This document provides an overview of IELTS writing band descriptors and tips to improve task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range. It discusses the four main writing criteria and common mistakes to avoid under each one. For task achievement, it emphasizes accurately analyzing graphs and selecting the most important details rather than every detail. For coherence and cohesion, it highlights using clear topic sentences and proper progression in paragraphs. For vocabulary, it encourages paraphrasing effectively and avoiding context errors. For grammar, it notes the difference between bands is accurate complex structures versus frequent mistakes. Overall, it stresses the importance of critical thinking, planning, and proofreading to write academically in the IELTS test.

2. Workshop Content
Writing Descriptors
Understand and improve these to get a
higher band score
Common Mistakes & Solutions
Examples
How to improve
Tips & Strategies
How to think and write critically
Questions & Feedback

3. What are the 4 IELTS Writing Band
Descriptors?
Task achievement (T1) /
Task Response (T2)
Coherence and cohesion
Lexical resource
Grammatical range and
accuracy

4. Task Achievement/Task Response
• Here examiners will check
how well a candidate
addressed the task
• Did you respond fully to all
parts of the task?
• Are the ideas in your
reports fully developed?
• Is your answer long
enough? The minimum
length is _________ words.

5. Task Achievement/Task Response
• Did you answer all the
questions required? (T1/T2)
• A graph or image
description must have an
overview (a summary
without details) and the
analysis of key trends,
supported with evidence.
(T1)
• If a candidate misses some
important features, they will
not get more than 5 for Task
Achievement. (T1)

6. Task Achievement/Task Response
• Did you use the correct tone?
This is an academic essay, so use
appropriate language.
Avoid saying “I” or “we.”
Avoid informal language
• Is there any irrelevant information?
Don’t write anything that isn’t strictly
necessary. If it isn’t in the diagram or
chart, you don’t need to mention it.
(T1)
• Never give your own opinion for
Task 1.

7. • BAND 6
• Covers some of the
requirements of the task
• Highlights key features but details
may be irrelevant
• BAND 7
• Covers most of the requirements
of the task
• Clearly highlights key features
but could be more fully extended
• BAND 8
• Covers all requirements of the
task sufficiently
• Presents, highlights and
illustrates key features clearly and
appropriately

8. Writing Task 1 - T.A Mistakes to avoid
• Mistake #1: Incorrect Analysis
If you want to get a low task
achievement score, the fastest
way is to make a mistake when
reporting on the graph, table, or
diagram. (T1)
Take the following graph as an
example….
Which sentence is incorrect?

9. • a. Mobile usage grew over the period shown.
• b. There was a rise in the use of national and international fixed lines.
• c. Local fixed line usage fluctuated over the period shown.

10. Mistake #1: Incorrect Analysis (T1)
• If you look carefully, you’ll
notice that “c” is the
inaccurate sentence.
• The definition of to fluctuate is
“to rise and fall irregularly in
number or amount”
• Because of this alone, the task
achievement score could drop
to a 6 as “details may be
irrelevant, inappropriate,
or inaccurate.”
• Remember: Be careful when
analyzing. Even one mistake
can hurt your score.

11. Mistake #2: Reporting Every Detail (T1)
• You’ve probably heard of this
before. You need to “select and
report the main features.” Not
every detail on the graph.
• You can see in the band
descriptions that a task
achievement score of 7 will
“highlight the main features”,
but that a score of 5 “recounts
detail mechanically” and that
there is too much “ focus on
detail.”
• Remember: Choose the
important data to highlight.
Don’t report every detail.

12. How to select & group relevant
features in Task 1
● Group ideas based on the structure of
the data, for example here we have 2
years, so each paragraph can cover one
year..
● Look for superlatives! - Biggest,
smallest, highest, lowest, fastest,
slowest etc
● Look for the biggest
differences/changes
● Look for similarities, lack of change.
● Look at the numbers/colours,
not all the text!

13. How would you select and group the main features here?

14. Mistake #3: Not Enough Comparisons (T1)
• Task 1 writing instructions say
“make comparisons where
relevant”.
• Every sentence you’re writing
should have a purpose.
Sometimes it will be to add on
extra information by making a
comparison.
• Make sure you’re linking this
extra information to what
you’ve already written about.

15. • Let’s look at these examples:
100 thousand men went to university in 2002. 200
thousand women went to university in 2002.
How can you improve this sentence’s T.A score?

16. Better version..
• A total of 200 thousand women went to
university in 2002, surpassing the number of
men attending in the same year by exactly 100
thousand.

17. Mistake #3: Not Enough Comparisons
• Not only does example 2 have
better grammar, vocabulary,
and cohesiveness, but it
also makes a relevant
comparison. Writing like this
will get you at least a band 7
score.

18. Coherence and cohesion
Cohesion refers to how everything fits
together nicely. In other words how
you link your ideas together in
sentences, between sentences, in
paragraphs and the whole essay.
Coherence refers to how if everything
you have put together is
understandable. In other words, do the
things you are trying to say to me make
sense, do I understand them?

