What the examiner is really doing
When you get your Task 2 score, it can feel like one big mystery. But the examiner is not judging your whole essay at once. They are quietly asking four simple questions about it. Each question gives one score. Learn the four questions and you will know exactly what to fix.
The 4 secret questions
01Task Response: Did you answer the real question?
02Coherence and Cohesion: Is your essay easy to follow?
03Lexical Resource: Did you choose the right words?
04Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Are your sentences varied and correct?
See the difference in one line
The right word (Lexical Resource)
✕Pollution is a very bad thing for people and it is a big problem.
✓Pollution harms public health and puts pressure on hospitals.
Both are correct English. But the second one uses precise words instead of good, bad, thing, and problem. That is what shows a strong vocabulary.
A real complex sentence (Grammar)
✕Cars cause pollution, they make traffic, the air gets dirty, it is bad.
✓Because cars pollute the air, cities that rely on them often struggle with public health.
The first is one long sentence joined by commas. It is still simple, and it has errors. The second joins ideas with a clear structure. That is a complex sentence.
Answering the real question (Task Response)
✕The question asks if cars should be banned in city centers. You write about why cars are useful.
✓You take a clear side on the ban, give two reasons, and support each with an example.
A beautiful essay about the wrong thing still scores low. Read the question twice and answer the exact task, every part of it.
Your weakest score sets your band
Here is the key. Your overall band is the average of the four scores, rounded to the nearest half. So your weakest score pulls the whole band down, no matter how strong the other three are. This changes how you should study. Do not keep polishing what you are already good at. Find your lowest of the four questions and work on that one. That is the fastest way to raise your band, and the hard part is only seeing your own weak score clearly.
Read next
Keep going with the series: 6 things you believe about IELTS writing that lower your score.
See your four scores clearly
VoyaLang scores your essay on all four questions and shows you which one is holding you back, with a corrected version you can learn from. Write one essay and find out which question to fix first.
