IELTS - WRITING BAND DESCRIPTORS

Band	Task Response	Coherence and Cohesion	Lexical Resource	Grammatical Range and Accuracy
9	fully addresses all parts of the task presents a fully developed position in answer to the question with relevant, fully extended and well supported ideas	uses cohesion in such a way that it attracts no attention skilfully manages paragraphing	uses a wide range of vocabulary with very natural and sophisticated control of lexical features; rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’	uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’
8	sufficiently addresses all parts of the task presents a well-developed response to the question with relevant, extended and supported ideas	sequences information and ideas logically manages all aspects of cohesion we uses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately	uses a wide range of vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings skilfully uses uncommon lexical items but there may be occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation produces rare errors in spelling and/or word formation	uses a wide range of structures the majority of sentences are error-free makes only very occasional errors or inappropriacies
7	addresses all parts of the task presents a clear position throughout the response presents, extends and supports main ideas, but there may be a tendency to overgeneralise and/or supporting ideas may lack focus	logically organises information and ideas; there is clear progression throughout uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under-/over-use presents a clear central topic within each paragraph	uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision uses less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocation may produce occasional errors in word choice, spelling and/or word formation	uses a variety of complex structures produces frequent error-free sentences has good control of grammar and punctuation but may make a few errors
6	addresses all parts of the task although some parts may be more fully covered than others presents a relevant position although the conclusions may become unclear or repetitive presents relevant main ideas but some may be inadequately developed/unclear	arranges information and ideas coherently and there is a clear overall progression uses cohesive devices effectively, but cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or mechanica may not always use referencing clearly or appropriately uses paragraphing, but not always logically	uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task attempts to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy makes some errors in spelling and/or word formation, but they do not impede communication	uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms makes some errors in grammar and punctuation but they rarely reduce communication
5	addresses the task only partially; the format may be inappropriate in places expresses a position but the development is not always clear and there may be no conclusions drawn presents some main ideas but these are limited and not sufficiently developed; there may be irrelevant detail	presents information with some organisation but there may be a lack of overall progression makes inadequate, inaccurate or over use of cohesive devices may be repetitive because of lack of referencing and substitution may not write in paragraphs, or paragraphing may be inadequate	uses a limited range of vocabulary, but this is minimally adequate for the task may make noticeable errors in spelling and/or word formation that may cause some difficulty for the reader	uses only a limited range of structures attempts complex sentences but these tend to be less accurate than simple sentences may make frequent grammatical errors and punctuation may be faulty; errors can cause some difficulty for the reader
4	responds to the task only in a minimal way or the answer is tangential; the format may be inappropriate presents a position but this is unclear presents some main ideas but these are difficult to identify and may be repetitive, irrelevant or not well supported	presents information and ideas but these are not arranged coherently and there is no clear progression in the response uses some basic cohesive devices but these may be inaccurate or repetitive may not write in paragraphs or their use may be confusing	uses only basic vocabulary which may be used repetitively or which may be inappropriate for the task has limited control of word formation and/or spelling; errors may cause strain for the reader	uses only a very limited range of structures with only rare use of subordinate clauses some structures are accurate but errors predominate, and punctuation is often faulty
3	does not adequately address any part of the task does not express a clear position presents few ideas, which are largely undeveloped or irrelevant	does not organise ideas logically may use a very limited range of cohesive devices, and those used may not indicate a logical relationship between ideas	uses only a very limited range of words and expressions with very limited control of word formation and/or spelling errors may severely distort the message	attempts sentence forms but errors in grammar and punctuation predominate and distort the meaning
2	barely responds to the task does not express a position may attempt to present one or two ideas but there is no development	has very little control of organisational features	uses an extremely limited range of vocabulary; essentially no control of word formation and/or spelling	cannot use sentence forms except in memorised phrases
1	answer is completely unrelated to the task	fails to communicate any message	can only use a few isolated words	cannot use sentence forms at all
0	does not attend does not attempt the task in any way writes a totally memorised response