How the Writing test is graded

We have already looked at an overview of the IELTS writing test  and this posting will look in more detail at how the writing test is graded.

It is really important for  candidates to understand how the test is scored because some mistakes can be  easily avoided by knowing exactly what the examiner is looking for and how the writing us graded.

Writing scores are calculated based on four different criteria, and each of the four different criteria will be given a score from 0 to 9. All the criteria count equally and your total score is the average of adding them all together and then dividing by four:

• Task response – How well (or how completely) candidates answer the question
• Coherence and cohesion – How well the piece of writing links together (flows), how good paragraphs usage is and whether sentences are linked well with good use of referencing.
• Lexical resource – Level and appropriate use of  vocabulary
• Grammatical range and accuracy – Mistakes in grammar and how difficult the structures are that are used in the piece of writing

These criteria are used to grade candidate writing and all examiners must mark any piece of writing in the same way. If you know anything about statistical research, this means that the examiners try to take an objective approach (in that different examiners would give the same marks to the same piece of writing) and thus the IELTS test is a reliable one!

One very common question I get asked by students is: “I heard that the IELTS test is easier at xxxxx (another IELTS test venue), is this true?” I have to promise all candidates that it does not matter at all where you take your test; all examiners grade consistently and the people responsible for the test go to great lengths to ensure that this is the case and that the marking is consistent and to the highest possible standard.

The details of the criteria for the scores are in the public domain and released by the British Council. All candidates would be advised to read through them. I will in any case take a look at the four different criteria. I will go into more detail in later posts so that you can really understand what the exam is looking for and can avoid many common mistakes.

If you wish to look at the publically available grading criteria, you can access them at the two links below:

• Public Version of the grading Criteria for Task 1
• Public version of the grading criteria for Task 2

The grading for task 1 and 2 are very similar but there are some differences, especially in the first category (Task response in Task 2 and Task achievement in Task 2) but all the other categories are the same for both task 1 and task 2.

Candidates sometimes tend to focus more on one or other of the criteria in their preparation (normally they tend to focus on grammar) and perhaps forget about the other ones (normally these will be cohesion and coherence and task achievement). It really is important to remember that all four criteria count equally and they all need to be thought about.

IELTS Scoring examples

As I said before, all writing scores are calculated based on the four different criteria (each being given a score from 0 to 9 with all the criteria counting equally towards your final score). 

Suppose that a candidate scores as follows:

• Task Response: 7
• Coherence: 7
• Lexical Resource: 7
• Grammar: 7

Their total score would be 7+7+7+7 = 28.

This score of 28 would be divided by 4 to give a final score of 7.

Let’s look at another more difficult example where a candidate does not use paragraphs and has not fully answered the question but that they overall have a good general level of ability in English when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. In this example,  suppose that the candidate scores as follows:

• Task Response: 5 - (Candidate did not answer the question fully and they only answered half of it)
• Coherence: 5 - (Candidate did not use paragraphs)
• Lexical Resource: 7 - (Candidate used vocabulary well and used some less common terms)
• Grammar: 7 - (Candidate has a mix of sentences with ability to use complex sentences as well)

This candidate’s total score would be 5+5+7+7 = 24  

This score would be 24 divided by 4 to give a final score of 6.

As you should be able to see, good grammar and vocabulary are not enough; candidates must focus on all the criteria as they write. To get a target score of 6.5 (which is the minimum score for many universities); candidates need to get a 7 in at least three of the four criteria. As we will see, there are some things like not being able to write enough that will really negatively affect your Task Response score and we will, in future posts look at all the grading criteria in more detail but I hope you can see that the criteria are not simple. Task response for example is not only about answering the question, it also measures candidate ability to extend and support main ideas and maintain a clear position throughout the essay.