Your Guide to IELTS Writing: Coherence and Cohesion

The IELTS Writing test evaluates your ability to express yourself in written English. The writing test is assessed on four different criteria with each criterion worth 25% of your total mark for that task.

When taking the IELTS test, candidates are graded on coherence and cohesion for both Task 1 and Task 2. This makes up a significant portion of your overall score, so it is important to know what they are and the most effective ways to incorporate them into your writing.

In this clip taken from Episode 7 of our IELTS Prepare by IDP video podcast, our IELTS Experts discuss the Coherence and Cohesion assessment criteria of the IELTS Writing test.

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Hear from our IELTS Experts as they discuss Coherence and Cohesion in the Writing section of the IELTS test. Our video podcast host Rocco Nigro is joined by Don Oliver.

Don regularly hosts our IELTS Masterclass sessions. He has taught English in Australia, South-east Asia and Middle East and has more than 30 years’ experience in IELTS test development and preparation. 

Watch the full episode and more on IELTS Prepare by IDP: a 10-part video podcast series.

In the IELTS Writing test, Coherence and cohesion assesses how clear and fluent your writing is, and how you organise ideas and information. It includes giving your ideas in a logical order, and using a range of cohesive devices appropriately.

• Coherence is when the parts of something fit together naturally. In writing, it is when your ideas are connected together in a natural and logical way. There is a beginning, middle, and end. Your ideas are easy to follow and flow together well.

• Cohesion is the words and phrases connecting your sentences together within your writing. Each sentence connects well grammatically to the next, from start to finish.

What does our IELTS Expert, Don Oliver, say about the Coherence and Cohesion assessment criteria?

Coherence is about how logically organised your essay/letter is. This means your first paragraph will introduce  what you'll be talking about, and each succeeding paragraph will deal with a central topic and develop it. Your final paragraph will be a satisfying conclusion.  For a Task 2 essay, I'd suggest you write no fewer than 3 paragraphs, and no more than 5. 

Cohesion is like the nuts and bolts that connect your sentences and link your ideas. Think about how clearly you use pronouns (reference), and how effectively you use adverbs and conjunctions (e.g. clearly, subsequently, however, although, besides etc.). 

Body paragraphs

When completing the writing section of the IELTS test, you should always use paragraphs.

• For IELTS General Writing Task 1, you can separate your bullet points into paragraphs.

• For IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you should have an introduction and 1-2 body paragraphs. A conclusion is optional for this task.

When writing Task 2, paragraphs are very important.

• You should have an introductory paragraph, 1-3 body paragraphs (depending on how much you can write), and a conclusion.

The number of body paragraphs is also dependent on which type of essay you are writing. For example, if the task is a discussion essay, you can write one opinion in the first paragraph of the body and the opposing opinion in the second paragraph.

The topic should be very clear in all paragraphs. Try not to write off-topic or add any ideas not related to the topic in any of the paragraphs. When the examiner is reading your essay, they should never ask themself, “Why is the candidate writing about this?”.

Topic sentences

A good way to create coherence is to have a topic sentence in each body paragraph introducing the idea within the paragraph and how it connects to the main topic. This helps with readability and reader comprehension.

Cohesive devices

Cohesive devices are all the words and phrases used in writing to connect sentences and ideas together. Words such as however, moreover, and in conclusion, are used frequently by candidates when writing Task 1 or Task 2.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the most common way for candidates to connect ideas and sentences together. These can be used effectively, but you have to be careful that you don’t overuse them. You also have to be careful that you don’t use them repeatedly in the same location within the sentence.

Some examples:

• Despite the rain, we enjoyed the celebration.

• I like apples and oranges.

• If the government made more rules, then there would be less crime.

• The number of people increased whereas the amount of money decreased.

• After the storm, there is always a rainbow.

References

References are another common way for candidates to create cohesion in their writing. Referencing is when you refer to something stated somewhere else in your text without repeating the same words.

However, it is very important to ensure you're using the correct word. For example, some candidates use the pronoun, he, for all nouns and this is incorrect.

Here are some examples of referencing:

• Jane plays the piano. Her father is also classically trained.

• John and his brother, Luke, play college football.

• The students don’t agree. They want to have a meeting with their teacher on Monday.

• Children who don’t participate, have a much harder time fitting in.

Here are some examples that are incorrect:

• The students were excited about the break. He was going to travel all over Europe.

• James has a heart of gold. His a really nice guy.

Substitution

Substitution is used in writing when one word is replaced with another so that there is less repetition in the writing task.

Here are some examples:

• The company is not ready for the audit. This will cause too much stress.

• I love Brazil and I want you to come here to visit someday.

• Every flavour looks delicious, so I don’t know which one to choose.

• Do you like rock climbing? I don’t think so.

Ellipsis

Ellipsis is when you remove a word or phrase from a sentence because you understand the meaning of a previous sentence. This reduces word repetition and is an effective way to write.

Here are some examples of ellipses:

• Can Felix finish his presentation? Of course, he can. [finish his presentation]

• We have one card, but we need two. [cards]

• She thought her opinion was more important than Sara’s. [opinion]

Tune in to the full episode of our IELTS video podcast and learn more about the Writing section of the IELTS test, covering question types and preparation strategies.

The IELTS Prepare by IDP Vodcast, or video podcast, covers everything you need to know about the test.

During this 10-part series, you’ll learn about the IELTS test structure, how to prepare, what to expect on test day and more.

Each episode includes an interview with a different IELTS expert, who answers test taker questions and provides valuable advice on how to approach the test.