Free IELTS Writing Checker marked on the four official criteria
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The BandNine IELTS Writing Checker is a free AI tool that marks your Task 1 or Task 2 essay against the four official IELTS criteria. Paste your essay and get a band for each criterion, an overall band, and the exact sentences costing you marks, in about a minute. Free to try, no account and no credit card.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS · Updated 21 October 2026
All 4 criteria
Task Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range, each scored and explained.
Sentence-level fixes
Not 'improve your grammar' but the exact sentence, the corrected version, and which band it affects.
Academic & General Training
Checks Writing Task 1 (report or letter) and Task 2 essays for both IELTS formats.
Seconds to a band, free
An instant band estimate and your first full report free, before you ever pay.
How the IELTS writing checker works
Our AI is trained on the official public IELTS band descriptors: the same rubric a certified examiner uses. You paste your essay and see a first band estimate in seconds. Within about a minute you get a band for each of the four criteria, an overall band, and a list of the specific sentences pulling your score down with corrected versions. You then fix one thing, re-submit, and watch the band move.
Marked against the four official criteria
A real IELTS Writing score is the average of four equally-weighted criteria. Most candidates plateau because they only work on vocabulary and grammar while losing marks on Task Response (not fully answering the prompt) and Coherence & Cohesion (paragraphing and linking). The checker scores all four separately so you know exactly where the gap is.
IELTS Writing Task 1 checker: Academic report, GT letter and Task 2
Whether you're describing a chart for Academic Task 1, writing a letter for General Training, or arguing a position in Task 2, the checker applies the right descriptors for that task type and format. It flags register problems (too informal for a formal letter), data-coverage gaps in Task 1, and weak position statements in Task 2.
Why an AI coach beats a generic chatbot
A general chatbot will give you reasonable-sounding feedback, but it won't score against the four official band descriptors, won't tell you whether a fix moves you from 6.5 to 7, and won't track your patterns across essays. Ask one twice and you can get two different bands, which makes it impossible to tell a real improvement from noise. The BandNine checker is deterministic by design: submit the same essay twice and you get the identical result, word for word, and a check in our build fails if that stops being true. It also publishes its measured scoring deviation every week instead of asserting it, with the sample size and the in-house labelling caveat printed next to the number rather than in the small print.
Is my essay band 7? Read the four numbers, not the one
Your Writing band is the mean of the four criterion bands, rounded to the nearest half. The arithmetic matters more than most candidates expect. Task Response 6, Coherence and Cohesion 7, Lexical Resource 7 and Grammatical Range 7 averages 6.75 and reports as 7.0. Drop grammar to 6 as well and the same essay reports as 6.5. That is why "my grammar is fine and my band will not move" is such a common sentence: one weak criterion is enough to hold the mean under the line, and it is usually not the one you are studying. The checker returns all four numbers alongside the overall, so you can see which single criterion is costing you the half band before you write the next essay.
Why your IELTS writing is stuck at band 6.5
Band 6.5 is usually a consistency problem, not a vocabulary problem. The public descriptors separate band 6 from band 7 on control rather than on ambition. A band 7 script answers every part of the question, holds one position from the first line to the last, extends each main idea with a reason or an example, uses a linking word only where the logic needs one, and keeps the majority of its sentences free of error. A band 6 script does the same things unevenly. So the fix is rarely a longer word list. It is one developed idea per paragraph instead of three undeveloped ones, a position that does not drift in the conclusion, and fewer slips in the sentences you already write. Work on Task Response and Coherence first, because they are half your Writing band and they move fastest.
Band 6 or band 7? What actually changes in the script
Same question, same length, same topic. The difference between the two scripts is almost never the ideas. Here is what each criterion is looking for on either side of the line.
| Criterion | Band 6 tends to | Band 7 does |
|---|---|---|
| Task Response | Cover every part of the question, but some parts thinly. The position can drift or simply repeat itself in the conclusion. | Answer every part, hold one position throughout, and extend each main idea with a reason, an example or a consequence. |
| Coherence and Cohesion | Use linking words mechanically, sometimes in the wrong place. Paragraphs exist but can carry two half-ideas each. | Progress logically, with cohesion carried by referencing and substitution as much as by connectors, and one clear topic per paragraph. |
| Lexical Resource | Reach for less common words and miss, with noticeable word-form and spelling slips. | Use less common vocabulary with some awareness of style and collocation. Errors are occasional and never block meaning. |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Mix simple and complex sentences, with errors in most of the complex ones. | Produce a variety of complex structures with the majority of sentences error free, and control punctuation. |
Paraphrased from the public IELTS Writing Task 2 band descriptors, which IELTS publishes in full. A criterion band is a best fit across the whole script, not a count of mistakes.
How many words does my essay need, and what does short cost?
Task 1 asks for at least 150 words and Task 2 for at least 250. BandNine counts your words in code before your essay reaches the model, so length is judged identically every time rather than left to the model's mood. At 90 percent of the target or above, length imposes no ceiling at all. Between half the target and 90 percent, Task Response is capped at 5.0. Below half the target, it is capped at 4.0. Below 30 percent it is treated as a non-answer and returned as Band 3.0 without being sent to the model. Note where the penalty lands: on Task Response, which is how IELTS handles an under-length answer, so a short script is not marked down twice by losing grammar marks for the same fault. Write comfortably past the minimum and a miscount can never cost you anything.
Can ChatGPT grade my IELTS essay?
