IELTS RE-MARK

First may I commiserate with you. You clearly have a very good level of English yet, somehow, only managed a 5 for Writing. Based on your other scores, it seems unlikely that a band 5 accurately reflects your true writing ability. This is just one example of what is wrong with IELTS and the inflexible way Receiving Organisations use the results.

To help you decide whether to ask for a re-mark there are a number of things to consider.

First, the cost. The fee for a re-mark will be approximately 2/3 the cost of the test but, if your score is increased, the fee will be refunded. Remember to factor in the cost of travel and accommodation should you decide to re-sit the test rather than ask for a re-mark.

Note that you must request a re-mark, officially referred to as an "Enquiry on Results", within 6 weeks of receiving your result.

When asking for an Enquiry on Results you say which modules you want re-marked - you don't have to have everything re-marked. In your case, you should only have your Writing re-marked; there is always a danger that your score for other modules is marked down.

You should also take into consideration the fact that an Enquiry on Results can take several weeks. You might be able to re-sit IELTS very quickly - depending on your Test Centre. Remember that if you re-sit, your other scores could go down - I note that if your Speaking score was reduced you would be in the same position as you are now.

Now let's consider factors that will influence whether your Writing score will be increased by re-marking. It is very unusual to have such a wide range of scores over the 4 modules. IELTS has a procedure for remarking these 'jagged' profiles. As long as the Test Centre has been following the procedures correctly your Writing scripts will already have been re-marked so it is unlikely that a further re-mark will increase your score by the 2 bands you require. Indeed, an increase of 2 bands in your Writing score would indicate serious problems with the marking of Writing scripts at your Test Centre. Having said that, I have examined at a British Council Test Centre where this procedure was NOT followed correctly.

There are some ways you can easily lose marks in the Writing module, quite apart from poor grammar, limited vocabulary etc., etc. If your scripts are under length you will lose marks. Also, if you fail to respond correctly to the rubric, i.e. if your answer is incomplete, tangential or off topic, you can lose a lot of marks. Think carefully about this, did you write enough? Remember that examiners may count words differently to you. Also, it is easy to think you responded to the topic correctly but, in fact, did not.

If money is a problem you need to carefully consider whether a re-mark is likely to increase your Writing band score. If it increases by just 1 band your fee will be refunded. If money is no problem I would suggest asking for an Enquiry on Results anyway.

I am reliably informed that about 25% of re-marks result in an increased band score.

There is more information about what to do if you don't get the score you need at http://www.your-ielts-guide.com/What-to-do.shtml - and check with your Test Centre in case anything has changed recently.

Could I ask you at which Test Centre you took your IELTS test? Was it the British Council?

As an IELTS examiner and invigilator I have experience of a number of IELTS Test Centres. Although IELTS has very specific procedures for administering the test I have many issues concerning the way British Council Test Centres fail to follows these procedures. I have come across serious problems and have discovered that the British Council monitors its own Test Centres (no independent auditing) - and audits them infrequently.

There is more about this here:
http://dblackie.blogs.com/the_language_business/2007/06/the_british_cou_1.html and http://dblackie.blogs.com/the_language_business/2006/12/ielts_quis_cust.html

Please let us know whether or not you decide to ask for an Enquiry on Results and, if you do, please tell us the result.

Best of luck!