How IELTS Writing Task 2 is scored
What is an IELTS Writing Task 2 checker?
An IELTS Writing Task 2 checker reads a Task 2 question and your essay and returns an estimated band for each of the four criteria. A good one also tells you why: it quotes the sentences behind each band and points to the change that would make the biggest difference in your next essay. It is a practice tool, not an official score.
How Task 2 is scored
Task 2 asks you to write at least 250 words in response to a point of view, an argument or a problem. The examiner marks it on four criteria: Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Each criterion gets a band from 0 to 9, and the four count equally. Task 2 also counts for twice as much of your Writing score as Task 1, so it is where most of the band is won or lost.
Examiners don’t count mistakes or tick off impressive words. They read the whole essay and match it against the public band descriptors, one criterion at a time. A Band 6 essay and a Band 7 essay often have similar ideas. The difference is how clearly the position is held, how the paragraphs are built, how precisely the words are chosen, and how much control the writer has over longer sentences.
A checker that is useful for practice should work the same way: read the question and the whole essay, score each criterion on its own, and show you which sentences each score is based on. That is what a Band7 Grade Report is built to do.
The four Task 2 criteria, in practice
What a Band 7 Task 2 essay does
Aiming for Band 7+? The band descriptors describe a Band 7 essay as one that addresses all parts of the task, presents a clear position throughout, and extends and supports its main ideas. Ideas are logically organised, each paragraph has a clear central topic, and linking is used with some flexibility. Vocabulary is used with some flexibility and precision, including less common words and an awareness of style and collocation. There is a variety of complex structures, and error-free sentences are frequent.
Read that list again and notice what is missing: there is no word count above 250, no list of required phrases, and no rule about how many examples you need. Most essays that sit at Band 6 aren’t short of ideas. They lose the band on one or two criteria, usually Task Response or Lexical Resource, and the fix is specific to the essay. How to move from 6.0 to 6.5 walks through finding that criterion.
Nine mistakes that hold a Task 2 band down
Answering the topic, not the question. “Discuss both views and give your opinion” has two parts. Writing about only one side limits Task Response, however good the writing is.
A position that changes. Agreeing in the introduction and half-agreeing in the conclusion tells the examiner your position isn’t clear.
Writing under 250 words. Short essays lose marks on Task Response. Band7 asks you to confirm before grading anything under 250 words.
Two ideas in one paragraph. When a paragraph switches idea halfway, the first point is never developed.
A linking word on every sentence. Cohesion comes from the order of ideas and reference words, not a list of connectors.
Memorised openings. Examiners see the same opening lines every day. They don’t count as your own range.
One vague word for everything. “Important”, “good” and “bad” repeated across the essay keep Lexical Resource down.
Complex sentences you can’t control. An extra pronoun in a relative clause (“students who they…”) breaks a sentence you meant as a strength.
No time to check. In 40 minutes, leave a few minutes at the end to reread for these exact problems.
Before you check an essay
A band estimate only means something if the essay is a fair sample of what you can do. Write it in about 40 minutes, without help, and paste your own writing rather than a polished rewrite. Paste the full question, including the instruction line, because Task Response is judged against it. How to practise Task 2 under timed conditions has a session plan.
Then read the report for the one thing to fix, not for the number. Carry that fix into your next essay and check that one. A Grade Report is most useful as the start of the next essay, not the end of this one. Read our guide to the IELTS Writing band descriptors.
How the band is worked out
The grader reads the full question and your whole essay and scores it on the four official criteria in 0.5 steps, then writes feedback that quotes your sentences. We test it with original essays we own, never with candidates’ work. We don’t publish an accuracy figure yet. Here’s how we check the grader.