Guides / Scoring and band descriptors
Lexical Resource: Collocation Beats Vocabulary Lists
Candidates who want a higher band for vocabulary almost always do the same thing. They learn a list of impressive words, then push those words into an essay wherever they fit. Plethora, paramount, detrimental, myriad.
The result is usually a lower band, not a higher one. Lexical Resource is one of the four IELTS writing criteria, and the public band descriptors do not reward rare words. They reward words used precisely, in the combinations native speakers actually use. That combination is called collocation, and it is the single largest source of vocabulary marks that candidates leave on the table.
What the criterion measures
Lexical Resource is marked separately from the other three criteria, which are Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Each is given a whole band, and the four are then averaged.
Here is what the public descriptors describe at the levels most candidates are moving between, in plain form.
| Band | What is described |
|---|---|
| 5 | A limited range of vocabulary, only just enough for the task. Noticeable errors in spelling and word formation that may cause difficulty for the reader. |
| 6 | An adequate range for the task. Some attempt to use less common vocabulary, with some inaccuracy. Some errors in spelling and word formation, but they do not stop the reader understanding. |
| 7 | A sufficient range to allow some flexibility and precision. Some less common vocabulary used with some awareness of style and collocation. May produce occasional errors in word choice or collocation. |
| 8 | A wide range used fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings. Skilful use of uncommon vocabulary, with only occasional inaccuracies. |
Read the band 7 line closely. The word collocation is in it. The band 6 line describes exactly what the vocabulary list method produces: an attempt at less common words, with some inaccuracy. That attempt is worth band 6, and it stays worth band 6 no matter how many more rare words you add.
Why the rare word loses marks
The descriptors ask for precision. A word you have met once, in a list, without the sentences around it, is a word you cannot yet place precisely. So it lands in the wrong slot, and the reader notices.
Look at what happens with three popular list words.
| The candidate writes | The problem | What works |
|---|---|---|
| There is a plethora of pollution in cities. | Plethora takes countable nouns, and it means an excess of something. Pollution is uncountable. | There is a great deal of pollution in cities. |
| Education is a paramount thing for children. | Paramount is not used with thing. It attaches to nouns such as importance or concern. | Education is of paramount importance for children. |
| Smoking gives a detrimental effect to health. | Detrimental is right; the verb and the preposition are wrong. | Smoking has a detrimental effect on health. |
In each case the rare word was correct in isolation and wrong in company. The reader does not read a word. The reader reads a phrase.
Common words, precise use
Now look at the reverse. These sentences contain no unusual vocabulary at all, and every one of them would read as strong.
- Rents have risen sharply over the last decade.
- The policy failed to address the underlying cause.
- Heavy traffic places a strain on the road network.
- The government introduced strict limits on emissions.
- Working from home has become widespread since the pandemic.
Risen sharply, address the cause, place a strain on, introduce limits, become widespread. Every word is one a band 5 candidate already knows. What raises the band is that each verb sits with the noun it belongs to.
Pairs to learn as pairs
Learn these as whole phrases, not as single words. The unit of vocabulary in IELTS is the phrase.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| do a solution | provide a solution |
| make a research | conduct research |
| take an advantage | take advantage of |
| get a benefit | derive a benefit, or simply benefit from |
| big difference in salary | a substantial difference in salary |
| strong rain | heavy rain |
| do a decision | make a decision, or reach a decision |
| open a possibility | raise the possibility |
| high experience | extensive experience |
| serious attention | close attention |
| make a damage | cause damage |
| powerful evidence | strong evidence, or compelling evidence |
None of the right hand column is rare. All of it is precise.
A before and after rewrite
Here is a body paragraph written with the list method, then the same argument written with attention to pairing. The idea does not change. Only the phrasing does.
Before.
Nowadays, a plethora of youngsters are utilising social media platforms, which gives a detrimental impact to their mental health. Furthermore, it makes a big damage to their studies, because they cannot do a concentration on their homework. It is a paramount thing that parents should do a control on the usage.
After.
Many young people now spend several hours a day on social media, and this has a detrimental effect on their mental health. It also damages their studies, because constant notifications make it difficult to concentrate on homework. Parents therefore have an important role in setting limits on how long children spend online.
Count the rare words in the second version. There is one, detrimental, and it now sits in the phrase it belongs in. The paragraph is shorter, clearer and more precise, and precision is what the criterion asks for.
Notice something else. The first version opens with Nowadays and joins with Furthermore. Those are cohesion habits, and overuse of them is described at band 5 under Coherence and Cohesion. The two problems usually travel together.
How to build collocation instead of lists
The method is different from memorising words, and it is slower at the start.
- Read one authentic text a day. A news article of four hundred words is enough. Choose a topic that appears in IELTS, such as work, health, education, environment or technology.
- Underline verb and noun pairs, not single words. Impose a ban, tackle a problem, meet a deadline, raise concerns.
- Record the whole phrase in a notebook, with the sentence it came from. A word without its sentence is a word you will misuse later.
- Write one sentence of your own for each phrase, about your own life or country. Your own content makes the phrase memorable.
- Reuse the phrase within a week. A phrase used once is forgotten. A phrase used three times becomes available under exam pressure.
- When you are unsure whether two words go together, search the exact phrase in quotation marks. If almost nothing written by native speakers comes back, the pairing is wrong.
Twenty phrases learned this way are worth more in the exam than two hundred words learned from a list, because you can actually place them.
What to check in your own writing
Take an essay you have written and do this in three passes.
Pass one. Underline every word you added because it looked impressive. For each one, ask whether you have ever seen it in a real sentence. If not, replace it with the ordinary word you meant.
Pass two. Look at every verb next to an abstract noun. Do, make, give and get are the four verbs candidates overuse. Most of them should be a more specific verb: conduct, provide, cause, raise, impose, reach.
Pass three. Count how many times you repeat your topic noun. If pollution appears nine times, you are missing the range half of the criterion. Some of those should become contamination, emissions, air quality, or a pronoun.
Do this today
Open your last essay. Find five verb and noun pairs. For each one, ask whether you have seen a native speaker use those two words together. If you have not, change the verb, not the noun. This one habit moves more marks than any word list.
If you want a second view on whether your vocabulary or your grammar is the weaker criterion, paste the essay into Bandly for an estimated band on each of the four criteria with the reasoning behind each estimate. The estimates come from software rather than a human examiner, so use them to find where to work, not to predict your exam result.
Find out what this essay would score
Paste your own answer and Bandly returns an estimated band for each of the four criteria, with the sentences that pulled the score down. Under a cent an essay, about six seconds.
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