What actually moves IELTS writing from a 6 to a 7
It is almost never vocabulary. The band descriptors are public, they are specific, and they describe something quite different from what most candidates practise.
A candidate stuck at 6.5 in writing almost always responds by learning more advanced vocabulary and more complex sentence structures. It is the intuitive move and it is usually the wrong one, because two of the four marking criteria are not about language at all.
The four criteria are equally weighted
This single fact reorganises most people's preparation. Task achievement or response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy each contribute a quarter of the writing score.
IELTS writing assessment criteria
- Task response25%
- Coherence and cohesion25%
- Lexical resource25%
- Grammatical range and accuracy25%
Writing is assessed on four equally weighted criteria: task achievement or task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy.
Half the mark is available for answering the question fully and arranging the answer clearly. Those are skills you can practise in a language you already speak, and improvement in them does not wait on your English improving.
Where the sixes actually lose marks
| Criterion | The habit that caps you | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Task response | Answering half the prompt, or discussing the topic instead of the question | Underline every part of the prompt. Two-part questions need both parts, explicitly. |
| Coherence and cohesion | Linking words scattered without underlying structure | One idea per paragraph, stated in the first sentence. Structure first, connectives second. |
| Lexical resource | Reaching for uncommon words and using them slightly wrongly | Precision beats rarity. An inaccurate advanced word costs more than a plain accurate one. |
| Grammatical range and accuracy | Long sentences with errors, or safe short ones with none | A mix, controlled. Range with errors and accuracy without range both cap at the same place. |
A clear position, held throughout
The descriptors for the higher bands ask for a clear position presented throughout the response. That word throughout is doing a lot of work. A common band 6 pattern is an essay that states one position in the introduction, spends the body weighing both sides evenly, and then concludes with something slightly different.
That reads as balance to the writer and as an unclear position to the examiner. If you are arguing, argue, and let the counterargument be something you address rather than something you drift into.
Four things to change in your next practice essay
- 1
Spend five minutes planning, not one
Decide your position and your two or three supporting paragraphs before writing a sentence. Most structural failures are planning failures.
- 2
Write the first sentence of each paragraph as the idea
If a reader could understand your argument from the first sentences alone, coherence is doing its job.
- 3
Delete any word you are not sure of
Replace it with the plain word you are sure of. This raises lexical resource rather than lowering it, which surprises people.
- 4
Reread against the prompt, not against the essay
In the final two minutes, check each part of the question has been answered. Not whether the essay is good. Whether it answered.
Frequently asked questions
- How is IELTS writing marked?
- On four equally weighted criteria: task achievement or response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. Each contributes a quarter of the writing band.
- Do I need advanced vocabulary for band 7?
- You need accurate vocabulary. Uncommon words used slightly wrongly score below common words used precisely, because lexical resource assesses control as well as range.
- Why is my writing stuck at 6.5?
- Most often because task response or coherence is capping it while the candidate works on vocabulary and grammar. Half the mark is for answering fully and arranging clearly.
- How long should I spend planning Task 2?
- About five minutes of the forty. Structural problems are far more expensive than the writing time they cost, and almost all of them originate in not planning.