WRITING TASK 1: Band Descriptors (public version)
July 1,2025
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| Band | Task achievement | Coherence and cohesion | Lexical resource | Grammatical range and accuracy |
| 9 | fully satisfies all the requirements of the taskclearly presents a fully developed response | uses cohesion in such a way that it attracts no attentionskilfully manages paragraphing | uses a wide range of vocabulary with very natural and sophisticated control of lexical features; rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’ | uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’ |
| 8 | covers all requirements of the task sufficientlypresents, highlights and illustrates key features/ bullet points clearly and appropriately | sequences information and ideas logicallymanages all aspects of cohesion welluses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately | uses a wide range of vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meaningsskilfully uses uncommon lexical items but there may be occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocationproduces rare errors in spelling and/or word formation | uses a wide range of structuresthe majority of sentences are error-freemakes only very occasional errors or inappropriacies |
| 7 | covers the requirements of the task(A) presents a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages(GT) presents a clear purpose, with the tone consistent and appropriateclearly presents and highlights key features/bullet points but could be more fully extended | logically organises information and ideas; there is clear progression throughoutuses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under-/over-use | uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precisionuses less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocationmay produce occasional errors in word choice, spelling and/or word formation | uses a variety of complex structuresproduces frequent error-free sentenceshas good control of grammar and punctuation but may make a few errors |
| 6 | addresses the requirements of the task(A) presents an overview with information appropriately selected(GT) presents a purpose that is generally clear; there may be inconsistencies in tonepresents and adequately highlights key features/ bullet points but details may be irrelevant, inappropriate or inaccurate | arranges information and ideas coherently and there is a clear overall progression uses cohesive devices effectively, but cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or mechanicalmay not always use referencing clearly or appropriately | •uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the taskattempts to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracymakes some errors in spelling and/or word formation, but they do not impede communication | uses a mix of simple and complex sentence formsmakes some errors in grammar and punctuation but they rarely reduce communication |
| 5 | generally addresses the task; the format may be inappropriate in places(A) recounts detail mechanically with no clear overview; there may be no data to support the description (GT) may present a purpose for the letter that is unclear at times; the tone may be variable and sometimes inappropriatepresents, but inadequately covers, key features/ bullet points; there may be a tendency to focus on details | presents information with some organisation but there may be a lack of overall progressionmakes inadequate, inaccurate or over-use of cohesive devices may be repetitive because of lack of referencing and substitution | uses a limited range of vocabulary, but this is minimally adequate for the taskmay make noticeable errors in spelling and/or word formation that may cause some difficulty for the reader | uses only a limited range of structuresattempts complex sentences but these tend to be less accurate than simple sentencesmay make frequent grammatical errors and punctuation may be faulty; errors can cause some difficulty for the reader |
| 4 | attempts to address the task but does not cover all key features/bullet points; the format may be inappropriate(GT) fails to clearly explain the purpose of the letter; the tone may be inappropriatemay confuse key features/bullet points with detail; parts may be unclear, irrelevant, repetitive or inaccurate | presents information and ideas but these are not arranged coherently and there is no clear progression in the responseuses some basic cohesive devices but these may be inaccurate or repetitive | uses only basic vocabulary which may be used repetitively or which may be inappropriate for the taskhas limited control of word formation and/or spelling;errors may cause strain for the reader | uses only a very limited range of structures with only rare use of subordinate clausessome structures are accurate but errors predominate, and punctuation is often faulty |
| 3 | fails to address the task, which may have been completely misunderstoodpresents limited ideas which may be largely irrelevant/repetitive | does not organise ideas logicallymay use a very limited range of cohesive devices, and those used may not indicate a logical relationship between ideas | uses only a very limited range of words and expressions with very limited control of word formation and/or spellingerrors may severely distort the message | attempts sentence forms but errors in grammar and punctuation predominate and distort the meaning |
| 2 | answer is barely related to the task | has very little control of organisational features | uses an extremely limited range of vocabulary; essentially no control of word formation and/or spelling | cannot use sentence forms except in memorised phrases |
| 1 | answer is completely unrelated to the task | fails to communicate any message | can only use a few isolated words | cannot use sentence forms at all |
| 0 | does not attenddoes not attempt the task in any waywrites a totally memorised response |
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