Mapping Student Errors in IELTS Writing: An Analysis of Performance Gaps Across the Four Assessment Criteria

This study investigates the writing performance of 72 undergraduate students from the State University of Medan in the IELTS Writing Task 2. Despite high academic grades in writing courses, many students struggled to meet the criteria for higher IELTS band scores. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, the study analyzes students' essays based on the four IELTS Writing band descriptors: Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The findings reveal common errors such as failure to fully address prompts, poor paragraph organization, limited vocabulary, and frequent grammatical inaccuracies. These issues point to gaps between academic writing skills and the specific demands of the IELTS Writing test. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions in teaching strategies and curriculum design to improve students' performance and readiness for the IELTS test, offering practical recommendations for test preparation.