Decoding

the IELTS Band Descriptors: Writing Task 2 Task Response - Band 7

by Tish Kirkland from www.yes-ielts.com (Original post) The band descriptors are the tools the examiner uses in order to grade your essay. In Writing Task 2, there are four criteria: Task response (TR), Coherence and cohesion (CC), Lexical resource (LR), and Grammatical range and accuracy (GRA). This post describes how the examiner reads these criteria and uses them to award you your band in Task response (TA). The public band descriptors for TA from level 6 to level 9 can be seen below. The highest grade which you can be awarded is 9.
Band 9 Task response fully addresses all parts of the task presents a fully developed position in answer to the question with relevant, fully extended and well supported ideas sufficiently addresses all parts of the task presents a well-developed response to the question with relevant, extended and supported ideas addresses all parts of the task presents a clear position throughout the response presents, extends, and supports main ideas, but there may be a tendency to overgeneralise and/or supporting ideas may lack focus addresses all parts of the task although some parts may be more fully covered than others presents a relevant position although the conclusions many become unclear or repetitive presents relevant main ideas but some may be inadequately developed/unclear

No doubt you would like to get an 8 or a 9, but lets work our way up. First of all, lets look at what you need to achieve in order to get a 6: (1) address all parts of the task although (2) some parts may be more fully covered than others (3) present a relevant position although (4) the conclusions many become unclear or repetitive (5) present relevant main ideas but (6) some may be inadequately developed/unclear These can be loosely translated into yes-no questions, below: (1) Did the student identify and answer the question? (2) Did the student answer all parts of the question with equal attention? (3) Is the students position relevant? For example, is it clear that they agree or disagree? (4) Is their conclusion clear and succinct? (5) Are their main ideas relevant to the question? (6) Are their main ideas supported with evidence and/or examples?

If the examiner can answer yes to all of the above questions, then you can get a bandscore of 6 in Task Response (TR). But wait! If they can answer yes to all of the above, then maybe you can move up to a level 7! The examiner will check the level above to see if you can be awarded that one. Lets look at what you need to achieve in order to get a 7: (1) address all parts of the task (2) present a clear position throughout the response (3) present, extend, and support main ideas, but (4) there may be a tendency to over-generalise and/or (5) supporting ideas may lack focus In other words: (1) Did the student identify the question and answer all parts of the question with equal attention? (2) Does their position remain clear throughout the whole essay? Is their conclusion clear and succinct? (3) Are their main ideas usually supported with relevant examples and/or evidence? (4) Do they sometimes make general statements without any evidence or examples? (5) Are their supporting ideas sometimes not relevant to the question? So, what are the main differences between 6 & 7? They are outlined below: Band 6 Band 7 Identifies and answers the question, but not with Identifies the question and answers all parts with equal attention. equal attention. Presents a relevant position but it may not be Presents a clear position which is maintained throughout the whole essay throughout the whole essay. Presents main ideas, but these may not be Presents main ideas which are extended and extended nor supported with evidence/examples. supported with evidence/examples. You should note that half-marks cannot be awarded when the examiner is selecting the bandscore in each of the four separate criteria. When you are sitting the Writing part of the IELTS test, it is vital you spend time thinking about your response before you start writing. Take time to analyse the question and brainstorm your ideas. By taking these two initial steps, you can achieve well in Task Response. Click here to read about TR bands 7 and 8 Further detailed information and step-by-step practice (with teacher feedback) is presented in the YES- IELTS e-Course: Academic Writing Task 2 and YES-IELTS e-Course: General Writing Task 2. Good luck!