Complex sentences for band 7: the four structures that count as range

Writing complex sentences does not move you from band 6 to band 7, because band 6 already assumes you write them. What separates the two bands is whether those structures are as accurate as your simple ones — the descriptor says so in as many words, and it is the single most misread line in Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

This article takes the four structures that reliably count as range in an IELTS answer and, for each one, shows a correct example, the error candidates actually make with it, and where that error stops the band. All example sentences were written for this article.

Range and accuracy are separate gates. Band 6 is already through the first one.

Range and accuracy are two different gates

Put the two descriptors side by side and the gap is visible in one clause.

Band 6 GRA: "A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is used but flexibility is limited. Examples of more complex structures are not marked by the same level of accuracy as in simple structures. Errors in grammar and punctuation occur, but rarely impede communication."

Band 7 GRA: "A variety of complex structures is used with some flexibility and accuracy. Grammar and punctuation are generally well controlled, and error-free sentences are frequent. A few errors in grammar may persist, but these do not impede communication."

At band 6 the complex structures are already there. What marks that band is the pattern of a candidate whose simple sentences are clean and whose complex ones are not — the accuracy drops exactly where the ambition rises. Band 7 does not ask for more ambition. It asks for the drop to stop: complex structures used "with some flexibility and accuracy", punctuation included, and error-free sentences occurring frequently.

At band 8 the requirement widens again — "A wide range of structures is flexibly and accurately used. The majority of sentences are error-free." — but the accuracy gate is the same gate, set higher.

The practical consequence: adding a fifth relative clause to an answer that already has four does nothing. Fixing the two that are wrong does.

The four structures

Four structures cover almost all of the range an IELTS answer needs. What follows is one correct example, one common error, and the corrected version for each.

Four structures, and for each one the single place the accuracy usually goes.

1. Relative clauses

Correct. Students who work part-time during their degree often graduate with clearer career preferences than those who do not.

Common error. Students who they work part-time during their degree often graduate with clearer career preferences.

The relative pronoun is already the subject of the clause, so the extra pronoun leaves the sentence with two. The other frequent version is the opposite — dropping the pronoun where the clause needs it: Students work part-time often graduate…, which fuses two verbs onto one subject.

Corrected. Students who work part-time during their degree often graduate with clearer career preferences.

Where this stops the band: the error lands on the structure the candidate reached for, and the simple sentences around it are clean. That is the band 6 line — complex structures not marked by the same accuracy as simple ones — reproduced exactly.

2. Conditional and concessive subordinate clauses

Correct. Although remote work reduces commuting time, it also removes the boundary that used to separate the working day from the evening.

If governments subsidised rail fares, more commuters would leave their cars at home.

Common error. Although remote work reduces commuting time, but it also removes the boundary between work and home.

Although and but both mark the contrast, so one of them has nothing to do. This doubling is one of the most common single errors in band 6 writing, and it recurs with Despite… however and While… on the other hand.

Corrected. Either Although remote work reduces commuting time, it also removes… or Remote work reduces commuting time, but it also removes…

The conditional version of the same problem is a mixed sequence: If governments would subsidise rail fares, more commuters will leave their cars at home. Choose one time frame and let both halves sit in it.

Where this stops the band: the doubled connector is a grammar error, not a style preference, and it repeats across an essay because it comes from a habit rather than a slip.

3. Participle clauses

Correct. Faced with rising rents, many graduates now stay in the family home well into their late twenties.

Cities that invest in cycling infrastructure see congestion fall, easing pressure on public transport at peak times.

Common error. Faced with rising rents, the family home is often the only affordable option for graduates.

A participle clause attaches to the subject of the main clause, and here that subject is the family home, which is not what is facing rising rents. The sentence parses; it just says something the writer did not mean.

Corrected. Faced with rising rents, many graduates find the family home the only affordable option.

Where this stops the band: dangling participles are the structure most likely to survive a candidate's own proofread, because the sentence sounds fluent. This is also the structure that most efficiently signals range — one clause, no connector — which makes it worth the accuracy check.

