IELTS Energy 1631: Task Response and Task Achievement Scores: What’s the Difference?

This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, episode 1631, Task Response and Task Achievement Scores. What's the difference? Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English. Downloaded more than 35 million times with examiner-trained IELTS whiz Aubrey Carter and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer.

If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.

The fastest way to achieve a high score on IELTS is to understand the scoring system. Today, we break down the differences between task one and task two scoring.

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Hello, Lindsay. How are you today? Hey, Aubrey. I'm glad to be on IELTS Energy today. Things are going well. I got a question for you. All right, let's hear it.

So in your mind, what do the words response and achievement have in common? Do they have anything in common? What do you think? Very little, right? I thought about this while prepping this episode because you have these two scores, task response and task achievement.

And if that's all you have, the titles and look up the definitions maybe of response and achievement, you would just end up more confused. Like these scores are kind of difficult to understand.

Interesting. And we have to, we know that we have to understand the scoring system to succeed on IELTS, don't we? Absolutely, right? Everything we teach you is tied to the scoring system.

You need to know what examiners are looking for. What do those scores mean? What do you need in your essays to get the highest possible task response and task achievement scores?

Yeah. So what are we getting into today, Aubrey? Yeah, well, we're going to share everything you need to know about each of them, right? So we have done different episodes in the past, focusing on specific like the task response score, certain features of it and really diving deep.

Today, we're kind of sharing overall what you'd find in the scoring system. Overall, what does this score mean? What is the examiner looking for? Okay, good to know.

I mean, the more knowledge we have going into this exam, the better, right? Exactly. Do we have a poll to report out on before we get into it today? Yeah.

First, we want to share a recent poll that a lot of people responded to, which was, which do you prefer on Friday nights, going out or lazing around? We had taught some great vocab for those two things, right? Different fun, high-scoring ways to talk about being lazy.

Yes. And we found that 14.3% of you said going out and 85.7% of you said lazing around. Aubrey, which camp are you in? Yeah, this is one of those where I would definitely want a depends, but we never give you that.

You have to choose one or the other. No, you have to choose. Right? Because I really like going out at night. I still like going dancing. I like going to dinner, to the movies.

But sometimes all I want to do is laze around. We've started doing puzzles. That's actually like a hot weather activity here in Arizona, where we'll put a puzzle together in the middle of the summer. And I love doing that with my kids.

It's so fun. Have a little iced tea or Arnold Palmer, as they say, and enjoy your puzzle. I like that. I like that. Absolutely, yeah. For me, the key question is Friday nights as opposed to Saturday nights or Sunday nights.

I definitely like to be around, either go to the movies, which is kind of lazing around. You're just in a movie theater or staying home and watching movies.

So it lays around. Yeah, it lays around. Once upon a time, you might have chosen going out, but these days, not so much. Yeah, yeah. I'd save that for Saturdays, maybe.

Yeah. All right, Aubrey, get us into it here. But first, guys, don't forget to hit follow on the show. Aubrey, why should they follow? Yes, we have two episodes every week with strategies, vocabulary, details about the scoring system.

You don't want to miss any of these episodes. So wherever you listen to podcasts, search IELTS Energy and be sure to hit follow. All right. So let's look at these two definitions, Aubrey.

Can you bring us through it? Response and achievement. I thought this would be interesting to look at, right? If you've just looked up the definitions to try and understand these scores, a response is any reaction, reply, or answer to a specific question or experience or stimulus, right?

So when we're thinking about the task response score, that is really related to what the examiner is looking for, right? Your task response is how are you replying to this question? And are you doing that fully?

But then achievement, how is that different? Yeah. So the task achievement score, which is for task one, this word achievement means a significant accomplishment or a goal successfully attained through effort, skill, or courage. So the difference really is in the questions, right?

Task two, you have more of a prompt to respond to. And for task one, you have more of a goal to achieve, to accurately describe these numbers or this process in a way that is high scoring, right? Yeah. So it is different.

It makes sense that these scores are called different things. Yeah. And keep in mind, guys, everything we tell you on this podcast is directly linked to your score. There are many IELTS teachers out there that maybe don't understand the scoring system, unfortunately, and don't link what they teach you back to your score, but we do here.

