The thesaurus problem
The advice is everywhere: do not repeat words, use synonyms, show off your range. So candidates write a sentence in ordinary English and then upgrade it.
| What was written | After the thesaurus | What the examiner sees |
|---|---|---|
| Many people think… | A plethora of individuals cogitate… | Wrong register, wrong collocation, and unnatural. Marked down. |
| a big problem | a gargantuan quandary | Not English anyone writes. |
| This is important. | This is of paramount consequentiality. | Consequentiality is not a word people use. |
| The graph shows… | The graph elucidates… | Graphs do not elucidate. Collocation failure. |
The descriptors do not reward rarity. They penalise inappropriate and inaccurate word choice, and every one of those upgrades is both. The plain version scores higher.
But repetition really is a cap
The advice you were given was not wrong, only misapplied. Using the same word ten times does hold this criterion down. The fix, though, is not synonyms — it is precision.
Weak, repeated: "Pollution is a big problem. Traffic is a big problem too. The government should solve these problems."
Precise, not fancy: "Air pollution has become a health crisis. Congestion, meanwhile, is a daily frustration for commuters. The two need different responses."
Nothing there is a rare word. Crisis, frustration, congestion, responses — all ordinary. But each one is specific, so no word has to be repeated. Precision removes repetition as a by-product, and it is what the descriptor actually asks for.
Collocation is where the band is
Band 7 names collocation directly. It is which words naturally go together, and it is the difference between correct English and English a native would actually write.
| Not English | English |
|---|---|
| do a mistake | make a mistake |
| a strong rain | heavy rain |
| take a decision | make a decision |
| strongly recommend ✓ / powerfully recommend ✗ | strongly recommend |
| commit a crime ✓ / do a crime ✗ | commit a crime |
None of the right-hand versions are advanced. This is why collocation practice pays far better than vocabulary lists: it raises your band using words you already know.
Spelling is in this criterion
It is easy to forget, because it feels like a separate skill. It is not — spelling errors are marked here, and they accumulate quietly.
The words that get misspelled in IELTS essays are the ones candidates reach for to sound academic: government, environment, necessary, definitely, occurrence, recommend, accommodation, achieve, believe, opportunity. Learn the ten you use most; that is most of the risk gone.
What each band looks like
| Band | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| 5 | Limited range. Noticeable errors in word choice and spelling that can cause difficulty. |
| 6 | Adequate range for the task. Some errors in word choice, spelling and word formation, but meaning is clear. |
| 7 | Sufficient range for flexibility and precision. Some awareness of style and collocation. Occasional errors. |
| 8 | Wide range, fluently and flexibly used. Precise meaning. Rare errors. |
| 9 | Full flexibility and precise use throughout. |
What moves you up a band
| If you are at… | The change that moves you |
|---|---|
| 5 → 6 | Fix spelling and word-formation errors (success / successful / successfully). Build enough range to cover the task. |
| 6 → 7 | Precision, not synonyms. Choose the specific word instead of a general one, and learn collocations for the topics you actually write about. |
| 7 → 8 | Consistency. Every word choice exact, including the small ones — prepositions, articles, word forms. |
The 6→7 move is the one people get wrong. They reach for the thesaurus, which produces exactly the inaccurate and inappropriate choices the descriptor penalises.
For the test, and for real writing
For the exam: be precise, be natural, and never write a word you are not sure of.
For real English, the same instinct serves you for life. Collocations are what make writing sound native to a colleague or a reader long after the test, and they are used every day — unlike the exam-idiom lists. This is one of the places where the exam is pushing you in exactly the direction real fluency goes, so it is worth doing properly rather than gaming.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use synonyms to avoid repeating words in IELTS Writing?
Not from a thesaurus. Swapping ordinary words for impressive ones produces combinations that do not exist in English — a plethora of individuals cogitate — and the descriptors penalise inappropriate and inaccurate word choice directly. Use a more precise word instead, which removes repetition as a by-product.
Does repeating the same word lower my score?
Yes, but the fix is precision, not synonyms. Instead of calling three different things a 'big problem', name each one exactly: a health crisis, a daily frustration. All ordinary words, none repeated, and the descriptor rewards it.
What is collocation and why does it matter?
It is which words naturally go together — make a mistake, not do a mistake; heavy rain, not strong rain. Band 7 names it directly. None of the correct versions are advanced words, which is why collocation practice raises your band using vocabulary you already have.
Does spelling affect my IELTS Writing score?
Yes — spelling is marked inside Lexical Resource, which people often forget. The words most often misspelled are the ones candidates reach for to sound academic: government, environment, necessary, definitely, accommodation. Learning the ten you use most removes most of the risk.