Level C1 (approx. band 7-8) · Academic and General Training Plenty of candidates sit at band 6 or 6.5 and cannot see why. They admire a band 8 essay but cannot name the moves that made the difference. So we take one original prompt and write the same opening and the same body argument at four levels. In this episode: • The prompt and the rules of the game • Task response across the bands • Coherence and cohesion across the bands • Vocabulary and grammar across the bands • Model • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key points: • Four equal criteria, and a band is only awarded when all its positive features are present. • Answer the exact question word, here "outweigh", in the first paragraph and the last. • Higher bands link ideas with reference words, not with a linker at the start of every sentence. • A rarer word only helps if it is precise and the sentence around it is accurate. IELTS Complete Course: a self-study podcast from A1 to C2 for Academic and General Training. Listen, pause and answer, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair. Independent course, not affiliated with the IELTS test owners.