Okay. Exactly. Right. You have to know what the examiner is looking for in your essays. So today's episode is really going to help We're going to break this down.

Let's dive in first to the task achievement score. And we're separating this, first of all, for IELTS academic test task one. So if you are taking the academic exam, this is the score breakdown for the essay that you will write.

Yes. Okay. So with task achievement for IELTS task one, academic test one, what do we need to know? Yeah. The first thing is you must provide a clear overall trend.

So we've talked about that a lot. Scroll up or search overall trend on our blog for more details. But this is basically overall what is being seen in this diagram or in these charts you have to provide. You have to show that you have a clear understanding of overall what is the information showing.

Yeah. And then to go further, you also have to support that trend with key numbers from the graph, or maybe it's a chart that you see, or with that most important information from the diagram, or maybe a map, for example. Exactly. And what's tricky is, you know, how do you know what the key information is?

So this is the most significant information, right? It might be the highest and lowest numbers, the biggest changes in something, the biggest increases or decreases. So that's what you're looking for is what here is significant.

Yeah. So here we have to know what to include, but also what is not significant and what should be left out. So we're going to try to train our mind as we're learning our strategies, our systems, doing our practice tests, what does matter and what can be left out. Exactly.

That's not easy, right? When there are lots and lots of numbers, you need to train yourself, like Lindsay said, ahead of time to be able to quickly analyze these charts and diagrams and graphs and be able to understand what are the biggest changes or what are the highest and lowest numbers? What do I need to include?

100%. What about task achievement for general task one? Yeah. So the general task one is a letter. And this is very different. So if you're preparing to take general training IELTS, you're going to be writing a letter.

And for the task achievement score, the goal you're trying to achieve is to address all three bullet points in a full but balanced way. So the best advice here is to provide at least two details per bullet point, but you certainly can't provide like 10 for one. You just don't have time. The others will end up not being covered enough.

So two per bullet point is ideal. Yeah. And don't forget that the tone of your letter has to be appropriate. It has to match, right? And that would, where do we find tone, Aubrey?

I mean, where does that actually show up? It's the vocabulary you choose, the linking phrases you choose, how formal are they, as well as the grammar chunks you are using, some of which are very formal. Imagine using not only, but also with a friend in a letter, right? That would be weird.

So yeah, this is part of your task achievement score as well that you're striking the appropriate tone. Yeah. So for example, a formal tone is required for, for example, maybe you're sending a letter to people you don't know, maybe a company, or maybe you're writing like a complaint, a customer complaint or something, right? That would be formal.

And semi-formal is a letter to someone that you know, but not well. Maybe a neighbor you're asking to pet sit for you or a coworker, you know them, you know their name, but you're not close. Yeah. Yes.

And then the informal tone usually comes up when you're writing a letter to friends or family, someone close to us. Okay. And this is going to be much more formal vocabulary, informal, informal vocabulary, some slang, some phrases that you wouldn't use if writing to a company, right? These should sound very different depending on who you're writing to.

Yeah. Tone matters so much for your score, obviously, guys, right? Good. Karen wanted to apply for permanent residency in Canada. To do this, she knew she needed the highest scores on IELTS she could get.

She thought she might do okay on listening and reading, but she was super worried about speaking and writing. So she decided to trust Three Keys IELTS. She made the right choice. She ended up getting an overall 7.5.

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Okay, Aubrey, let's talk about task response now as it applies to IELTS writing task 2. Exactly. So this is so interesting, right? You have these four scores for writing.

For task two, it's called task response. For task one, it's called task achievement. So as we were mentioning, really, you're responding to a prompt here, right? So what's vital is that all parts of the question, all of the key ideas that are in there have to be addressed in your essay in a balanced way.

And this is tricky because all of the or solutions, advantages, disadvantages. Some are just asking for your opinion. So depending on what essay, what the prompt is, your response will be quite different.

Yes. And you also have to support your ideas with clear, specific details and examples when it comes to this writing task too. Yes, right. You cannot have any ideas that are unsupported.

