How to Get Band 7 in IELTS Writing

The 4 Marking Criteria Explained

Each criterion counts for 25% of your Writing score: Task Achievement (Task 1) / Task Response (Task 2), Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy.

• Task Response: Answer every part of the question; have a clear position
• Coherence & Cohesion: Paragraphs flow logically; connectors used correctly, not mechanically
• Lexical Resource: Precise, varied vocabulary with some less common items
• Grammatical Range: Mix of simple and complex sentences with few errors

What Band 6 Writers Do vs Band 7 Writers

• Band 6: 'This is a problem. It is getting worse.' → Band 7: 'This issue has escalated markedly in recent decades.'
• Band 6: Uses 'because', 'but', 'and' predominantly → Band 7: 'given that', 'whereas', 'consequently'
• Band 6: Mostly simple sentences → Band 7: Relative clauses, conditionals, passive voice
• Band 6: Overview is missing or vague → Band 7: Clear two-sentence overview summarising key trends

Grammar Structures That Signal Band 7

• Relative clauses: 'The country that recorded the highest growth was...'
• Participle clauses: 'Having increased by 20%, oil consumption then plateaued...'
• Conditional: 'If this trend continues, emissions will double by 2050'
• Passive voice: 'The data was collected over a five-year period'
• Cleft sentences: 'It was the transportation sector that contributed most significantly'