19. Coherence and cohesion
Is there a variety of cohesive devices
and are they used correctly?
The public transport in this city is
unreliable. It is cheap.
The public transport in this city is
unreliable but it’s cheap.
The public transport in this city is
unreliable and it’s cheap.
Which is best?

20. Coherence and cohesion
• Are your ideas easy to follow?
Do they flow logically from one
to the next?
Is there clear progression?
A graph/ diagram/process
analysis needs introduction,
overview and body. Unlike an
essay, it does not need a
conclusion.

21. Coherence and cohesion
• Are paragraphs adequate?
Paragraphs should follow the
approach "one idea-one
paragraph.“
Paragraphs should be logical
and developed.
They should be linked
together, and internally
linked.

22. • BAND 6
Clear overall progression
Uses cohesive devices effectively, but
cohesion may be faulty or mechanical
Uses paragraphing, but not always logically
• BAND 7
Clear progression throughout
Uses a range of cohesive devices
appropriately although there may be some
under-/over-use
Presents a clear central topic within each
paragraph
• BAND 8
Sequences all information and ideas logically
Manages all aspects of cohesion well
Uses paragraphing sufficiently
and appropriately

23. C&C Mistakes to avoid!
• No clear topic sentence in a
paragraph (T2)
The way to signal to the examiner
what the main idea in your
paragraph is to start with a sentence
that clearly states what you are
going to discuss i.e. the topic
sentence.
• Top Tip for Topic Sentences
• Before you write any paragraph,
ask yourself the simple question
“What is the main topic of this
paragraph?” The answer will be
your topic sentence.

24. C&C Mistakes to avoid!
• Poor use of transition signals
Transition signals are words like “in
addition” or “however” or
“therefore” that are used to show
the relationship between the ideas
in your essay
Dont under or over-use!
Firstly, I believe that children should
be taught in mixed classes. In
addition, this will help them to learn
how to socialise with the other sex.
What’s the problem here?

25. C&C Mistakes to avoid!
• Poor progression in a paragraph (T2)
The essay should feel like it is always
moving forward. Every paragraph
should tell me something new and be
logically sequenced
• Firstly, the biggest down side to
eating fast food is that it causes
obesity. People who eat fast food for
lunch and dinner are often
overweight. For example, recent
research shows that 90% of people
who eat fast food every day have
more weight than is healthy. This
clearly shows that fast food is bad
for our health.

26. Progression
• Every time you start a sentence ask yourself if
you are adding to your argument or simply
repeating. If you are adding, great. If you are
repeating, stop and think of a new way to
develop your idea.

27. C&C Mistakes to avoid!
Unclear referencing
• Students with good cohesion are
able to use referencing to avoid
repeating words. They do this by
using pronouns like “they” and
“it”, or determiners like “this”
and “these” to replace words
that have previously appeared in
the sentence. Referencing is a key
academic writing skill and if you
don’t use it, it will be hard for
you to achieve more than a 6.0

28. Lexical Resource = Vocab
• Lexical Resource = The range of
vocabulary a candidate uses.
• The more you use a wider
range of vocabulary correctly
and appropriately, the better
your L.R score
• High L.R score ≠ less common,
complicated words.
• Range and accuracy is more
important than using very
complex language.

29. Moving past a score of 6 in L.R/Vocab
• Demonstrate your ability
to paraphrase and use synonyms and
antonyms.
• Using varied vocabulary and common
word combinations is important in
order to get a band score 7 or above.
For example
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of young people using
social media?
Instead of repeating “advantages and
disadvantages” we will use _______ &
_________

30. Using “less common vocab”
• Bands 7,8 and 9 require the
use of ”less common” vocab
• This does not mean that
these words are less
common for native
speakers!
• It does means that they are
less common words for
second-language speakers
to produce
• Do not over-search for
these words while you
speak, it will affect your
fluency.

31. Idioms and IELTS Writing
• Idioms are used
informally most of
the time and should
therefore not be
used in the writing
test.

32. LR mistakes to avoid
A. Poor paraphrasing / Over-
paraphrasing (T1/T2)
Paraphrasing is simply re-
writing a phrase or sentence so
that it has the same meaning,
but with different words
Example
Paraphrasing is one of the most
important skills to learn before
doing your IELTS test.
Can you paraphrase this?

33. Three Paraphrasing Strategies
1: Using Synonyms
Example - My car needs petrol
– Paraphrase this!
2: Change the Word Order
Example - As languages such as Spanish,
Chinese and English become more widely
used, there is a fear that that many minority
languages may die out
- Paraphrase this by changing the word
order..
How can we improve Method 2?

34. Three Paraphrasing Strategies
3: Change the Form of the Word
Example - Longer life spans and
improvements in the health of older people
suggest that people over the age of sixty-five
can continue to live full and active lives.
- Paraphrase this by changing the word form
4: Change from Active to Passive
Example - The property developers invested
$20 million in the development of the
shopping centre.
- Paraphrase this by changing the word order

35. • If you find yourself struggling to think of a synonym or, if
you have already used one or two, JUST REPEAT THE
WORD FROM THE TASK or use REFERENCING.
• If your “paraphrase” is six or seven words long, JUST
REPEAT THE WORD FROM THE TASK or use
REFERENCING .
• If you don’t know if your synonym can be used in this
context, JUST REPEAT THE WORD FROM THE TASK or
use REFERENCING.

