How Writing Task 2 is marked

Writing Task 2 is assessed on four criteria, each worth a quarter of the Task 2 score. Understanding what each one actually measures tells you where your own marks are going.

Task Response

Did you answer the question that was asked, fully, with a clear position where one is required? This is the criterion most often lost to a planning error rather than a language limitation — answering the wrong question type, or omitting one half of a two-part prompt, caps this regardless of how good the English is.

Coherence and Cohesion

Is the essay organised, and does it flow? Paragraphing matters here more than linking words. A paragraph should have one central idea, announced early. Candidates often try to raise this score by adding Moreover, Furthermore, In addition — overusing connectors is explicitly noted as a weakness, and the fix is structural, not lexical.

Lexical Resource

Range, precision, and collocation. The trap is treating this as "use difficult words". A common word used exactly beats a rare word used approximately, and a wrong collocation is more visible than a plain one. Topic-specific vocabulary used naturally is what scores.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

A mix of structures, controlled. Both halves count: a candidate writing only simple sentences accurately is limited, and so is one attempting complex structures that break. Aim for variety you can control, and vary sentence length deliberately.

What to do with this

Score your own practice essay on each criterion separately rather than guessing an overall band. Almost everyone is noticeably weaker on one, and general practice does not fix a specific weakness — targeted work does.