Focus on Assessment

Assessment Criteria
The writing scripts are marked by fully qualified IELTS examiners. The examiners are trained and monitored following a rigorous standardisation process. On the day of your test, the writing scripts are distributed randomly to a group of examiners. Each writing task is assessed individually and assigned a separate mark. The final score is then calculated and a final band score is awarded. Academic Writing band scores are reported in whole bands or half bands.

Task 1 scripts are assessed on the following criteria:

• Task Achievement (i.e. how effectively the candidate has identified, illustrated and reported the key features of the information in the task)
• Coherence and Cohesion (i.e. how well the information and ideas are organised, presented and linked)
• Lexical Resource (i.e. the range of vocabulary used, how accurately it is used and how appropriate it is for the task)
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy (i.e. the range of structures used, how accurately they are used and how appropriate they are for the task)

Task 2 scripts are assessed on performance on the following areas:

• Task Response (i.e. how fully and appropriately the candidate has answered all parts of the task; the extent to which the candidate's ideas are relevant, developed and supported; the extent to which the candidate's position is clear and effective)
• Coherence and Cohesion (i.e. how well the information and ideas are organised, presented and linked)
• Lexical Resource (i.e. the range of vocabulary used, how accurately it is used and how appropriate it is for the task)
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy (i.e. the range of structures used, how accurately they are used and how appropriate they are for the task)

Scripts under the required minimum word limit will be penalised.

The sample scripts can give you and your students a good idea of the level they need to reach. The examiners comments at the bottom of each page are also helpful in pinpointing areas of concern. You can use these samples to help students develop a more critical eye towards their own work.