IELTS Writing Band Descriptors: IELTS Writing Criteria

Many candidates when taking the IELTS Writing test often do not achieve the desired results but still do not understand why. One of the most common reasons is because candidates only focus on studying the sample essay without really understanding the examiner's grading criteria.

The following article will help you somewhat better understand the grading criteria IELTS Writing Band Descriptors   as well as recognize common "misunderstandings" about this test.

DOL IELTS Dinh Luc

Nov 08, 2021

2 mins read

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1. Overview of IELTS Writing Band Descriptors

IELTS Writing Band Descriptors niceIELTS Writing rubric is a table of 4 criteria used to assess the writing ability of candidates at different levels.

Overview of IELTS Writing Band Descriptors

Those criteria include:

• Task Achievement (Meet the requirements of the topic)
• Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)
• Grammatical Range & Accuracy (Variety and accuracy of sentence structure)
• Coherence & Cohesion (Fluency and Coherence)

2. 4 writing criteria

2.1 Task Achievement

For Task Achievement's criteriaIELTS Writing Band Descriptors, Candidates' essays need to be able to answer all parts of the question, this is shown in 3 parts: Opening - Body - Conclusion.

Ví dụ: Today, TV channels provide man’s sports show more than women’s sports show. Why? Should TV channels give equal time for women’s sports and men’s sports? 

=> This topic raises 2 questions: “Why?” and "Should TV channel give equal time for women’s sport and men’s sport?". Candidates need to mention both of these issues in the essay.

2.1.1 Fully answer the question's requirements

IELTS exam questions can have 2 or 3 issues candidates need to discuss. If you answer only one part of the question, you will lose points in the criterionTask Achievement of theIELTS Writing Band Descriptors.

2.1.2 State your point of view clearly

Candidates need to arrange the points in the essay well and logically. To score criteriaTask Achievement of theIELTS Writing rubricUse the opening paragraph to state your point and explain it specifically throughout the body paragraphs.

You should spend time planning the article, more specifically the essay will include a few paragraphs, what is the first paragraph about, what is the second paragraph about, the more detailed the plan, the better the writing process will be. simpler.

2.1.3 Prove your point with arguments and examples

Many of you when writing only know how to list ideas but don't know how to use examples to support your point. This will cause your ideas not to be fully and strictly implemented, negatively affecting the scoreTask Achievement.

2.1.4 Write the required number of words

InIELTS Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors , Candidates are required to write at least 250 words, so the candidate's essay must have enough words, candidates can write more than 250 words but absolutely must not write less than the number of words that they can write.IELTS Writing Band Descriptors Task 2 request.

When taking the test on a computer, the test center's software will be able to count the number of words, but when taking the paper test, candidates must count themselves, so please note.

2.2 Coherence and Cohesion

2.2.1 For the paragraph

This criterion ofIELTS Writing Band Descriptors requires paragraphs to have a clear and logical main idea. If your article is not properly divided into paragraphs, this criterion score will not be more than 5 points.

Many candidates often fail to develop ideas in their paragraphs or arrange unrelated ideas side by side, affecting the examiner's reading.

2.2.2 For the essay

Your essay needs to clearly state the point of view at the opening and throughout the body needs to be developed in accordance with the stated point of view, as well as when closing the idea at the end of the article, the point of view must still be maintained.

Specifically, if in the opening of the article you write that the benefits outweigh the harms, then in the body of the article you must argue and explain so that the reader can clearly see that the benefits are more and that when reaffirming the idea must be the same.

This seems very simple, but many of you make this mistake when writing, especially inWriting IELTS Task 2. In addition, in each paragraph, candidates need to state the main idea that they will present in the paragraph in the opening sentence of that paragraph.

2.3 Lexical Resource 

This criterion ofIELTS Writing Band Descriptors used to assess the vocabulary and ability to use vocabulary of candidates. Articles with a diverse vocabulary, using vocabulary naturally and relevant to the topic will receive a higher score. As follows:

2.3.1 Amount of vocabulary

Candidates should have enough vocabulary related to a certain topic mentioned in the test to support your point of view. These vocabulary words must be diverse, avoiding duplicate use throughout the essay.

2.3.2 Spelling

An article with a high score on the criterionLexical Resource inIELTS Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors It is obvious that the vocabulary, from basic to advanced, must be free of misspellings. To avoid making these basic mistakes and losing points, you should turn off features that help correct spelling or handwriting.

2.3.3 Collocation

In order to get a high score and show natural vocabulary, you should use the correct wordsCollocation (a combination of words).Collocation is a way of putting words together, for example, to talk about "challenge", we don't use "make a challenge" (Vietnamese - English translation of the phrase "create challenges") that we will use "pose a challenge”.

2.4 Grammatical Range & Accuracy

Many candidates just try to cram in as many grammatical structures as possible (range) but forget the precision (accuracy) also plays an extremely important role.

2.4.1 Using a variety of sentence structures

To score high on this criterion in bothIELTS Writing Task 1 rubric andIELTS Task 2 Band Descriptors Candidates need to use many different sentence structures in their writing.

For example, in Task 1 when presenting data, candidates can use sentences starting with "There is/are…” or begin a sentence with a specific number or object. For task 2, candidates need to ensure that they have enough simple sentences, compound sentences, some advanced sentence structures such as conditional sentences of type 1, type 2, type 3 or inversion.

