Most IELTS candidates believe their Writing score is built on grammar. It isn't. The exam is graded on four criteria, each worth exactly 25%. Miss one, and your overall band drops by half — no matter how perfect the others are.

Here are the four, in plain English.

1. Task Response — did you answer the question?

Task Response is about content, not style. The examiner is asking: did you address every part of the prompt, take a clear position, and support it with relevant ideas?

This is where most Band 6 essays quietly lose points. They drift. They give a list of "for and against" without committing. They mention examples that don't actually prove anything.

A Band 8 essay says one thing clearly, and defends it from three angles. A Band 6 essay says four things vaguely.

Quick check: if someone read only your introduction and conclusion, would they know exactly where you stand? If not, your Task Response is below 7.

2. Coherence and Cohesion — can the examiner follow you?

This isn't about cramming in "Firstly", "Moreover", "In conclusion". Those are surface-level cohesion. The real measure is whether each paragraph has one clear idea, and whether the ideas connect logically.

A high-band essay reads like a stairway. Each step is one paragraph. Each step builds on the last. The reader never has to ask, "wait, why are we talking about this?"

3. Lexical Resource — is your vocabulary precise, or just decorative?

The trap: candidates memorise "sophisticated" words and force them in. Examiners notice immediately. Plethora, myriad, paramount — these used to impress in 2010. Today they read as cliché.

What actually scores: precision. Using implement instead of do. Sustained instead of long. Knowing the difference between effect and impact, amount and number.

4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy — are you using variety, accurately?

Range without accuracy is dangerous. Accuracy without range is a Band 6 ceiling.

The candidates who hit Band 8 use:

  • A mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences
  • Conditional structures where they fit naturally
  • Relative clauses to add detail without breaking flow
  • Passive voice — but only when the actor doesn't matter

And critically — they make almost no errors. Three or four typos in a 250-word essay is enough to drop you from Band 8 to Band 7.

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Why this matters more than test-day nerves

Knowing the criteria reshapes your preparation. Instead of "writing more essays", you target the weakest of the four. Instead of memorising vocab lists, you practise precision. Instead of cramming connectors, you build paragraph logic.

This is exactly how Opiliant grades. Every essay you submit is scored on all four criteria, with examples pulled from your own writing. You see where you're losing the marks — not just what to fix.