Reference
What examiners are actually marking.
Listening and Reading are counted. Writing and Speaking are judged — against four published criteria, each worth exactly 25%. Knowing which criterion is holding you back is the difference between practising and improving.
Writing
Task 1 + Task 2, where Task 2 counts double
Task Response (Task 2) · Task Achievement (Task 1)
Did you answer the actual question, fully?
Every part of the prompt addressed, a clear position held throughout, and ideas developed rather than listed. This is where under-length answers are punished: below 150 words on Task 1 or 250 on Task 2 and the penalty lands here first.
Most common mistake: Answering the topic instead of the question. A prompt about whether governments should fund the arts is not an invitation to write about art in general.
Coherence & Cohesion
Can a reader follow you without going back?
Logical progression, clear paragraphing with one central idea each, and linking that connects ideas rather than decorating sentences. Referencing — this, such, the latter — counts here too.
Most common mistake: Mechanically opening every sentence with Firstly, Moreover, In addition. Overuse is marked down as heavily as absence.
Lexical Resource
Is your vocabulary wide enough, and used accurately?
Range, precision, collocation and natural word choice — plus spelling and word formation. Less common vocabulary used correctly lifts this band; unusual words used wrongly lower it.
Most common mistake: Thesaurus substitution. Replacing important with paramount in the wrong context costs more than the simpler word would have.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Do you control a variety of structures?
A mix of simple, compound and complex sentences, used accurately. Punctuation is assessed here. Error frequency matters, but so does whether errors interfere with meaning.
Most common mistake: Writing only safe simple sentences. Accuracy alone caps this criterion — range is half the name.
Speaking
Identical for Academic and General Training
Fluency & Coherence
Can you keep going, and does it hang together?
Speaking at length without noticeable effort, with hesitation for content rather than for language. Self-correction and repetition are counted, as is the ability to develop a topic rather than answering in one line.
Most common mistake: Long silences while hunting for a perfect word. Examiners prefer a fluent approximation to a hesitant precise answer.
Lexical Resource
Can you say what you mean, including when you lack the exact word?
Range and flexibility, idiomatic language used naturally, and paraphrasing effectively when the precise word is missing.
Most common mistake: Memorised phrases dropped in regardless of fit. Examiners are trained to spot rehearsed material and it lowers the band.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Do you use varied structures under time pressure?
The same criterion as Writing, judged in real time. Complex structures attempted and mostly controlled score higher than simple structures used flawlessly.
Most common mistake: Staying in the present simple throughout. Part 3 invites conditionals and speculation — using them is the point.
Pronunciation
Can you be understood without effort?
Individual sounds, word and sentence stress, rhythm, intonation and chunking. Accent is not penalised — intelligibility is what is measured.
Most common mistake: Believing you must sound British or American. You do not. You must be easy to follow.
How the module band is worked out
Writing
Each task is the average of its four criteria. The module band is then (Task 1 + 2 × Task 2) ÷ 3, rounded to the nearest half band.
Speaking
The straight average of the four criteria, rounded to the nearest half band. All three parts of the interview contribute to one set of scores.
The official public band descriptors are published by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The summaries above are our own explanation of them, written to be useful to candidates — they are not the official wording and are not a substitute for it.