2.4.2 Using the correct tense

Then plays an extremely important role in this criterion ofIELTS Writing Band Descriptors, For task 1, candidates need to pay attention to the time of the data that the question gives, if the data is in the past, when writing, you must pay attention to use the simple past tense instead of the present tense.

Conversely, if the lesson has information in the future, you must also pay attention to use the simple future or the future perfect. Similarly in task 2, you must also use the appropriate tense in the context.

2.4.3 How to put punctuation marks

The presentation and use of punctuation also affect the Grammar score, candidates need to pay attention to using reasonable punctuation to make the article more coherent and readable. In addition, when typing, it is also necessary to pay attention to the whitespace rule when placing punctuation marks.

4 main criteria to evaluate candidates' writing skills

Video review of Sample marking IELTS writing task 2

3. Detailed evaluation criteria for each score scale of the Writing test

3.1 Task Achievement

Band	Task Achievement
0 - 4.0	From answering the question completely wrong, the answer is not related to the requirements of the topic or the answer is off topic due to misunderstanding the topic, the idea is still limited and irrelevant (0 - 3.0). Candidates gradually make efforts to fulfill the requirements of the test even though the main ideas have not been fully developed (point 4.0). However, candidates still get confused between important information to have.
5.0	At this level, the examiner gradually has an overview, although it is not clear. The article does not include enough important details or is even overly detailed, does not use data when the evidence and information is inaccurate.
6.0	Candidates have an overview section, mentioning important details fully, selectively, even though they are not completely accurate.
7.0	Candidates have written a clear overview as well as clarifying important details. All information is correct although some parts could be implemented better.
8.0	At this point, the writer has a clear overview. The important details of the assignment are clarified and presented well and all the requirements are met.
9.0	The writer has the ability to fully meet the requirements of the topic, has a clear overview, important information is written and described in detail.

3.2 Coherence and Cohesion

Band	Coherence and Cohesion
0 - 4.0	At level 0 - 3.0, from not knowing how to implement ideas or communicate information and not being able to connect ideas together, the writer gradually lists ideas even though they are not organized properly, using Misuse of linking words.
5.0	At this level, the article has a layout, but the sentence structure is limited, some complex structures are used but are wrong, there are many grammatical errors and sentence breaks that make it difficult to read. .
6.0	When achieving a score of 6.0, candidates have a clear information layout and reasonable paragraphs, and know how to use linking media effectively. The article still has some errors in the connection between sentences/within sentences, substitute pronouns may be used incorrectly.
7.0	When reaching level 7.0, the writer has a good logical and fragmented information layout as well as a variety of linking facilities used. Some linking means are misused or used incorrectly, with good ability to use substitute pronouns.
8.0	Level 8.0 shows that the writer has a reasonable layout of information and arguments, effectively dividing paragraphs. In addition, candidates also have the ability to master the means of linking and leading. Substitute pronouns are used perfectly.
9.0	At this time, the information layout and the writer's thesis are perfect, the paragraphs are arranged in a coherent sequence, without any errors.

3.3 Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Band	Grammatical Range and Accuracy
0 - 4.0	At this level, the writer cannot write a complete sentence or can only use a few simple sentences.
5.0	Test takers have limited sentence structure, used but unsuccessfully used some complex sentence structures, and also suffered from many grammatical errors and sentence breaks, making it difficult for them to read and understand.
6.0	Candidates can use simple and complex sentence structures despite occasional grammatical errors and sentence breaks.
7.0	Writers achieving 7.0 can often use a variety of complex sentence structures. Most of the sentences in the article are not wrong.
8.0	Writers can use a variety of grammatical structures and master them. Errors in writing are rare and insignificant.
9.0	When reaching the highest level, the writer can use grammatical structures in a variety and fluent manner. Errors are rare and insignificant.

3.4 Lexical Resource

Band	Lexical Resource
0 - 4.0	Writers may use only a few single words or have an extremely limited vocabulary and are prone to misspelled words and misspellings.
5.0	The writer has a limited vocabulary, makes a lot of typos or word patterns, and makes reading comprehension difficult.
6.0	Candidates at level 6.0 have a relatively diverse vocabulary, inaccurate use of some academic words despite some spelling errors and incorrect word forms, and clear expressions.
7.0	The writer has a wide range of vocabulary and is quite accurate. Able to apply academic vocabulary and use collocations competently. Occasional spelling mistakes or incorrect word choices.
8.0	The vocabulary of writers at this level is diverse and precise, using academic words fluently with very few errors in spelling and word form.
9.0	When this point is reached, the writer has a rich and contextual vocabulary. Errors in the article are rare and insignificant.

IELTS Writing tasks can be difficult, but the best way to make it less difficult is to tackle it sequentially. Each category describes the IELTS band score that assesses a specific aspect of your writing; By addressing each of those aspects, you can improve your overall score for the IELTS Writing test.

Assessment of the scoring criteria of IELTS Task 2:

4. Frequently asked questions

What is IELTS Writing Band Descriptor?

What happens if the word limit in IELTS Writing is exceeded?

How many spelling mistakes can be made in IELTS writing?

What is the lowest score in IELTS Writing?

Through the above article, DOL has provided all necessary information aboutIELTS Writing band descriptors As well as how to score ielts writing, right? . Hope you have a clear understanding of the Writing criteria to have a suitable review strategy!