More scripts lose their band on Task Response than on any grammar point — by answering half the question, drifting off it, or restating a claim instead of developing it. These drills train question-reading as a skill of its own.
What the examiner reads for
Task Response is 25% of your Writing band.
Given a Task 2 question, pick the opening position that addresses every part of it — not half of it.
Start the drill →Given a topic sentence, find the supporting sentence that wanders off-topic, over-generalises or answers a different question.
Start the drill →To what extent, discuss both views, outweigh, problem-solution, two-part — know exactly what each question type requires you to cover.
Start the drill →Tell genuine development — explain, exemplify, trace a consequence — from circular restatement dressed up in new words.
Start the drill →Understanding the criterion
Task Response is the criterion you can fail with perfect English. A fluent essay that answers only one half of a two-part question, or discusses both views without ever giving the opinion the prompt demanded, caps itself at Band 5–6 before grammar is even considered. The examiner reads for three things: whether every part of the task is addressed, whether your position is clear and constant, and whether each idea is genuinely developed — explained, exemplified, followed to a consequence — rather than restated in different words. These drills train that reading discipline on exam-style questions, one decision at a time.
When a drill feels easy, write a full essay and see whether TR holds up under exam pressure.