Share IELTS Diamond - Unit 3 Writing T1
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Coherence and Cohesion measures how easy your writing is to understand and follow.
True This band criterion assesses whether your ideas are logically organised and connected, making the report easy for the examiner to read.
Learning many different cohesive devices is enough to get a Band 9 for Coherence and Cohesion.
False - Cohesive devices help, but Band 9 also requires logical organisation, clear progression, and accurate use of linking words.
Using too many cohesive devices can lower your IELTS Writing score.
True - IELTS rewards appropriate use, not frequent use. Overusing connectors sounds unnatural and affects cohesion.
You should integrate cohesive devices into every sentence of Task 1.
False - Write naturally first. Add cohesive devices only where they are needed to connect ideas logically.
Since Academic Task 1 is relatively short, using a limited number of cohesive devices accurately is generally more useful than trying to demonstrate a very wide range of linking expressions.
TRUE - The key is accurate and appropriate use, not the number of different connectors. A short report does not require a large collection of linking words.
Starting the overview with “Overall” is essential because an overview without this word would not satisfy the Coherence and Cohesion criterion.
FALSE “Overall” is useful and common, but it is not compulsory. What matters is that the overview clearly summarises the main features.
In a sentence such as “Spending on tennis increased, whereas spending on swimming declined,” “whereas” is appropriate because it connects two contrasting clauses within the same sentence.
TRUE “Whereas” is used to contrast two pieces of information within a sentence.
Because “in contrast” expresses contrast, it can normally replace “whereas” without changing the grammatical structure of a sentence.
FALSE Their functions are different. Whereas can join clauses:
The words “while” and “whereas” can both be used to contrast trends, so replacing one with the other will always produce an equally natural sentence.
FALSE They can have similar functions, but they are not always interchangeable. The surrounding sentence structure and intended meaning determine which is more
The sentence “Despite the figure increased considerably, it remained below the previous year's level” is grammatically acceptable because “despite” can introduce a complete clause.
FALSE Despite is normally followed by a noun phrase or -ing form, not a normal subject + verb clause.
In the sentence “Although the figure fell initially, it recovered by the end of the period,” removing the comma after “initially” would make the sentence grammatically correct.
FALSE When an although-clause comes first, it is normally followed by a comma before the main clause.
The sentence “The figure declined between 2000 and 2010, however, it increased sharply afterwards” uses “however” correctly because the word can simply be inserted between two independent clauses with commas.
FALSE This creates a comma splice. Better options include: The figure declined between 2000 and 2010. However, it increased sharply afterwards.
In “All four categories remained below 50 units, except for electricity,” “except for” indicates that electricity was the only category that did not follow the general pattern.
TRUE The expression highlights an exception to the overall statement.
In “The figure fell to 20 before rising to 40,” “before” indicates that the increase occurred earlier than the decrease.
FALSE - The sequence is: fell → before → rose (Therefore, the fall happened first, followed by the rise.)
“Meanwhile” can be useful when the writer moves from one category to another and wants to show that the second development occurred during the same general period.
TRUE For example: Sales of tennis equipment increased steadily. Meanwhile, sales of football equipment fluctuated.
Organising a Task 1 report into three paragraphs—an introduction and overview, followed by two detail paragraphs—is the only acceptable paragraph structure for achieving a high Coherence and Cohesion score.
FALSE The three-paragraph structure is a useful recommended structure, but IELTS does not require exactly this structure.