36. LR mistakes to avoid
B. Context, Collocation and
Phrasing errors
• Even if you know an awesome word…
• You must know the CONTEXT or
COLLOCATION for a word in order to
use it..
• LR is not just “words”
• Its “phrases” or “chunks” of language
How do you learn context & collocation?
Read and listen!

37. LR mistakes to avoid
3 - Spelling
• 8.0 – errors are rare
• 7.0 – errors are occasional (that’s not
an easy word to spell!)
• 6.0 – there are “some errors”
• Keep a spelling book. Write down
every word you find difficult to spell
and test yourself daily.
• Turn off your spell check when you
write your essays and then turn it
back on to count your errors!

38. Grammatical Range and Accuracy
• Do you use a wide
range of grammatical
structures, including
grammatical forms that
are considered
“advanced?”
• Do you make frequent
grammar errors when
you write?

39. • Band 6
Complex & simple sentences ,
grammar/punctuation mistakes
made more than 50% of the time..
• Band 7
More complex structures & more
than
50% of sentences have no mistakes
• Band 8
Wide range of complex structures –
Most sentences have no mistakes
NONE of these say you must ONLY
use complex structures!

40. Complex structures?
How?
• Complex sentence = A combination
of two or more simple sentences..
Use Linking words to join sentences
together
• ‘“I live with a friend. I met her at
university.”
“I live with a friend, who I met at
university.”
• “On my last holiday I went to
Brighton. It’s a town by the sea.”
“On my last holiday I went to Brighton,
which is a town by the sea.”

41. Common Problems
Problem - Using grammar you are not sure
about
.
Solution >>>>>>
Like vocabulary, use the 100% rule- only make
a sentence when you are sure it is 100%
correct.
Correct simple language is always better than
complex sentence with errors
Problem - Careless mistakes.
• Solution >>>>>>

42. Tips & Strategies
Top 8 IELTS Grammar Mistakes
• Use of the word ‘the’
• Countable and Uncountable
Nouns
• Noun-Verb Agreement
• –ing or to + infinitive
• Use of Commas
• Verb Tenses
• Prepositions After Adjectives
and Nouns
• Apostrophes

43. Examples -

44. • Having a sentence that contains too many
clauses is unhelpful for the reader
Long, complex sentences = difficult ≠ high score
Long is not always best! If you have a sentence with
more than three clauses, break it into two shorter
sentences
This will also improve your Coherence and Cohesion
score!

45. Thinking & Writing Critically (T2)
• In Writing Task 2, to gain a
higher band, it is essential
that the student ‘presents
a clear position throughout
the response’ and
‘presents, extends and
supports main ideas’.
• This skill is known
as critical thinking and is
an essential skill for
university work.

46. • Critical thinking is using your knowledge and
experience to think logically about the world
around you.
• To listen to or read something, and think about
its meaning, then produce a thoughtful
response.
• if you just produce memorized responses on
your tests, then you're not going to get a good
score
• To get a higher score in your essay writing, you
have to develop clear, coherent, and logical
arguments.
• How?? – Brainstorming!
• Brainstorming means thinking about many
different ideas and opening up your mind and
then PLANNING your answer!

47. Thinking & Writing Critically
• The problem for many
students is that they simply
state their opinion directly
without supporting it. Take
these examples:
Writer 1: I think a tax on junk
food is a good idea.
Writer 2: Taxing junk food is an
effective approach to reducing
obesity.
What is the difference here?
Which sounds better?

48. Thinking & Writing Critically
• Writer 1 gives their
opinion directly
• Writer 2 makes their
position clear in their
choice of words (effective)
and evidence (reducing
obesity).
• This is a much more
academic style and is more
common with high IELTS
performers’ writing style.

49. How to write critically
• For instance, if you are asked a
question about a rise in
childhood obesity, ask yourself:
• Why is this happening?
• Where is this happening?
• For how long has this been
happening?
• If you still need to find more
questions, start using the W/H
questions: What - Where -
When - Why - Who - How

50. Final Tips & Strategies - - - Dos
• respond to all parts of the
prompt fully.
• spend the first 5 minutes
planning your Task 2 essay
• Proofread both tasks to avoid
simple mistakes
• Make sure you’ve written at least
150/250 words
• use formal vocabulary (ex: keep –
> – maintain: make sure –>
ensure

51. Final Tip & Strategies - - - Don’ts
• DON’T use contractions (e.g. I
don’t –> I do not)
• avoid being too personal (e.g. I,
me. my)
• DON’T use emotive language (e.g.
disgusting, fabulous)
• DON’T use only personal
examples
• DON’T use colloquial expressions
(e.g. I had a ball)
• DON’T repeat the same
vocabulary throughout your essay
• DON’T use examples or arguments
unrelated to the topic