SampleCandidateWritingScriptsandExaminerComments

BoththeAcademicandGeneralTrainingWriting Modulesconsistoftwotasks,Task1andTask 2.Eachtaskisassessedindependently.The assessmentofTask2carriesmoreweightin markingthanTask1. Detailedperformancedescriptorshavebeen developedwhichdescribewrittenperformance atthe9IELTSbands.Thesedescriptorsapply toboththeAcademicandGeneralTraining Modules. CoherenceandCohesion Thiscriterionisconcernedwiththeoverallclarity andfluencyofthemessage:howtheresponse organisesandlinksinformation,ideasand language.Coherencereferstothelinkingof ideasthroughlogicalsequencing.Cohesion referstothevariedandappropriateuseof cohesivedevices(forexample,logical connectors,pronounsandconjunctions)to assistinmakingtheconceptualandreferential relationshipsbetweenandwithinsentences clear. LexicalResource Thiscriterionreferstotherangeofvocabulary thecandidatehasusedandtheaccuracyand appropriacyofthatuseintermsofthespecific task. GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy Thiscriterionreferstotherangeandaccurate useofthecandidatesgrammaticalresourceas manifestedinthecandidateswritingatsentence level.

Task1scriptsareassessedonthefollowing criteria: TaskAchievement CoherenceandCohesion LexicalResource GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy

Task2scriptsareassessedonthefollowing criteria: TaskResponse CoherenceandCohesion LexicalResource GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy

Task2 TaskResponse InbothAcademicandGeneralTrainingModules Task2requiresthecandidatestoformulateand developapositioninrelationtoagivenprompt intheformofaquestionorstatement.Ideas shouldbesupportedbyevidence,andexamples maybedrawnfromthecandidatesown experience.Responsesmustbeatleast250 wordsinlength. Writingscriptsaremarkedbytrainedand certificatedIELTSexaminers.Scoresmaybe reportedaswholebandsorhalfbands. Onthenext12pagesyouwillfindcandidates answerstotwosampleWritingtests.Thereare twoanswersforeachWritingtask.Eachanswer hasbeenawardedabandscoreandis accompaniedbyanexaminercommentonthe candidatesperformanceforthattask.

Candidatesshouldnotethatscriptswillbe penalisediftheyarea)undertheminimumword length,b)partlyorwhollyplagiarised,c)not writtenasfull,connectedtext(e.g.usingbullet pointsinanypartoftheresponse,ornoteform, isnotappropriate,etc.).

Task1 TaskAchievement Thiscriterionassesseshowappropriately, accuratelyandrelevantlytheresponsefulfilsthe requirementssetoutinthetask,usingthe minimumof150words. AcademicWritingTask1isawritingtaskwhich hasadefinedinputandalargelypredictable output.Itisbasicallyaninformationtransfertask whichrelatesnarrowlytothefactualcontentof aninputdiagramandnottospeculated explanationsthatlieoutsidethegivendata. GeneralTrainingWritingTask1isalsoawriting taskwithalargelypredictableoutputinthat eachtasksetsoutthecontextandpurposeof theletterandthefunctionsthecandidateshould coverinordertoachievethispurpose.

Theexaminersguidelinesformarkingthe Writingscriptsareverydetailed.Thereare manydifferentwaysacandidatemay achieveaparticularbandscore.The candidatesanswersthatfollowshouldnot beregardedasdefinitiveexamplesofany particularbandscore.

AcademicWritingSampleTask1A
SampleScriptA

Examinercomment
Band5 Thelengthoftheanswerisjustacceptable.Thereisagoodattempttodescribetheoveralltrendsbutthecontentwouldhavebeen greatlyimprovedifthecandidatehadincludedsomereferencetothefiguresgivenonthegraph.Withoutthese,thereaderislacking someimportantinformation.Theanswerisquitedifficulttofollow andtherearesomepunctuationerrorsthatcauseconfusion.The structuresarefairlysimpleandeffortstoproducemorecomplexsentencesarenotsuccessful.