4. Noun clauses

Correct. What the data does not show is whether the increase continued after the survey period.

Whether tuition fees should rise depends on how the additional revenue is spent.

Common error. The government should decide that how much of the budget goes to public transport.

That and how much are competing to introduce the same clause. The related error is inverting word order inside an embedded question: It is unclear how much does the budget cover.

Corrected. The government should decide how much of the budget goes to public transport. / It is unclear how much the budget covers.

Where this stops the band: embedded questions are the point at which spoken word order leaks into writing. The clause is a noun, not a question, so it keeps statement order.

The complexity that costs you accuracy

There is no descriptor that rewards a long sentence. Range is measured in the variety of structures used, and accuracy is measured in whether they are correct — length appears in neither.

This matters because the failure mode of a candidate trying to demonstrate range is a sentence carrying three subordinate clauses, two of which are correct. A shorter sentence with one accurate participle clause scores on both counts; the long one buys a little range at the cost of the accuracy gate, and the accuracy gate is what band 6 is stuck behind.

Compare:

Although it is often argued by many people that governments, which have limited budgets, should prioritise public transport over roads, which are expensive to maintain, there are also those who believe the opposite is true.

Governments with limited budgets often prioritise public transport over roads. Roads are expensive to maintain, though the case against them is weaker than it looks.

The second version uses fewer subordinate clauses and is easier to keep error-free. It also fixes something the first version does not: the first says almost nothing, because many people argue and there are those who believe the opposite commit the writer to no claim at all.

A useful check on your own answer: read each complex sentence aloud and see whether you can identify its main clause. If you cannot find it quickly, the examiner is not going to be marking range — they are going to be marking whatever went wrong on the way there.

Punctuation is in the same criterion

Grammatical Range and Accuracy is where punctuation lives. The band 6 wording puts them in one phrase — "Errors in grammar and punctuation occur, but rarely impede communication" — and band 7 does the same: "Grammar and punctuation are generally well controlled."

That pairing is not decorative, because the errors are the same errors. A comma splice is a sentence-structure problem wearing punctuation clothes: Public transport reduces emissions, it also lowers household costs joins two independent clauses with a comma. Fixing it is a grammar decision — a full stop, a semicolon, or a conjunction — not a typographic one.

The two clause types divide cleanly. A subordinate clause placed first takes a comma: Although fares have risen, ridership has grown. Reverse the order and it usually does not: Ridership has grown although fares have risen. A non-defining relative clause takes commas because it is extra information; a defining one does not, because removing it changes what the sentence identifies.

What is not true is that any particular mark earns credit. There is no published basis for the idea that a semicolon signals a higher band. A semicolon used correctly is one accurate choice among many; used to join a clause to a fragment, it is an error like any other.

FAQ

How many complex sentences do I need for band 7?

There is no published number, per paragraph or per essay. The descriptor asks for "a variety of complex structures… used with some flexibility and accuracy", which is a description of a pattern, not a count.

What does "error-free sentences are frequent" mean in numbers?

IELTS has not defined frequent numerically, and any percentage you find attached to it has been invented by whoever wrote it down.

Are longer sentences better?

No. Length is not in the descriptor. Range is variety of structure and accuracy is correctness; a long sentence usually improves neither.

My grammar is accurate but I'm stuck at 6.5 — is GRA the problem?

Possibly not. Accuracy is one half of one criterion, and an answer with no grammar errors can still be capped by the other three.

Do linking words count as complex structures?

No. A connector joins clauses; it does not create subordination by itself, and the cohesion it produces is marked under a different criterion. Linking words are keeping you at band 6 covers where that goes wrong.

Related reading

• Linking words are keeping you at band 6 — the cohesion criterion, and what it actually penalises
• IELTS Writing band descriptors explained — what each criterion is measuring, line by line
• Which tense for IELTS Task 1? — the other grammar decision that is settled by the task, not by a rule
• How to get band 7 in IELTS Writing — the four criteria as conditions to meet

Official task instructions are on ielts.org.