IELTS Writing feedback, band by band

Upload your Task 1 or Task 2 response and the IELTS band descriptors. Mark scores each of the four criteria — Task Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy — and quotes the lines lifting or holding back your band, so every practice essay moves you closer to the score you need.

Mark my essay freeTakes about a minute.

IELTS Writing is band-scored on four published criteria — exactly the criterion-referenced marking Mark was built for.

One thing before we start: I never write a word for you. I mark your draft against your rubric — like a teacher's first pass — so youdo the improving. Check your school's policy on AI feedback, and acknowledge your use of it where required.

How to use Mark honestly (and acknowledge it properly) →

How it works

Add your rubric

Upload or paste the criteria your work will actually be marked against — e.g. the official IELTS Writing Task 2 band descriptors.

Upload your draft

Drop in the PDF (or paste the text). Mark reads it against every criterion and scores it, quoting the exact lines that earned the marks.

Improve and re-mark

Fix what he flagged, run it again, and watch the mark move. That loop is how essays climb to the top grades.

New — chat with Mark about your essay

Not sure why you lost marks? Just ask him.

Every marked essay now has a chat. Ask Mark why a criterion landed where it did, what “more analysis” actually means, or where to start on your re-draft — and he'll talk it through with you, pointing to the exact lines in your essay.

He'll never write it for you. He asks the questions a good teacher would, so the improving stays yours.

See it before your marker does

Mark your draft, fix what he flags, watch the mark climb.

Mark scores your draft against your rubric and quotes the exact line behind every mark. You fix the two things holding it back, run it again — and the number moves. That loop is the whole game.

Marked against your rubric. Your criteria, not a generic template.
Evidence for every score. The exact line that earned it — or cost you the mark.
Revise and re-mark. Improve the draft, run it again, and see the mark climb.

Draft 2 · +3 marks

Fix these two lines and this is a 5.

markthatpaper.com/essay/my-railways-draft

Your essay

“How did railways change everyday life in Victorian Britain?”

Your rubric · 4 criteria

Mark is reading your draft…

842 words

The line Mark quoted

“The railways did not simply move people faster — they reshaped the ordinary rhythm of the day, standardising the clocks between towns and turning a distant city into somewhere you could visit and be home from before dark. Bradshaw's timetable soon sat in every household.”

Analysis & argument

Builds a reasoned, evidenced case

01234

NOW SITTING AT 4 / 5here's the top band

You name the cause — now push it. Add one sentence on the consequence you hint at, and this criterion tips into the top band.

Draft 1

14 / 20

Draft 2

17 / 20

The four criteria, scored separately

Each IELTS Writing task is marked on four equally-weighted criteria: Task Response (did you fully answer, with a clear position and developed ideas), Coherence & Cohesion (structure and linking), Lexical Resource (range and accuracy of vocabulary), and Grammatical Range & Accuracy (complex, error-free sentences). Mark scores each one with the quoted line that earned it, so you know exactly which criterion is dragging your average down.

Hit the score your university or visa needs

Most test-takers need a specific overall band — and often a minimum in each criterion — for a course or a visa. Practising against the descriptors, criterion by criterion, is how you close the gap on the one holding you back, instead of re-sitting the whole test and hoping.

Feedback, not a rewrite

Mark never rewrites your response — that would defeat the point of a language test. He marks what you wrote against the descriptors and shows you where the band is won or lost, so the improving builds the skill you'll actually use on test day.

Start free. Most students go for the plan.

Start with 2 free marks — enough to mark a draft, improve it, and mark it again. Then keep going for less than the price of one human-marked essay.

Your next draft could be a grade higher.

Mark my essay free

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