Guides / Grammar and language
IELTS Lexical Resource: What Band 5, 6, 7 and 8 Vocabulary Looks Like
Lexical Resource is one of the four criteria on IELTS writing, and it is worth a quarter of your writing band. Almost every page about it tells you to use less common vocabulary and then stops.
That advice is incomplete and, used carelessly, harmful. This post shows what the criterion looks like at band 5, 6, 7 and 8 on real sentences, and what the gap between two neighbouring bands is actually made of.
What Lexical Resource measures
Lexical Resource is the vocabulary criterion. It is marked on both tasks and in the Speaking test, and the question it asks in writing has two halves:
- Range. Do you have enough words to say what this task needs, including words that are not the first ones everybody reaches for?
- Control. Are those words the right form, spelled correctly, and in combinations a fluent writer would use?
Those two halves are not weighted equally at every level. At the bottom of the scale range is the problem. In the middle of the scale, which is where most candidates sit, control is the problem. This is the part that general advice gets wrong, and it is why "learn more words" is often the least useful thing you can do.
Two terms worth defining, because the descriptors use them.
- Word formation means building the right part of speech from a root: grow, growth, growing. An error here is using one where another belongs.
- Collocation means the words that normally travel together. "Heavy rain" is a collocation. "Strong rain" is understandable and wrong.
The other three criteria are Task Response or Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. How the paper works and how it is marked sets out all four and how they combine, and what IELTS Task 2 asks you to do covers the essay those criteria are applied to.
The published wording, band by band
These are the public band descriptors for Lexical Resource. Read them as a ladder, and notice what changes from one rung to the next.
| Band | What the descriptor says |
|---|---|
| 5 | "uses a limited range of vocabulary, but this is minimally adequate for the task"; "may make noticeable errors in spelling and/or word formation that may cause some difficulty for the reader" |
| 6 | "uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task"; "attempts to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy"; "makes some errors in spelling and/or word formation, but they do not impede communication" |
| 7 | "uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision"; "uses less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocation"; "may produce occasional errors in word choice, spelling and/or word formation" |
| 8 | "uses a wide range of vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings"; "skilfully uses uncommon lexical items but there may be occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation"; "produces rare errors in spelling and/or word formation" |
Three things follow from reading the four rows together.
- Errors are allowed at every band up to 8. Band 8 permits "occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation". A single wrong word does not cap you at 6.
- The 5 to 6 step is about errors getting smaller. At 5 they "may cause some difficulty for the reader". At 6 they "do not impede communication". Same errors, less damage.
- The 6 to 7 step is not about rarer words. Band 6 already credits an attempt at less common vocabulary. Band 7 asks for those items to be used "with some awareness of style and collocation". The vocabulary is already there at 6. What is missing is accuracy.
Band 5, on a real sentence
This is from a General Training complaint letter in our sample library, estimated at Lexical Resource 5 with an overall estimate of 6.5. The full answer and the reasoning behind each criterion are on the faulty appliance letter page. Band estimates in the library come from Bandly's own scoring engine, not from a qualified examiner, so read them as a reading of the four criteria rather than as a mark.
Original: it is not safety to use a damaged appliance
Rewritten: it is not safe to use a damaged appliance
"Safety" is a noun where an adjective belongs. That is a word formation error, and it is the band 5 bullet exactly: a noticeable error in word formation that causes the reader a moment of difficulty.
Original: microwave appliance
Rewritten: microwave oven
Both words are common and correct in isolation. Together they are not a pair anyone uses. The letter also spelled "disappointed" as "dissapointed".
Notice what is not wrong here. The letter says what it needs to say. Nothing is missing. What holds it at 5 is three small faults of form in a short text, which is enough to make the reader stop.
To move from 5 to 6: fix form, not range. Spelling, singular and plural, and the correct part of speech. The ten grammar errors that keep writing at band 6 covers the overlapping grammar patterns, and several of them are really word formation.
Band 6, on a real sentence
From an Academic Task 1 line graph answer estimated at Lexical Resource 6, overall 7.
Original: Average household electricity consumption in Germany decreased in 4100 to 3000 kWh per year between 2000 and 2020.
Rewritten: Average household electricity consumption in Germany fell from 4100 to 3000 kWh per year between 2000 and 2020.