This is a common mistake that students make. So all of your ideas must clearly connect to the test question. You don't want to wander off topic. And the examiner must also be able to clearly identify your opinion.

And this is also tricky because not every essay says, share your opinion. It is in the instructions that but it's not always repeated in the essay. So don't forget, no matter what the prompt is, you must clearly share your own personal position, your opinion.

Yeah. And I think this is something, this is why it's so important to study for IELTS with an IELTS expert or a team like our team that actually understands IELTS. A lot of ESL teachers might tell you, oh, don't give your opinion because in academic writing, in our college and university careers, we generally weren't supposed to give our opinion, right? Yeah.

Which is very different from IELTS. IELTS essays are so different from academic essays. You're writing in the first person. You are sharing your opinion.

The instructions mandate that you share your opinion. You're encouraged to use personal details from your own life. This is very different from academic writing, from university essays. So that's such a good point, Lindsay.

You need to be studying with an IELTS expert, take an IELTS course. You also don't necessarily, you know, you don't want to have a TOEFL teacher or there's so many tests that have very specific scoring systems, very specific parameters. So you want to make sure you have a teacher that you can trust.

Yeah. I've had students come to us and ask us about our Three Keys IELTS course, if it will help them prepare for TOEFL. And I say, no, TOEFL and IELTS couldn't be more different. So you have to find a TOEFL course if you're preparing for TOEFL.

Okay. Exactly. Yes. So yeah. If you want to know more about our course, go to allersenglish.com slash keys for everything. We definitely go deeper into these scores, into how you do all of the things we've shared today and

We're just kind of telling you what you need to do. The course breaks down all of the steps of how you actually do that. Exactly. What else are some common mistakes?

Did we go through all of them here, Aubrey? Are there anything else? Yeah, I think we should. Let's just reiterate because these are mistakes you might not even realize, sort of pitfalls, right?

So first of all, not expressing an opinion or maybe changing your opinion midway through the essay. You must always include your opinion. And then also sharing a lot of ideas without supporting them all. So when you're brainstorming, you might think of a lot of ideas to support your opinion.

Pick one and then stick with it. Come up with support and examples to support it. All right. So we have a great poll question we want to put forward to you guys today.

Aubrey, are we ready to announce the poll? Yeah, let's do it. All right. So here's the question, guys. We want you to participate in this. Let us know what you think.

Which part of the writing exam do you find more difficult? Is it task one or is it task two? So go right now. This will be posted ahead of time, right, Aubrey?

This should be live by the time this episode goes live. Yes, it'll be in Spotify. Go and give us your opinion. Fill out the poll. And this, you never know.

Sometimes task one is a lot harder, especially if it's task one academic, analyzing those charts and graphs. Task two, though, is much longer. So for a lot of people, it's about time management.

Yes, exactly. What's another episode our listeners could check out right now? Yeah, go to 1630. You can scroll up if you missed that one. That was just a few days ago.

Show your proclivity for vocabulary with today's phrases. That's a band nine word. And there are several others in that episode. Check it out. That's a great word.

Oh my gosh, that word. I want to know how to use that word. That's fantastic. You'll sound very intelligent if you use it. All right, guys. So again, it's important to know the difference between the task achievement, task response.

What kind of, are you taking general? Are you taking academic? This all matters, right? Yes, absolutely, right? You need these details about your score.

We're excited for you to have all of this information so that you are ready on test day. All right. Talk to you soon, Aubrey. Have a good day. Awesome.

See you next time. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.

Lust auf einfach guten Kaffee, wann immer du willst? Bekommst du mit den Cubo-Kapselmaschinen von Chibo. Denn das ist Kaffee in seiner besten Form. Cubo verbindet ausgewählte Kaffees aus besonderen Anbaugebieten mit innovativer Press-Brew-Technologie.

Für vollmundigen Geschmack und samtige Crema. Ob Espresso, Kaffee-Crema oder Kaffee-Grande, du hast die Wahl. Cubo liefert Kaffee-Vielfalt auf Knopfdruck mit Gelingen-Garantie. Entdecke jetzt die Cubo-Kapselmaschinen von Chibo.