AcademicWritingSampleTask1A
SampleScriptB

Examinercomment
Band6 The candidate has made a good attempt to describe the graphs looking at global trends and more detailed figures. There is, however, some information missing and the information is inaccurate in minor areas. The answer flows quite smoothly although connectivesareoverusedorinappropriate,andsomeofthepointsdonotlinkupwell.Thegrammaticalaccuracyisquitegoodand thelanguageusedtodescribethetrendsiswellhandled.However, there areproblemswithexpression andtheappropriatechoice ofwordsandwhilstthereisgoodstructuralcontrol,thecomplexityandvariationinthesentencesarelimited.

AcademicWritingSampleTask1B
SampleScriptA

Examinercomment
Band6 The answer has an appropriate introduction which the candidate has attempted to express in his/her own words. There is good coverage of the data and a brief reference to contrasting trends. The answer can be followed although it is ratherrepetitive and cohesive devices are overused. In order to gain a higher markfor content, the candidate would be expected to select the salient featuresofthegraphandcommentprimarilyonthese.Sentencesarelongbutlackcomplexity.Therearesomeerrorsintense,verb formandspellingwhichinterfereslightlywiththeflowoftheanswer.

AcademicWritingSampleTask1B
SampleScriptB

Examinercomment
Band7 Theanswerdealswellwithboththeindividualmediatrendsandtheoverallcomparisonofthesetrends.Theopeningcouldbemore fully developed with theinclusion ofinformation relatingtothe groups studied and the period oftime duringwhich thestudy took place. There is a good variety of cohesive devices and the message can be followed quite easily although the expression is sometimes a little clumsy. Structures are complex and vocabulary is varied but there are errors in word forms, tense and voice thoughthesedonotimpedecommunication.

AcademicWritingSampleTask2A
SampleScriptA

Examinercomment
Band5 Theanswerisshortatjustover200wordsandthuslosesmarksforcontent.Therearesomerelevantargumentsbutthesearenot very well developed and become unclear in places. The organisation of the answer is evident through the use of fairly simple connectives but there are problems for the reader in that there are many missing words and word order is often incorrect. The structuresarequiteambitiousbutoftenfaultyandvocabularyiskeptquitesimple.

AcademicWritingSampleTask2A
SampleScriptB

Examinercomment
Band6 Therearequitealotofideasandwhilesomeofthesearesupportedbetterthanothers,thereisanoverallcoherencetotheanswer. Theintroduction is perhaps slightly long and moretimecould have been devoted to answeringthe question. The answer is fairly easy to follow and there is good punctuation. Organisational devices are evident although some areas of the answer become unclearandwouldbenefitfrommoreaccurateuseofconnectives.Therearesomeerrorsinthestructuresbutthereisalsoevidence oftheproductionofcomplexsentenceforms.Grammaticalerrorsinterfereslightlywithcomprehension.

AcademicWritingSampleTask2B
SampleScriptA

Examinercomment
Band5 Althoughthescriptcontainssomegoodarguments,thesearepresentedusingpoorstructuresandtheanswerisnotverycoherent. Thecandidatehasa clearpointof viewbutnot allthesupportingargumentsarelinkedtogetherwellandsometimesideas areleft unfinished.Thereisquitealotofrelevantvocabularybutthisisnotusedskilfullyandsentencesoftenhavewordsmissingorlapse intodifferentstyles.Theanswerisspoiltbygrammaticalerrorsandpoorexpression.

AcademicWritingSampleTask2B
SampleScriptB

Examinercomment
Band7 Theansweriswellwrittenandcontainssomegoodarguments.Itdoestendtorepeattheseargumentsbutthewriterspointofview remainsclearthroughout.Themessageiseasytofollowandideasarearrangedwellwithgooduseofcohesivedevices.Thereare minorproblemswith coherenceand attimestheexpressionisclumsy and imprecise. Thereis awide rangeofstructuresthat are wellhandledwithonlysmallproblemsintheuseofvocabulary,mainlyintheareasofspellingandwordchoice.