SampleCandidateWritingScriptsandExaminerComments

BoththeAcademicandGeneralTrainingWriting
Modulesconsistoftwotasks,Task1andTask
2.Eachtaskisassessedindependently.The
assessmentofTask2carriesmoreweightin
markingthanTask1.
Detailedperformancedescriptorshavebeen
developedwhichdescribewrittenperformance
atthe9IELTSbands.Thesedescriptorsapply
toboththeAcademicandGeneralTraining
Modules.
Task1scriptsareassessedonthefollowing
criteria:
TaskAchievement
CoherenceandCohesion
LexicalResource
GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy
Task2scriptsareassessedonthefollowing
criteria:
TaskResponse
CoherenceandCohesion
LexicalResource
GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy
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.
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.
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.
Theexaminersguidelinesformarkingthe
Writingscriptsareverydetailed.Thereare
manydifferentwaysacandidatemay
achieveaparticularbandscore.The
candidatesanswersthatfollowshouldnot
beregardedasdefinitiveexamplesofany
particularbandscore.
AcademicWritingSampleTask1A
SampleScriptA
Examinercomment
Band5
Thelengthoftheanswerisjustacceptable.Thereisagoodattempttodescribetheoveralltrendsbutthecontentwouldhavebeen
greatlyimprovedifthecandidatehadincludedsomereferencetothefiguresgivenonthegraph.Withoutthese,thereaderislacking
some importantinformation.The answeris quite difficulttofollow andthere aresome punctuation errorsthatcause confusion.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 are problemswithexpression andtheappropriate choice
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 rather repetitive and
cohesive devices are overused. In order to gain a higher mark for content, the candidate would be expected to select the salient
featuresofthegraphandcommentprimarilyonthese.Sentencesarelongbutlackcomplexity.Therearesomeerrorsintense,verb
formandspellingwhichinterfereslightlywiththeflowoftheanswer.
AcademicWritingSampleTask1B
SampleScriptB
Examinercomment
Band7
Theanswerdealswellwithboththeindividualmediatrendsandtheoverallcomparisonofthesetrends.Theopeningcouldbemore
fully developed with the inclusion of information relating to the groups studied and the period of time during which the study 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.
The introduction is perhaps slightly long and more time could have been devoted to answering the 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.
Thecandidate hasa clearpoint of view butnot allthesupporting argumentsare linkedtogetherwell andsometimesideas areleft
unfinished.Thereisquitealotofrelevantvocabularybutthisisnotusedskilfullyandsentencesoftenhavewordsmissingorlapse
intodifferentstyles.Theanswerisspoiltbygrammaticalerrorsandpoorexpression.
AcademicWritingSampleTask2B
SampleScriptB
Examinercomment
Band7
Theansweriswellwrittenandcontainssomegoodarguments.Itdoestendtorepeattheseargumentsbutthewriterspointofview
remainsclearthroughout.Themessageiseasytofollowandideasarearrangedwellwithgooduseofcohesivedevices.Thereare
minor problems with coherence and attimes the expression is clumsy and imprecise. There is a wide range of structures that are
wellhandledwithonlysmallproblemsintheuseofvocabulary,mainlyintheareasofspellingandwordchoice.