IELTS Writing Task 1 band descriptors: official PDF decoded

Here is the file, first, since that is what most people came for: the official IELTS Writing band descriptors PDF, hosted by IELTS. Nine pages, updated May 2023, covering Task 1 and Task 2 and both Academic and General Training. IELTS links it from understanding IELTS scoring.

The file gives you four columns of criteria wording, Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, with a row for each band. What it does not do is tell you which row your own answer sits on. That is the hard part, and it is what the rest of this page is for. For the how-to instead of the reference, Writing Task 1 scored on four axes puts these descriptors to work on a real answer.

Two lines of small print that change how you read it

The document is nine pages: a cover, a divider before each grid, and six pages of grid, three for Task 1 and three for Task 2. The same two sentences head all six of those grid pages, and they govern everything under them: "A script must fully fit the positive features of the descriptor at a particular level. Bolded text indicates negative features that will limit a rating."

Fully fit. Not mostly. Miss one feature of Band 7 on a criterion and 7 is off the table for that criterion, however much of the rest you meet. Where you land instead depends on fitting Band 6 in full, and each criterion is scored as a whole band, so there is no half-way house between the two.

Bolded text is not emphasis. It marks a fault, printed inside the band it holds you at. That matters more for what it tells you about the top of the scale than the bottom: run through the Task 1 grid and Bands 9, 8, 7 and 6 contain no bold at all. The only bolded line in the upper half sits in Band 5 Task Achievement, in the Academic wording, and it reads "There may be no data to support the description."

So an Academic answer that describes the shape of a chart without quoting a single figure is held at 5 on Task Achievement, and neither the paragraphing nor the vocabulary can lift it. Above Band 5 the grid stops setting traps and simply raises the bar, which is why reading upward for what you have not yet done works better than reading downward for what you got wrong.

The four criteria, and how they add up

Task 1 is marked on four criteria, each worth a quarter of the Task 1 band. The examiner gives a whole-band score on each, then averages the four.

Criterion	Short name	What it checks
Task Achievement	TA	Whether you covered what the task asked, accurately and in full
Coherence and Cohesion	CC	Whether the answer is organised and flows without effort
Lexical Resource	LR	The range and accuracy of your vocabulary
Grammatical Range and Accuracy	GRA	The range and accuracy of your sentence structures

Two things about the arithmetic matter. Task 1 is worth a third of your Writing band, because the two tasks are averaged with Task 2 counting double. And the four criteria carry equal weight, so a Band 7 on three of them and a Band 5 on the fourth averages to 6.5, not 7. One weak axis sets your ceiling.

Task Achievement, band by band

Task Achievement is the criterion that changes most between the two versions of Task 1, so read the Academic and General Training notes separately. The shared idea is the same: did you do what the task asked, completely and accurately.

• Band 9: "All the requirements of the task are fully and appropriately satisfied." The band still allows for slips, adding that "there may be extremely rare lapses in content."
• Band 8: "The response covers all the requirements of the task appropriately, relevantly and sufficiently." For Academic, "key features are skilfully selected"; for GT, "all bullet points are clearly presented, and appropriately illustrated or extended."
• Band 7: "The response covers the requirements of the task." For Academic, it "presents a clear overview, the data are appropriately categorised, and main trends or differences are identified." For GT, "all bullet points are covered and clearly highlighted... It presents a clear purpose. The tone is consistent and appropriate to the task."
• Band 6: "The response focuses on the requirements of the task and an appropriate format is used." For Academic, "a relevant overview is attempted." For GT, "all bullet points are covered and adequately highlighted. The purpose is generally clear. There may be minor inconsistencies in tone."
• Band 5: "The response generally addresses the requirements of the task. The format may be inappropriate in places." For Academic, "key features which are selected are not adequately covered. The recounting of detail is mainly mechanical." For GT, "all bullet points are presented but one or more may not be adequately covered. The purpose may be unclear at times." The band closes with a line that carries no Academic or GT tag and so applies to both: "there may be a tendency to focus on details (without referring to the bigger picture)."

Two lines here decide most Task 1 scores. In Academic, the overview: "a relevant overview is attempted" is a Band 6 feature and the word does not appear in the Band 5 row at all. Since a band has to be met in full, an answer with no overview cannot fit Band 6 on this criterion, however accurate the detail. In GT, tone: it moves from "may be minor inconsistencies" at Band 6 to "consistent and appropriate" at Band 7, so holding one register throughout is often the whole gap between a 6 and a 7.

Coherence and Cohesion, band by band

Coherence and Cohesion is about organisation and flow, not the number of linking words. The same wording is used for Academic and GT.

• Band 9: "The message can be followed effortlessly," and cohesion "very rarely attracts attention."
• Band 8: "The message can be followed with ease. Information and ideas are logically sequenced, and cohesion is well managed." Paragraphing "is used sufficiently and appropriately."
• Band 7: "Information and ideas are logically organised and there is a clear progression throughout the response," with "a range of cohesive devices... used flexibly but with some inaccuracies or some over/under use."
• Band 6: "Information and ideas are generally arranged coherently and there is a clear overall progression," but "cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or mechanical."
• Band 5: "Organisation is evident but is not wholly logical and there may be a lack of overall progression," and "the sentences are not fluently linked to each other."

The Band 6 phrase "faulty or mechanical" is the one to notice. A chain of "Firstly, Moreover, In addition, Finally" is mechanical cohesion, and adding more of it moves you sideways within Band 6, not up to 7. Band 7 wants devices "used flexibly," which usually means fewer, not more.

Lexical Resource, band by band

Lexical Resource is range and accuracy together. For Task 1, most of that vocabulary describes movement, comparison and process.