It will write you something readable, and plenty of candidates use it that way. Two things make a general chatbot a weak substitute for marking. It does not count your words reliably, so a 200 word Task 2 can come back praised rather than capped. And it carries no fixed rubric between sessions, so the same essay can come back with a different band on a different day. BandNine applies the length rule in code before the model sees the essay, scores the four criteria separately against the public descriptors, and re-scores a fixed calibration set every Saturday through the live production scorer, publishing the deviation on our quality page including the weeks the number gets worse. Here is what we do not claim. The reference bands in that set are labelled in house against the public descriptors, and no script in it has been marked by a certified IELTS examiner, so treat the band as a careful second opinion on what to fix rather than a prediction of your test-day result.
What to practise after your first score
A band is only useful if the next essay is better. The pattern that works is narrow: read the lowest of your four criterion bands, take one question from the bank, and write it again with that single criterion in mind. Task 1 and Task 2 questions come with model answers you can compare against line by line. And because your overall IELTS score is the mean of four modules, a writing plateau is often cheaper to fix by lifting reading or listening instead, where a couple of marks can be worth a half band.
Writing Task 2 practice Writing Task 1 practice Reading practice tests Listening practice
Frequently asked questions
Is the IELTS writing checker free?+
Yes, and it needs no account, no email and no card. Paste an essay and the overall band, all four criteria and the first real fix come back with nothing to sign. The email is only asked for afterwards, if you want the remaining sentence fixes. Unlimited detailed feedback comes with a paid plan, either 15 days for $12 as a single charge that does not renew, or a subscription from $19 a month that you can cancel whenever you like.
How accurate is the AI band score?+
We measure it and publish the number every week, which is a rarer answer than it should be. Every Saturday the scorer is re-run against a fixed calibration set and the deviation is written to a public table, so the current figure and every past run are on our quality page, with the full method and the limitations in our weekly accuracy report. The ground truth is our own per-criterion labelling against the official public descriptors, so treat the band as a careful second opinion on what to fix, not a prediction of your test-day score.
Does it check Academic and General Training?+
Yes. It supports Academic Writing Task 1 and Task 2, and General Training Task 1 (letters) and Task 2, applying the correct descriptors for each.
Can it check both Task 1 and Task 2?+
Yes. Both tasks are scored against their own band descriptors, including data coverage for Task 1 and position/argument for Task 2.
Is there a free IELTS Writing Task 2 checker?+
Yes. Paste a Task 2 essay and it is marked on the four official criteria, with no account, no email and no card. Task 2 carries the heavier weight of the two tasks and is scored on its own descriptors, so the report names whether your position is clear and held throughout, whether each paragraph has one controlling idea, and which sentences cost you Lexical Resource or Grammatical Range. You get 3 essays before anything is asked of you, and the allowance refills 24 hours after your first score.
Can you check my IELTS writing?+
Yes, and you can do it now without signing up. Paste the essay, pick Academic or General Training, and a first band estimate comes back in seconds with the full four-criterion report in about a minute. What makes it worth more than a band number is the sentence level part: the specific lines holding the score down, each with a corrected version, so you can fix one thing, re-submit and watch the band move.
Is there a free IELTS Writing Task 1 checker?+
Yes. Paste an Academic Task 1 report or a General Training letter and the checker marks it on the four official criteria, with no account, no email and no card. Task 1 is marked on its own descriptors, so it flags data-coverage gaps in a chart description and register problems in a letter rather than treating it like an essay.
Do I need to sign up to try it?+
No, and since 26 September 2026 you do not need to give an email address either. Paste an essay on the BandNine homepage and you get the overall band, all four criterion bands, and one corrected sentence quoted from your own writing, with no account and nothing to fill in. You give an address when you want the rest of the sentence fixes, and you create an account when you want unlimited evaluations and your study plan.
Is there a free online IELTS writing checker?+
This is one. It runs in the browser with nothing to install, on a phone or a laptop, and the first score costs nothing. Paste a Task 1 or Task 2 answer, press the button, and the band comes back while you are still on the page.
Can I get an instant band score for my essay?+
Close to it, and we publish the real numbers rather than saying "instant". The first band lands in about 10 seconds and the full marking about a minute later, measured on the production path rather than estimated. The gap is deliberate: the quick band tells you where you stand, and the minute buys the sentence-by-sentence marking underneath it.
What band is my essay?+
Paste it and you get the answer in four parts plus an overall, because that is how IELTS reports Writing. You get a band for Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and the overall is their mean rounded to the nearest half band. The first score costs nothing and needs no account. Read the lowest of the four first: that is the criterion deciding your overall.
Can the checker tell me if my essay is off topic?+
Yes, and it is the one mistake worth checking for above all others, because an answer that does not address the task cannot pass however well written it is. We compare your script against the task prompt before it reaches the model, the model judges the topic too, and when an answer is off topic Task Response is capped at 3.0 and the overall at 4.0. The threshold is set cautiously on purpose, since wrongly calling a genuine answer off topic would cost a real candidate several bands.
Is this the same as running my essay through a grammar checker?+
No, and the two do different jobs. A general proofreader fixes a sentence against standard English, which is useful, but it has no view on whether you answered the question or whether your paragraphs progress. Task Response and Coherence and Cohesion are half of your Writing band, and no grammar tool scores them or gives you a band at all. Use this for the band and the four criteria, and a proofreader afterwards as a surface sweep if you like.
How much does it cost after the free score?+
Nothing, until you want unlimited marking. The free tier includes 3 writing scores with the overall and all four criteria. After that, 15 days is $12 as a single charge that does not renew, and there are renewing plans at $19 a month, $39 for 3 months and $59 for 6 months, cancellable whenever you like.
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