Scoring reference: official IELTS Writing descriptors and assessment criteria. The examples here illustrate writing choices; they are not independently assessed complete scripts.
Your IELTS Writing band can feel like a black box, but it is not. Every answer is judged on four named criteria, each worth exactly a quarter of your score for that task. Once you know what each criterion rewards and how the four combine, you can stop guessing at your band and start targeting it.
The four criteria examiners actually use
Both Writing tasks are marked on the same four areas, and they carry equal weight. The first criterion is named slightly differently for each task, but the idea is the same.
- Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2): whether you fully do what the question asks. In Task 1 that means a clear overview and accurate key features; in Task 2 it means a clear position you develop and support the whole way through. This is the criterion most candidates underperform on.
- Coherence and Cohesion: how logically your answer is organised. Examiners want clear paragraphs, one central idea each, and linking that guides the reader. Stacking up 'moreover, furthermore, in addition' actually works against you here.
- Lexical Resource: the range, precision, and naturalness of your vocabulary, including some less common words and collocations used correctly. Spelling and word-formation errors are counted under this criterion too.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: the variety of sentence structures and control of grammar and punctuation across the response. These aspects are assessed together, without a separate 50/50 scoring split.
How four scores become one band
The four criteria carry equal weight within each task. The reported Writing score also combines both tasks, with Task 2 carrying twice the weight of Task 1. A practice estimate for one response does not establish your official Writing result.
So if you score 7 for Task Response, 7 for Coherence, 6 for Lexical Resource, and 6 for Grammar, your task band is (7 + 7 + 6 + 6) divided by 4, which is 6.5. You can model any combination with our IELTS band score calculator.
Our practice calculator rounds estimates to half bands. When planning improvement, compare the underlying criterion feedback as well as the rounded estimate: small changes can leave the displayed band unchanged, and a single response is not your complete Writing result.
The same idea before and after revision
This sentence rewrite illustrates precision and organisation. A sentence alone cannot receive a complete IELTS Writing band:
Nowadays many people use cars and this is a big problem for the environment because cars give a lot of pollution.Illustrative original
Here is a more precise version of the same idea:
The sharp rise in private car ownership has become a serious environmental problem, largely because exhaust emissions are a major source of urban air pollution.Illustrative rewrite
The rewrite uses more precise wording and makes the relationship between the ideas clearer. It illustrates possible improvements, not a band assigned to one sentence. Our Band 7 guide explains what to look for across a complete response.
Task 1 and Task 2 are not weighted equally
Your overall Writing band combines both tasks, but Task 2 counts for roughly twice as much as Task 1. In practice, your overall score sits much closer to your Task 2 band than your Task 1 band.
The strategic takeaway: never polish a chart description while leaving your essay rushed. If you are short on time, protect Task 2. Spend about 20 minutes on Task 1 and the full 40 on Task 2, which is the split the timing is designed around. You can browse practice prompts for each on our Task 1 and Task 2 pages.
Where candidates lose the most marks
Two leaks account for most stalled scores.
- Task Response: not answering every part of the question, or sitting on the fence instead of committing. A clear, consistent position is the backbone of Band 7 and above.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: using a very limited set of sentence structures. Practise a wider range that you can control; accuracy and variety both contribute to this criterion.
If you want to see exactly which of the four criteria is capping your band, you can paste an essay into our grader and get a score for each, judged against the same four descriptors an examiner uses. Reading a few model answers with the band breakdown shown is another fast way to calibrate your own writing.