• Band 9: "Full flexibility and precise use are evident within the scope of the task," with errors "extremely rare."
• Band 8: "A wide resource is fluently and flexibly used to convey precise meanings," with "skilful use of uncommon and/or idiomatic items," despite "occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation."
• Band 7: "The resource is sufficient to allow some flexibility and precision," with "some ability to use less common and/or idiomatic items" and "an awareness of style and collocation... though inappropriacies occur."
• Band 6: "The resource is generally adequate and appropriate for the task," with meaning "generally clear in spite of a rather restricted range or a lack of precision in word choice." The descriptor adds a warning: "if the writer is a risk-taker, there will be a wider range of vocabulary used but higher degrees of inaccuracy or inappropriacy."
• Band 5: "The resource is limited but minimally adequate for the task," with "frequent lapses in the appropriacy of word choice."

The risk-taker line at Band 6 is worth reading closely, because it does not reward reaching for rarer words on its own: the same sentence pairs a wider range with "higher degrees of inaccuracy or inappropriacy". Precision in ordinary words beats range without control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy, band by band

Grammatical Range and Accuracy wants two things at once: a range of structures, and sentences that are accurate.

• Band 9: "A wide range of structures within the scope of the task is used with full flexibility and control," errors "extremely rare."
• Band 8: "A wide range of structures within the scope of the task is flexibly and accurately used. The majority of sentences are error-free, and punctuation is well managed."
• Band 7: "A variety of complex structures is used with some flexibility and accuracy. Grammar and punctuation are generally well controlled, and error-free sentences are frequent."
• Band 6: "A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is used but flexibility is limited," and "errors in grammar and punctuation occur, but rarely impede communication."
• Band 5: "The range of structures is limited and rather repetitive," with grammatical errors that "may be frequent and cause some difficulty for the reader."

The step from Band 6 to Band 7 is "error-free sentences are frequent." That is mostly won in the read-through, not the first draft, which is why leaving two minutes to check beats writing thirty more words.

Academic and General Training: where the descriptors differ

Only Task Achievement changes between the two versions, and only in what it asks you to do. Academic Task 1 describes a graph, table, map or process, so Task Achievement is scored on the overview, the selection of key features, and the accuracy of the data. General Training Task 1 is a letter, so Task Achievement is scored on covering the three bullet points, a purpose that is clear from the start, and a tone that fits the reader. The other three criteria (Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy) use the same wording for both. If you're sitting General Training, the letter-specific breakdown is in the GT Task 1 guide.

How to use the descriptors on your own answer

A band descriptor grid is only useful if you can point at the descriptor line your answer is missing. That's harder than it sounds, because a full Task 1 answer is marked on all four criteria at once, and a returned "Band 6" doesn't say which of the four held you there.

The move is to read your answer four times, once per criterion, against the wording above. Does it have an overview, or does it "focus on details without referring to the bigger picture" (TA, Band 5)? Is the cohesion "faulty or mechanical" (CC, Band 6)? Did a reach for rarer words add "inaccuracy or inappropriacy" (LR, Band 6)? Are "error-free sentences" frequent, or only occasional (GRA, the 6/7 line)? Each question maps to one band boundary.

That per-axis read is what IELTS Drills is built around. Feedback comes back tagged to a single Band Descriptor rather than one overall number, so when Task 1 is costing you the half-band you can see whether it's the overview, the grouping, the vocabulary or the grammar, and drill that one criterion in five minutes a day instead of rewriting a whole report you don't have time to mark.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the official IELTS Writing Task 1 band descriptors PDF? On the IELTS site, under understanding IELTS scoring, or straight to the Writing band descriptors PDF. The current public Writing descriptors were updated in May 2023 and cover both Task 1 and Task 2, with a row for every band from 9 down to 1 plus a Band 0 row for non-attempts. This page focuses on Bands 5 to 9, where most candidates sit.

Why am I stuck at Band 6 when my answer has Band 7 features? Because of the rule heading every grid page: "A script must fully fit the positive features of the descriptor at a particular level." Meeting most of Band 7 is not a 7, and since each criterion is scored as a whole band, the answer sits at whichever lower band it does fit in full. Note also that the Task 1 grid carries no bolded text at Bands 6 to 9, so nothing up there is capping you. It is a missing positive feature, not a penalty.

Are Academic and General Training Task 1 scored on the same descriptors? Almost. Three of the four criteria use identical wording; only Task Achievement carries separate Academic and General Training notes, because one describes data and the other is a letter.

Are these the same as the Task 2 band descriptors? No. Task 1 and Task 2 have separate descriptor grids in the same document. The first criterion is Task Achievement in Task 1 and Task Response in Task 2, and the two are scored differently.

How much is each criterion worth? A quarter of the Task 1 band each. The four are averaged, and Task 1 is then worth a third of your Writing band, with Task 2 counting double.

Can I raise my band by targeting one criterion? Yes, and it's usually the fastest route. Your weakest axis has the most room to climb a full band, while an axis already near the top can only be polished, so the same effort buys more on the low one.

The bottom line

The IELTS Writing Task 1 band descriptors are four criteria (Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy), each scored 1 to 9 and averaged. Two lines carry most of the weight: the overview in Academic Task Achievement, which caps you at Band 5 if it's missing, and "error-free sentences are frequent," the Grammar step from 6 to 7. Read your own answer once per criterion against the wording above, remembering that you have to fit a band's positive features in full, and that any bolded fault holds you at the band it is printed in. Find the one boundary you are on the wrong side of, and fix that. With IELTS Drills, the feedback names that axis for you, five minutes a day.