How the IELTS writing band is calculated (and why yours came out lower than you expected)

Your Writing band is not the average of your two task scores. Task 1 counts once and Task 2 counts twice, so the arithmetic behind the single number on your report form is (Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3, reported on a whole or half band. That is why a 7 in Task 1 with a 6 in Task 2 comes out as 6.5 — and why a 6 in Task 1 with a 7 in Task 2 comes out as 6.5 as well.

This article works that formula through with real pairs of task scores, shows how the four criteria combine inside each task before the weighting is applied, and marks the one place where the public rules stop and guessing begins. One caveat before the numbers: IELTS states that Task 2 carries more weight in marking than Task 1, but does not publish the exact ratio. The ÷ 3 version is the working arithmetic used almost everywhere and it matches reported bands, so treat it as a reliable direction rather than as an official calculator.

Two tasks, one reported band — and one of the two counts twice.

The formula: Task 1 counts once, Task 2 counts twice

There are two averaging steps, in this order.

Inside each task, the four criteria are scored as whole numbers and combined with equal weight. Task 1 is marked on Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Task 2 is marked on the same three plus Task Response in place of Task Achievement. Four integers, divided by four, give the band for that task.

Across the two tasks, Task 2 is doubled:

(Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3

The result is reported on a whole or half band, and that one band is the only Writing figure your Test Report Form carries. There is no line on it for Task 1, no line for Task 2, and no line for any of the four criteria — which is why candidates who want to know where their score came from have to reconstruct it from the outside.

Two things follow immediately. The first is that Task 2 is worth two thirds of your Writing band, so it deserves two thirds of your attention and roughly two thirds of your hour: IELTS recommends no more than 20 minutes on Task 1 and no more than 40 on Task 2. The second is that the weighting can swallow a genuine improvement whole. Work that lifts Task 1 by half a band adds 0.17 to the average. The same half band in Task 2 adds 0.33 — twice as much, from the same amount of work.

Three pairs of task scores that all report as 6.5

Here is the formula run on the pairs candidates actually report.

Task 1	Task 2	(Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3	Reported Writing band
7.0	6.0	19 ÷ 3 = 6.33	6.5
6.0	7.0	20 ÷ 3 = 6.67	6.5
6.5	6.5	19.5 ÷ 3 = 6.5	6.5

Three candidates with visibly different scripts, one number between them. The first has a clean, well-organised chart description and an underdeveloped essay. The second has the reverse. The third is level. All three read 6.5 on the report form, and none of them can tell which case they are from the form alone.

That is the flattening effect of a single reported band, and it is why "my Writing is 6.5" is not yet a diagnosis. Now watch what happens when the same half band sits in the other task.

Task 1	Task 2	(Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3	Reported Writing band
7.0	6.5	20 ÷ 3 = 6.67	6.5
6.5	7.0	20.5 ÷ 3 = 6.83	7.0

Same two numbers, swapped between the tasks. Same total quality of writing, by any reasonable measure. Half a band apart on the report form. The candidate who put the stronger performance into Task 2 gets the 7; the candidate who put it into Task 1 does not.

This is also the explanation for the most common complaint about writing scores: that a retake produced the same band despite obvious improvement. If the improvement landed in Task 1, the arithmetic above shows exactly how it can vanish. Why your IELTS writing score dropped on a retake takes the other version of that case, where one criterion is traded for another.

Why fixing Task 2 moves your band twice as fast

The weighting says where to work, and the descriptors say what the work is.

Task 1 gives you the content. The chart, the map or the letter prompt already contains everything you are going to say, and the job is to select it, group it and report it accurately. That makes Task 1 the more mechanical task — and the more rehearsable one. Trend verbs, comparison structures, the sentence shapes for a process or a map: a candidate who has practised the task types owns most of that before test day.

Task 2 gives you nothing but a question. You generate the content, decide what it proves, and carry it to a conclusion, and the criterion that judges this — Task Response — does not exist in Task 1 at all. The gap between band 6 and band 7 there is the gap between a position that is relevant and a position that is developed: band 6 allows conclusions that "may be unclear, unjustified or repetitive", while band 7 asks for a "clear and developed position" with main ideas "extended and supported".

So the two facts point the same way. Task 2 is where the score is decided by weight, and Task 2 is where the criterion that most often caps candidates at 6 lives. The half band you are looking for is very probably a Task Response problem rather than a grammar problem — a body paragraph that states an idea and then restates it instead of showing why it holds.

If your own split runs the other way — strong Task 1, weaker Task 2 — the five places that gap opens are taken apart in I get 7 in Task 1 but 6.5 in Task 2, and the criterion that differs between the two tasks is compared line by line in Task Achievement vs Task Response.

