How Our AI Scoring Works

We believe you deserve to know exactly how your essay is scored. This page explains our methodology, what the AI evaluates, known limitations, and how we keep improving.

Overview

When you submit an essay on a supported IELTS Writing exercise, an AI model returns a practice estimate for the official task criteria, an overall estimate, and a specific revision suggestion. The sitemap is the current source of truth for available exercise pages.

The free scorer returns a concise criterion-level estimate. Paid analysis adds a deeper independent pass with paragraph-level evidence, sentence rewrites, and a model answer. DeepSeek and Gemini are current AI subprocessors; processing details are listed in our Privacy Policy.

The 4 Scoring Criteria

Every IELTS Writing Task 2 essay is scored on four criteria, each weighted equally. Our AI evaluates each one independently, then averages them (rounded to the nearest 0.5) for the overall band.

Task Response (TR)

Does the essay address all parts of the question? Is there a clear position maintained throughout? Are ideas developed and supported with examples?

Coherence and Cohesion (CC)

Is the essay logically organised? Do ideas flow naturally between sentences and paragraphs? Are linking words used appropriately — not mechanically?

Lexical Resource (LR)

Does the writer use a wide enough range of vocabulary? Are words used precisely and naturally, with some less common items? Are spelling errors rare?

Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GR)

Does the essay use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures? Are errors infrequent enough that they don't impede communication?

How Calibration Works

The AI is calibrated against the official IELTS band descriptors published by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. We use explicit scoring anchors:

7.0+

Band 7.0+: Clear position, well-organised, wide vocabulary range, good grammar control. The AI must quote evidence from the essay for any score above 7.0.

6.0–6.5

Band 6.0–6.5: Addresses all parts, coherent progression, adequate vocabulary with some errors, mix of simple and complex sentences.

5.0–5.5

Band 5.0–5.5: Partial task response, limited vocabulary, limited grammatical structures.

< 5.0

Below 5.0: Minimal response with significant limitations across all criteria.

Scores are given in 0.5 band increments only — the same increment scale used in the real exam.

Scoring Rules

These rules ensure the AI stays consistent:

1
Essays under 250 words are penalised in Task Response only (minus 1.0 band), matching the real exam penalty.
2
An essay with a clear position, two supported body paragraphs, and some complex sentences scores at least 6.0 — the AI cannot give lower if these elements are present.
3
The overall band is the arithmetic mean of four criteria, rounded to the nearest 0.5.

Free vs Paid Scoring

Both tiers use the same criteria. The difference is depth:

Free

✓Band scores for all 4 criteria
✓Overall band estimate
✓One specific improvement suggestion
✓Available on the currently listed Writing exercises

Paid

✓Everything in free, plus:
✓Paragraph-level strengths and weaknesses with quoted evidence
✓Concrete before-and-after sentence corrections
✓Band 9 model answer for the same prompt
✓Top 3 study priorities ranked by impact

Known Limitations

We are transparent about what AI scoring cannot do:

Not an official IELTS score

Our scores are estimates. Only an official IELTS test centre can give you a real band score. Use our estimates for practice and progress tracking.

Handwriting is transcribed, not assessed

Photo uploads are converted to editable text with OCR. The score is based on the reviewed transcription, so it cannot assess penmanship and a poor image or an uncorrected transcription can affect the estimate.

Accuracy range

Automated estimates can differ from examiner-awarded results. Treat the criterion evidence as practice guidance and use an official test for an official score.

Writing Task 1 and task type support

The anonymous scorer on the public practice page supports Writing Task 2. Signed-in Writing practice also supports Academic and General Training Writing Task 1 with task-specific prompts and criteria.

Off-topic essays

If the essay is entirely unrelated to the prompt, the AI may still produce a score. A human examiner would likely score this much lower.

Why We Publish This

Most AI scoring tools are black boxes. You submit an essay, get a number, and have no idea how it was calculated. We think that is wrong.

If you understand how scoring works, you can study smarter — targeting the specific criterion that is holding your band down. That is the whole point of our platform.

Read the current publication standard, withdrawn-claim policy, and public activity data definitions on our Research and Data Methodology page.

How We Improve

We regularly review scoring accuracy by comparing AI outputs against human-scored essays. When we find patterns where the AI overscores or underscores, we update the scoring prompt and re-test.

If you believe your essay was scored unfairly, email us. Every report helps us calibrate better.

Questions About Scoring?

If you have questions about how a specific essay was scored, or want to report inaccurate results, contact us.

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