Many students and professionals studying for the IELTS often say they want a Band 7 or more and, to prepare, they rely on textbooks and YouTube videos that tell them certain grammar structures or words to use in their speech. The problem with those “tips” is that they don’t make them automatic. How do you know which sentence type to use, when, and with which words? Below is an article that aims to help you better understand what to focus on to score a Band 7 or higher.
At the Band 6 → Band 7 fault line, it’s one of the few places where speech-pathology style thinking actually helps IELTS.
Below, we’ll look at three components of the SPL-IELTS crossover.
- What Band 7 is really assessing
- What those errors are called (technically)
- The exact exercise types that target them
1. What Band 7 Is Really Assessing
At Band 7, examiners are NOT looking for perfection. They are listening for:
❌ errors that repeat in the same grammatical environment
In the descriptors, this is implied by:
- “Error-free sentences are frequent”
- “A few basic errors persist”
Let’s look at that a little more closely:
Persisting errors are allowed — but only if they are NOT systematic.
So the problem is patterned errors, not occasional slips.
That is, the speaker is making language errors but DOESN’T NOTICE them. Or, if they do NOTICE, they can’t correct the errors automatically.
2. What Are These Errors Called?
In speech pathology and applied linguistics, these are typically referred to as:
1. Systematic Grammatical Errors
Errors that:
- Occur repeatedly
- Appear in the same structure
- Reflect an underlying rule the speaker is using incorrectly
Example:
❌ People is more focused on money these days
(repeated plural–singular mismatch)
2. Fossilized Errors
Errors that:
- Have become automatic
- Persist despite exposure and correction
- Are produced fluently and confidently
Example:
❌ I didn’t went there
❌ He explain me the problem
These are highly relevant at Band 7.
3. Rule-Based Overgeneralisation
The learner has learned a rule — and applies it everywhere.
Example:
❌ More easier
❌ Most happiest
This is not a “mistake”; it’s a misapplied rule.
4. Grammatical Processing Errors (Speech-Path Adjacent Term)
Errors that appear:
- Under time pressure
- In longer utterances
- When cognitive load increases
Example:
If people will have more time, they would…
(mixed conditional system)
5. Interlanguage Transfer Errors
Errors caused by L1 structure bleeding into L2.
Example:
- Missing articles
- No tense marking
- Topic-comment sentence shapes
These are tolerated at Band 7 only if inconsistent. That is, if they only happen every so often, not all the time.
3. Exercises That Actually Fix These Errors (Not Grammar Drills)
Here’s the key insight:
Systematic errors are NOT fixed by explanation.
They are fixed by disruption + contrast.
These are the exercise types that work.
A. Contrastive Minimal Pair Speaking (Core Drill)
Targets:
- Subject–verb agreement
- Tense consistency
- Article use
Exercise
- Give two near-identical sentences:
- People are more focused on money.
- People is more focused on money.
- Student must:
- Say which sounds correct
- Explain why
- Produce a new sentence using the same structure
Why this works:
It retrains grammatical selection, not recall.
B. Pattern Isolation Drills
Targets: Fossilized errors
Exercise
- Student speaks freely for 30 seconds.
- Teacher interrupts and isolates one repeated structure only: “Say that again, but fix ONLY the verb tense.”
No other corrections allowed.
Why this works:
Stops error bundling. Forces focused repair.
C. Reformulation-with-Constraint
Targets: Overgeneralisation
Exercise
- Student states an idea.
- Teacher requires:
- Same meaning
- Different grammar structure
Example:
Original: It’s more easier to work online.
Reformulate using a clause.
Why this works:
Breaks dependency on a faulty default pattern.
D. Delayed Repair Speaking
Targets: Automatic errors
Exercise
- Student speaks uninterrupted.
- Teacher notes one recurring error.
- Student repeats answer, watching only for that error.
No explanation. No rule talk.
Why this works:
Builds monitoring without destroying fluency, which is exactly what Band 7 needs.
E. Load-Induced Speaking
Targets: Processing errors
Exercise
- Ask for:
- Longer turns
- Multiple time frames
- Cause–effect chains
Then listen for grammar collapse under load.
This is diagnostic and corrective.
What You Should NOT Do at Band 7
❌ Worksheet grammar
❌ Isolated sentence correction
❌ Metalanguage explanations
❌ Error counting
Those help Band 5–6 learners.
They do very little at Band 7.
Overall
Band 7 grammar problems are not about knowledge — they are about automaticity.
So the fix is pattern interruption in speech, not more grammar rules.