Band 8 samples

IELTS Writing Band 8, with samples.

Band 8 writing is easy to follow and precise. See what that means on each criterion, then read essays at 8.

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What it looks like

Band 8, criterion by criterion.

Task Response: Answers every part of the question well, with a clear, well-developed position and ideas that are extended and supported.
Coherence and Cohesion: Easy to follow from start to end: a logical order, well-managed linking and good paragraphs.
Lexical Resource: A wide range of words used naturally and precisely, including less common ones, with only occasional slips.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: A wide range of structures used flexibly. Most sentences have no errors, and the few errors are small.

Task 1 calls its first criterion Task Achievement. Covers everything the task asks. The key points or bullet points are clear, well chosen and well explained.

The band

How an 8 for the task is worked out.

The examiner gives every criterion a whole band, and the band for the task is their average. How IELTS rounds that average is not published; the band score calculator uses its overall-band rule as an estimate.

Example(8 + 9 + 8 + 7) ÷ 4

8Task Response

9Coherence and Cohesion

8Lexical Resource

7Grammatical Range and Accuracy

The average: the band for the task8

Samples