IELTS Writing, explained.
Straight-talking guides to how IELTS Writing is scored and how to move up a band, written from what the descriptors actually reward. No filler, no recycled templates.
How IELTS Writing Is Scored: The 4 Marking Criteria
Your band is not a black box. It is four named criteria, each worth a quarter of the score, averaged into a band. Here is what each rewards, how they combine, and a sentence shown at Band 6 and Band 7.
Read the guideHow the band is built
TR
7
CC
7
LR
6
GR
6
IELTS Writing Grammar: 6 Mistakes That Keep You Below Band 7
Grammar is worth exactly a quarter of your IELTS Writing band, but it is the criterion candidates neglect most while they chase vocabulary. Here are the six errors examiners see thousands of times, why each one drags your score down, and one change that fixes each.
IELTS Writing Task 1: How to Describe a Graph
Academic Task 1 asks you to report what a chart shows in about 150 words. The skill is selection: a clear overview, then the key features grouped logically, in the right tense. Here is the structure, the trend language, and a worked example.
IELTS Linking Words: Use Them Well, Not Often
Linking words help your reader follow your argument, which is what Coherence and Cohesion rewards. But cramming them in backfires. Here is a function-grouped list of connectors that work, and the habit to drop.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Structure: A 4-Paragraph Plan
A Task 2 essay is not a template to memorise, it is a predictable shape that makes your argument easy to follow and easy to mark. Here is the four-paragraph plan, the engine inside each body paragraph, and how it flexes across the five question types.
How to Get Band 7 in IELTS Writing
The jump from 6.5 to 7 is rarely about harder words. It is about control and consistency. Here is what the descriptors ask for, a paragraph shown at both bands, and the maths that makes fixing your weakest criterion the fastest route up.
Reading about bands is fine. Seeing yours is better.
Paste a Task 1 or Task 2 response and get a band for all four criteria in 60 seconds.