Grammar
Range is the requirement that stops most candidates at Band 6. Four structures, with a practice exercise.
IELTS grammar for Band 7 is not about avoiding mistakes. A candidate can write twelve accurate simple sentences and still score Band 6, because the criterion is Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and range is half of it.
What Band 7 asks for is a variety of complex structures used with only occasional errors. Four structures will get you most of the way, and all four appear naturally in the kind of argument a Task 2 essay requires.
The structures
Each one lets you say something a simple sentence cannot.
Which, who, where. They let you add information without a second sentence. Public transport, which is heavily subsidised in most cities, remains underused. This is the fastest way to add range.
If plus a result. If governments invested more in prevention, healthcare costs would fall. The second conditional is ideal for Task 2, because most arguments are hypothetical.
May, might, could, would, should. They let you hedge a claim rather than overstate it. Higher fines may deter offenders is more defensible than higher fines deter offenders.
Is done, was introduced, has been criticised. Useful when the actor is unknown or unimportant. A congestion charge was introduced in 2003. Do not overuse it: three in a row reads as evasive.
If a scheme were properly supervised, which is rarely the case, it might work. A conditional and a relative clause in one sentence is a Band 7 sentence.
Range without accuracy scores lower than simple sentences done correctly. Attempt complex structures, but only ones you can control.
Method
Six practical steps.
Three long sentences in a row is as monotonous as three short ones. Alternating is itself a marker of range.
Spend a week writing relative clauses until they are automatic, then move to conditionals. Trying all four at once produces errors in all four.
Take two simple sentences from an old essay and join them with which or although. This is the fastest practice there is.
A relative clause with the commas in the wrong place is an error, not range. Learn the punctuation with the structure.
May, tend to, is likely to. Modals are the easiest range to add, and they also make your arguments harder to challenge.
In your final check, look at how each sentence starts. If four begin the same way, you have a range problem you can see.
Practice
Choose the version that shows more range while staying accurate.
Both options in each pair say roughly the same thing.
One uses a simple structure and one uses a complex one. Choose the complex version, unless it contains an error.
1Which shows more range?
B. A relative clause combines both ideas into one sentence and subordinates the less important one. This is the single fastest way to add range.
2Which is the stronger Task 2 sentence?
B. A modal verb and a concession. It also makes the claim easier to defend, which helps Task Response as well as grammar.
3Which conditional fits a hypothetical argument?
B. The second conditional, used for a hypothetical situation. Most Task 2 arguments are hypothetical, which makes this the essay conditional.
4Which uses the passive well?
A. One passive, used because who introduced it does not matter. B stacks passives and becomes evasive and hard to read.
5Which contains an error?
C. A non-defining relative clause needs commas at both ends. Half the punctuation is an error rather than range, which is why the punctuation is learned with the structure.
6You have written four sentences that all begin with a noun and a verb. What should you do?
Start one differently. Although this is expensive, or In many cities, changes the shape of the sentence. Adding linking words to a monotonous structure does not fix it.
That is almost always a range problem rather than an accuracy one, and it is the most common reason a careful, error-free essay does not reach Band 7.
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Choosing the better sentence is easier than producing it. Whether your range is genuinely at Band 7 needs a trained reader.
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A variety of complex structures used with only occasional errors. Relative clauses, conditionals, modal verbs and the passive cover most of what is needed.
Not usually. The criterion is Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and accurate simple sentences alone satisfy only half of it.
Both are marked, so attempt complex structures you can control. Range built from structures you get wrong scores lower than simpler writing done correctly.
Relative clauses. They are the fastest way to combine ideas and they fit naturally into the kind of argument Task 2 requires.
You cannot reliably judge it yourself. The gap between Band 6 and Band 7 is about range and error frequency, both of which need an outside reader.
Full membership
There is no number of complex sentences that guarantees Band 7. It is a judgement about variety and control, made against the band descriptors.
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