How the four criteria combine inside each task

Different pairs of task scores, converging on the same reported band.

Before the weighting is applied, each task band is itself an average. Four criteria, equal weight, whole numbers only — there is no 6.5 for Coherence and Cohesion, and no 7.5 for Lexical Resource. Half bands appear only as the result of averaging.

Take a Task 2 marked Task Response 6, Coherence and Cohesion 7, Lexical Resource 7, Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7. That is 27 ÷ 4 = 6.75. One criterion at 6 against three at 7, and the task band lands a quarter below 7. Lift only Task Response and you get 28 ÷ 4 = 7.0.

This is the practical consequence of equal weighting, and it cuts both ways. A single weak criterion costs you a quarter of a band no matter how strong the other three are, so a script that is excellent on three counts and band 6 on one is not a band 7 script. Equally, one criterion is often all that needs to move.

And this is where the public rules stop. An average like 6.75 does not appear on a report form, and how a quarter resolves to a reported band is not published, so this article does not guess at it. Every worked example above uses task bands that land on a whole or half band for exactly that reason. If your own four criteria average to a quarter, the honest answer is that the arithmetic gives you a range rather than a figure — and that the thing to do about it is to move the criterion that is lowest, which changes the answer either way.

The full wording for each criterion at each band, and what separates adjacent bands, is in IELTS Writing band descriptors explained.

Calculate it, then find the criterion that is dragging the number down

The arithmetic is easy. Getting the two inputs is the hard part, because your report form does not give you either one.

So reconstruct them from the bottom up, one criterion at a time.

1. Score your last Task 2 as four whole numbers. Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Whole numbers only — if you cannot commit to four integers, you are reacting to your writing rather than assessing it. Average them.
2. Do the same for Task 1, with Task Achievement in place of Task Response.
3. Run the weighting. (Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3, reported to the nearest whole or half band.
4. Find the lowest single criterion across both tasks. That is where the next half band comes from, and if it sits in Task 2 it is worth twice as much.

Step 1 is the one that defeats most candidates, and not for lack of effort. Reading your own essay for "mistakes" finds grammar and misses the other three criteria entirely, which is how a script with a genuinely weak Task Response gets self-assessed at 7. If you want the four numbers without guessing at them, paste the essay below and it will be marked criterion by criterion against the public descriptors, with the weakest one named.

Two further reads once you have your figures. If more than one criterion comes out at 6, why am I stuck at band 6.5 in IELTS writing sets out the four patterns in the order they occur. And if the number you are chasing is 7.5 rather than 7, band 7 vs band 7.5 shows why one improved criterion is no reliable route to a half band and two are.

FAQ

How is the IELTS writing band calculated?

Each task is marked on four criteria as whole numbers, which are averaged with equal weight to give a band for that task. The two tasks are then combined with Task 2 weighted double: (Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3, reported on a whole or half band. IELTS confirms that Task 2 carries more weight but does not publish the exact ratio, so the ÷ 3 formula is working arithmetic rather than an official calculator.

Why is my Writing band lower than my Task 1 score?

Because Task 1 counts once and Task 2 counts twice. A 7 in Task 1 with a 6 in Task 2 gives (7 + 12) ÷ 3 = 6.33, reported as 6.5, and the 7 effectively disappears. Two thirds of the reported band comes from Task 2.

Does Task 2 really count twice as much as Task 1?

That is the working assumption behind the widely used formula, and it matches reported bands. IELTS states only that "the assessment of Task 2 carries more weight in marking than Task 1" without giving the ratio.

Can my Writing band be a quarter, like 6.75?

No. Reported bands are whole or half bands. A quarter can appear in the intermediate arithmetic — four criteria of 6, 7, 7, 7 average to 6.75 — but how that resolves to a reported band is not published, so it is not worth guessing at.

Should I work on Task 1 or Task 2 first?

Task 2, on two counts. Half a band there adds 0.33 to the average against 0.17 for the same gain in Task 1, and Task 2 is the task that contains Task Response, the criterion that most often holds candidates at 6.

Are the band estimates on this site official?

No. They are estimates made against the public band descriptors. Only a certified examiner produces an official band.

Related reading

• I get 7 in Task 1 but 6.5 in Task 2 — the five places the gap between the two tasks opens
• Band 7 vs band 7.5 in IELTS Writing — how the weighting decides whether an improvement shows up at all
• IELTS Writing band descriptors explained — the wording behind each of the four criteria, band by band
• Why am I stuck at band 6.5 in IELTS writing? — the four patterns that produce a 6.5, in order of how often they occur

Descriptor wording quoted here is from the public Writing band descriptors published by IELTS and the British Council. The statement that Task 2 carries more weight, and the 20/40 minute timing guidance, are from the IELTS Academic Writing format page.