If this is you: you have ideas but your essays feel messy and the examiner ‘doesn’t follow’ you.
Here’s the move: stop “more practice” and run a Reality Check so you know the exact criterion causing your band cap.
A Band 7 writing “template” is not memorized phrases. It’s a repeatable structure: one clear position, one idea per paragraph, and evidence/examples that match the question. Band 6.5 plateaus often happen because structure is inconsistent under time pressure.
Coherence & cohesion: how clearly ideas are organized and linked (not “fancy connectors”).
Task response: whether your answer directly addresses the prompt with relevant development.
Many candidates use a Reality Check to stop wasting retakes and focus on the one fix that moves the band score.