The verb is good. "Decreased" is a precise academic choice. The preposition after it is wrong, and "decreased in" is not an English pattern. This is the band 6 bullet: an attempt at less common vocabulary, with some inaccuracy.
Original: Meanwhile, India experienced a steady grow from a very low base.
Rewritten: Meanwhile, India saw steady growth from a very low base.
"Grow" is a verb standing where a noun belongs. The meaning survives, which is why this sits at 6 rather than 5, and the form is still wrong, which is why it does not reach 7.
The same answer also wrote "household electricity usage" where "use" had been correct three sentences earlier. Switching between two forms of the same word, for no reason, reads as uncertainty rather than range.
To move from 6 to 7: keep the vocabulary you already have and make it accurate. Check the preposition after every verb you are slightly unsure of. Check that each word is the part of speech the sentence needs. Do not add longer words.
Band 7, on a real sentence
From an Academic Task 1 bar chart answer estimated at Lexical Resource 7, overall 7.5. You can see it, and the other answers estimated at this level, through the band 7 samples hub.
This answer earns the 7 with phrases like "the proportion of commuters utilizing four modes of transportation" and "stark contrasts in commuting preferences". Those are precise, academic, and correctly combined. What stops it reaching 8 is repetition.
Original: accounting for 62% of all commuters. This was significantly higher than the percentages for buses, which stood at 14%, and cars and bicycles, which each accounted for 12%.
Rewritten: accounting for 62% of all commuters, well ahead of buses at 14% and of cars and bicycles, which took 12% each.
Nothing in the original is wrong. "Accounted for" appears twice in two sentences and "which" three times, so the writing sounds like one pattern repeated rather than a range being used. The band 8 wording asks for vocabulary used "fluently and flexibly". Flexibility is the thing being measured here, not rarity.
To move from 7 to 8: vary the pattern, not the word list. If you have written "accounted for" once, the next figure gets a different structure. Reading collocation beats vocabulary lists next is the natural step, because at this level the remaining marks sit in which words go together.
Band 8, on a real sentence
From a Task 2 essay estimated at Lexical Resource 8, overall 8.
What earns it: "expatriates frequently experience profound homesickness and a sense of isolation as they navigate an unfamiliar cultural landscape without their established support network."
Every choice there is precise. "Profound homesickness", "established support network", "navigate a cultural landscape". These are not rare words. They are ordinary words in exactly the right combinations.
What still costs it: the essay wrote "cultural alienation" where "culture shock" is the phrase people actually use. That is the band 8 bullet in action: occasional inaccuracies in collocation, in an answer that is otherwise fluent and flexible.
This is the most useful thing on this page for anyone aiming high. At band 8 the remaining errors are not mistakes of knowledge. They are a near miss on which two words belong together.
What this means for your preparation
The common plan is to memorise a list of advanced words and insert them. The descriptors do not reward that, and the two reasons are visible in the sentences above.
- A rare word in the wrong collocation is an error. The band 7 and band 8 bullets both describe collocation as the thing being assessed, so a wrong pairing costs you on the exact bullet you were trying to satisfy.
- Memorised language cannot be credited as yours. An answer built from pre-learned phrases that do not fit the question also damages Task Response.
Do this instead.
- Take an answer you have already written. Not a new one. One you can see.
- Underline every word you chose because it sounded advanced. For each one, ask whether a plainer word says the same thing more precisely. Keep the plainer one when it does.
- Check the form of every noun and verb. Growth or grow. Safe or safety. Analysis or analyse. This is where band 5 and band 6 answers lose marks they did not need to lose.
- Check the word after every verb. Decreased from. Resulted in. Led to. Prepositions are collocation, and they are the most common single fault in the band 6 answers above.
- Count your repeats. If one phrase carries three sentences, rewrite two of them with a different structure. That is the 7 to 8 step.
Each of those five passes takes a few minutes and none of them requires a new word list.
What to do today
Write one Task 2 answer under time, then run the five passes above on it in order. Underline, simplify, check forms, check prepositions, count repeats. Write down the error types you found, because the same three or four will come back every time you write, and a habit is cheaper to fix than a vocabulary gap.
If you want a second opinion on where your vocabulary sits, Bandly estimates Lexical Resource separately from the other three criteria and shows the sentences behind the estimate, which is the level of detail you need to see which of the five passes is yours.
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