Grammar
The structures that reach Band 7, and the errors that hold candidates at Band 6. Free guides with practice.
IELTS grammar is assessed as one of the four criteria in writing and speaking, under the name Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The name matters, because it contains two separate requirements and most candidates only work on one of them.
Accuracy means few errors. Range means variety of structure. A candidate writing twelve correct simple sentences satisfies the first and fails the second, which is the commonest reason careful writing scores Band 6.
The test
Six things worth understanding before you study any rule.
One criterion, two halves. Error-free simple writing scores no higher than Band 6, and ambitious writing full of errors scores no higher either.
A single slip is treated as a slip. The same error twenty times across an essay is evidence about your level.
Commas, apostrophes and capitals are assessed here, not separately. A comma splice is a grammar error.
The same criterion is used in the speaking test, where range means varied structures rather than the same pattern repeated.
Some rules almost never appear in an IELTS answer. The ones that do are articles, agreement, tenses, and the four complex structures.
Rather than making many different ones occasionally. Finding your three is worth more than studying grammar in general.
Free guides
Each guide covers one area and includes a practice exercise with explanations.
Method
Six principles that make grammar study efficient.
Look at three pieces of marked work and find what repeats. Almost nobody makes every error, and general study wastes most of your time.
A week on relative clauses until they are automatic, then conditionals. Attempting four at once produces errors in all four.
Do not learn discuss. Learn that discuss takes no preposition. The word and its grammar belong together.
Read your essay once for articles, then once for agreement. Reading for everything catches nothing.
Two accurate short sentences beat one ambitious sentence you get wrong. Range only counts when it is controlled.
If four sentences in a row start the same way, you have a range problem you can see for yourself without any help.
Under Grammatical Range and Accuracy, one of four criteria in both writing and speaking. Range and accuracy are weighted together.
Not usually. Accurate simple writing satisfies the accuracy half of the criterion but not the range half.
Yes. Commas, apostrophes and capital letters are assessed under the same criterion, so a comma splice is a grammar error.
Articles, if your first language has no article system. Otherwise start with relative clauses, which add the most range for the least effort.
There is no number. Band 7 allows occasional errors that do not impede communication, which is a judgement rather than a count.
Full membership
Neither is a number you can count for yourself. Knowing which half is holding you back is the difference between studying efficiently and studying blindly.
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