You Wrote 300 Words.
You Still Got a Six.
Read before your next practice essay
Your essay ran to 320 words. You used however, moreover, furthermore and in conclusion. Your grammar was clean. The result came back band 6, and nobody explained why. The answer is a criterion worth a quarter of your Writing score that almost no one trains on purpose: Coherence and Cohesion.
Coherence is whether your ideas follow each other logically. Cohesion is how you connect them. One idea owns each paragraph. Each sentence hands off cleanly to the next. You point back to earlier ideas with small words like this, that or such, so you are not repeating yourself. Notice what is not on that list: a linking word bolted onto the front of every sentence.
The scenario
A Task 2 body paragraph arguing that remote work benefits employees.
✗ Mechanical and memorised
Firstly, remote work is good. Moreover, it saves time. Furthermore, people are happy. In addition, there is no travel. Therefore, in conclusion, remote work is very beneficial for all the employees in society today.
✓ Natural and connected
Remote work gives employees back the time they used to lose commuting. That recovered hour tends to go into rest or family, which is why remote staff often report lower stress. Lower stress then shows up in the work itself: fewer sick days and steadier output.
Same idea, similar length. The second version never opens a sentence with a bolted-on connector, yet every sentence clearly follows the last. That is the cohesion an examiner rewards.
The template trap
There is a reason memorised essays fail. Examiners are trained to spot them, and a formulaic answer is capped no matter how polished it looks. The official band descriptors are blunt: at band 6 cohesion is often described as faulty or mechanical, while band 7 requires clear progression throughout. A template hands you mechanical every time. A memorised structure you paste in regardless of the question is treated as a penalty, not a shortcut.
You can read the exact wording in the official IELTS Writing band descriptors, published by the British Council and IDP.
QDo linking words raise my score?
Used well, they help. Bolted onto every sentence, they hurt. The descriptors specifically warn against the mechanical use of cohesive devices. If you can delete the first two words of a sentence and it still flows, the linking word was decoration.
QIs a longer essay a safer essay?
No. Past 250 words on Task 2, length on its own earns you nothing. Padding brings repetition and weak sentences, and both pull your score down. A tight 260-word essay beats a baggy 340-word one.
QCan I just memorise a good structure?
A structure you understand and adapt is fine. A structure you paste in regardless of the question is not. The moment your template forces you to answer a slightly different question badly, both Task Response and Coherence drop.
The one test for cohesion
Read your essay back and try to lose the thread. If you can follow every jump from one sentence to the next without re-reading, your cohesion is working. If you only feel connected because the linking words told you to, it is not. Examiners read for the first kind.
The fastest way to feel this is to write, then reread as if you were the examiner. Practise full Task 2 answers on our IELTS Writing practice and check every paragraph for one clear idea.
Go deeper
You're Not Bad at English. You're Bad at IELTS.
Coherence is one of four criteria the examiner scores. Here is what the other three reward, and why fluent speakers still stall at band 6.
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About the author
Muskan
Co-founder, WizardTeacher · Content and curriculum lead
Muskan is co-founder of WizardTeacher and leads all content and curriculum development. She researches exam formats, marking criteria, and preparation strategies to ensure every resource on WizardTeacher is grounded in what the examiners actually reward.