IELTS Writing Mistakes Band 6 Students Keep Making

Band 6 is a frustrating place to be. You know enough English to get by. You can write a full essay. You probably even know what a thesis statement is. And yet the score stays stuck. Examiners are reading your work and thinking: almost, but not quite.

This mini-lesson focuses on the single most common reason band 6 writers stall: overusing vague, low-value vocabulary while ignoring precise, well-collocated language. It sounds technical. It isn’t. Stick with me.

The Real Problem: Vocabulary That Just Sits There

IELTS examiners assess your writing on four criteria. One of them is Lexical Resource, which is a formal way of asking: how well do you actually use words?

Band 6 writers typically have a decent range of vocabulary. The problem is how they use it. Words get repeated. Safe, general words replace accurate, specific ones. And collocations — the natural word partnerships that fluent speakers use without thinking — get mangled in ways that make sentences feel just slightly off.

Here’s a concrete example. Suppose you’re writing about the environment.

Band 6 version:

Many countries have big environmental problems. Governments should do more things to help the environment and make the situation better.

Band 7+ version:

Many countries face severe environmental challenges. Governments need to implement stronger policies to tackle pollution and reduce carbon emissions.

The ideas are identical. The difference is precision. Big problems becomes severe challenges. Do more things becomes implement stronger policies. Make the situation better becomes reduce carbon emissions — a specific, accurate phrase rather than a vague gesture toward improvement.

Notice also the collocations: you implement a policy, you don’t do one. You tackle pollution, you don’t fight or solve it (well, you can solve a problem, but tackle sits more naturally with ongoing issues). These partnerships matter enormously to examiners.

The Mistake in Action

The most common collocation error at band 6 involves the verb make. Students use it for everything.

• make a decision ✓ — this one is correct
• make a research ✗ — it should be conduct research
• make pollution ✗ — it should be cause pollution
• make an effort ✓ — correct again
• make damage ✗ — it should be cause damage

See the pattern? Make is a comfort word. It’s short, familiar, and feels safe. But leaning on it too heavily signals to an examiner that your lexical resource has a ceiling.

The fix is deliberate: every time you write make, pause and ask yourself whether a more precise verb exists. Often, it does. Cause, conduct, generate, produce, raise, achieve — these verbs carry more weight and show the examiner that you’re choosing words, not just grabbing them.

This kind of targeted vocabulary work is exactly what we focus on in the daily coaching programme at richardg.xyz. If you want structured practice delivered to you every day, you can find details here.

Practice Tips You Can Use Today

1. Audit your last essay for the verb “make.” Go through it and highlight every instance. For each one, look up whether a more specific verb fits the context. Use a collocation dictionary — the Oxford Collocations Dictionary is excellent for this — rather than a standard thesaurus, which will give you synonyms without telling you how words actually behave together.
2. Build topic-specific collocation banks. Pick three IELTS topics you find difficult: maybe education, technology, and health. For each topic, list ten strong collocations. Not just individual words, but pairs: access to education, cutting-edge technology, tackle obesity. Review them daily for a week. You’ll be surprised how quickly they become automatic.
3. Rewrite one paragraph using the “upgrade” method. Take any paragraph you’ve written recently. Go sentence by sentence and ask: is there a more precise word available here? Swap vague words for accurate ones and read both versions aloud. Your ear will tell you which one sounds more confident.

Vocabulary to Know

• collocation /ˌkɒl.əˈkeɪ.ʃən/ – Level: B2 – a pair or group of words that habitually appear together in natural language – Example: “Make a decision” is a common collocation in English.
• lexical resource /ˈlek.sɪ.kəl rɪˈzɔːs/ – Level: C1 – one of the four IELTS writing assessment criteria; refers to the range and accuracy of vocabulary used – Example: To improve your lexical resource, focus on using precise collocations rather than repeating safe, general words.
• precision /prɪˈsɪʒ.ən/ – Level: B2 – the quality of being exact and accurate – Example: Using “implement a policy” instead of “do something” shows greater precision in academic writing.
• implement /ˈɪm.plɪ.ment/ – Level: B2 – to put a plan or policy into action – Example: The government plans to implement new regulations on carbon emissions next year.
• tackle /ˈtæk.əl/ – Level: B1 – to make a determined effort to deal with a problem – Example: Cities around the world are struggling to tackle air pollution effectively.
• conduct research /kənˈdʌkt rɪˈsɜːtʃ/ – Level: B2 – a fixed collocation meaning to carry out a systematic investigation – Example: The university team will conduct research into the effects of remote working on productivity.
• ceiling /ˈsiː.lɪŋ/ – Level: B1 – an upper limit, often used figuratively to describe a point beyond which progress seems impossible – Example: Relying on the same ten verbs puts a ceiling on your IELTS writing score.
• cutting-edge /ˌkʌt.ɪŋˈedʒ/ – Level: C1 – the most modern and advanced stage of development in a field – Example: The company invested heavily in cutting-edge technology to stay ahead of competitors.
• vague /veɪɡ/ – Level: B1 – not clearly expressed or defined; lacking detail or precision – Example: Avoid vague phrases like “do something about the problem” in formal writing.
• mangled /ˈmæŋ.ɡəld/ – Level: C1 – damaged or distorted, often through incorrect handling; used figuratively here for language that has been used incorrectly – Example: The collocation was so mangled that the examiner had to guess what the writer meant.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I already know a word is correct, should I risk using a less familiar one?

Yes — carefully. Examiners reward ambitious vocabulary use, even when there are occasional errors, as long as the errors don’t obscure meaning. Playing it safe with simple words won’t push you above band 6. The key is to practise new words in writing before the exam so they feel familiar by test day, not experimental.

How many different words do I actually need to know for IELTS Task 2?

This question gets asked a lot, and the honest answer is: it’s less about the total number and more about how flexibly you use what you know. A student who can use 300 words accurately and in varied collocations will often outscore one who recognises 1,000 words but can only produce them in rigid, predictable patterns. Depth over breadth.

Is this collocation problem also relevant in Task 1?

Absolutely. In Task 1, you’ll be describing data, and the collocations are very specific: figures rose sharply, the proportion remained stable, there was a significant decline. Using vague verbs like went up a lot will cost you in exactly the same way. The good news is there’s a manageable set of Task 1 collocations worth memorising — they come up again and again.

The collocation banks for both Task 1 and Task 2 are something we build systematically in the daily coaching programme. It’s steady, practical work that compounds over time. If that sounds useful, take a look at what’s included here.