding all of these four components, you will get to know about the difference between smart study and hard study. Due to that reason, you will prefer to study smart instead of hard, because you already have knowledge about the assessment criteria of IELTS writing which tells everything about band descriptors of IELTS writing.
