Grammatical range & accuracy: complex but correct

Grammatical Range & Accuracy rewards two things at once: a variety of sentence structures and the accuracy with which you use them. Band 7 needs "a variety of complex structures" and "frequent error-free sentences"; band 8 adds that "the majority of sentences are error-free". Range without accuracy - or accuracy without range - both cap your score, so the goal is ambitious grammar that you can still control.

Build range with three complex structures

1. Relative clauses - add detail with which, who, where, whose.

> Cities that invest in cycling see fewer traffic jams.

1. Conditional sentences - show consequence.

> If governments subsidised public transport, fewer people would drive.

1. Concessive / adverbial clauses - concede or contrast.

> Although electric cars are cleaner, they remain expensive to produce.

Mixing these with some short simple sentences gives the variety examiners look for. Variety does not mean every sentence is long - controlled simple sentences add clarity and punch, and a well-placed short sentence after two complex ones reads with confidence.

Worked example 1 - before / after

Before (all simple sentences, repetitive):

Online learning is popular. It is convenient. Students can study at home. But it has problems. Students feel isolated.

Accurate, but flat - this is a band-5/6 profile because the range is narrow; the descriptor needs complex structures to climb higher.

After (varied, complex, still accurate):

Online learning has become popular because it is convenient, allowing students to study from home. However, although this flexibility is valuable, it can leave learners feeling isolated, which may reduce their motivation over time.

Why this scores: one concessive clause (although this flexibility is valuable), one relative clause (which may reduce), one reason clause (because) and a participle phrase (allowing students to study) - varied and error-free. That combination of range plus accuracy is precisely the band-7 profile.

Worked example 2 - the conditional and the cleft for emphasis

Higher bands show grammar used for meaning, not decoration. Two structures earn their place here:

Second conditional (hypothetical): If cities were designed around pedestrians rather than cars, air quality would improve and streets would feel safer.

Cleft sentence (emphasis): It is not the technology itself that causes harm, but the way in which it is used.

Why this scores: the second conditional (If… were designed… would improve) handles a hypothetical accurately - a structure band 5 writers often get wrong by mixing tenses (If… is designed… will improve). The cleft It is not X that…, but Y reorganises the sentence to stress the real point; using it correctly signals the "wide range of structures" band 8 describes. Both are complex, and both are fully controlled.

Accuracy: the high-frequency fixes

• Subject-verb agreement - *The number of cars is rising (not are*).
• Articles - the environment, a problem, Ø society in general.
• Tense consistency - don't slide between past and present mid-paragraph.
• Punctuating clauses - use a comma after a fronted clause (Although it is cheap, …); never join two sentences with only a comma (comma splice).

Worked example 3 - repairing a tangled complex sentence

Ambition is good, but a complex sentence that loses control scores lower than a clean simple one. Watch a repair:

Tangled (band 5-6): Although many people they think that studying abroad is benefit, but it have also many problem like the cost and missing your family it can be hard.

Fix it move by move:

1. Remove the doubled subject people they → many people think.
2. Drop but - although already signals the contrast (don't use both).
3. is benefit → is beneficial (adjective, not noun); it have → it has (agreement).
4. Split the run-on: the missing your family idea needs its own clause.

Repaired (band 7): Although many people believe that studying abroad is beneficial, it can also be difficult, largely because of the cost and the strain of being away from family.

Why this scores: the concessive Although… clause is now complete and correctly punctuated, agreement is fixed, and the strain of being away from family is a controlled noun phrase. The sentence is more complex than the original yet fully accurate - the exact band-7 combination of range and control.

Sentence frames that add range safely: Not only does X…, but it also… · One reason for this is that… · This is largely because… · While it is true that…, it is also the case that… · Were this trend to continue, …

Common mistakes

• Run-ons / comma splices - Cars pollute, this harms cities. (needs a full stop, semicolon, or connector).
• Over-long sentences that lose control of agreement and punctuation halfway through.
• Only simple sentences - safe, but it caps the range mark at around band 5-6.
• Article and preposition slips repeated throughout (depend of, discuss about, in the other hand).
• Misused semicolons - they join two complete sentences, not fragments.

Try it

At **/ielts/writing*, write a short paragraph, then rewrite it deliberately combining pairs of sentences with which, although and if. Read each new sentence aloud and check three things: agreement, tense, and the comma after any fronted clause. Then try turning one flat statement into a cleft (It is X that…*) for emphasis. Range that stays correct is the whole game at band 7 and above.