How etud will estimate your score

An estimate is only useful if you understand where it comes from. This is how etud will work when it opens.

From submission to report

1. Choose the exam and task. IELTS Academic or General Training, Task 1 or Task 2, or a TOEFL iBT writing task. Each one is assessed against its own requirements.
2. Add the prompt and your response. The prompt matters: a fluent essay that answers a different question should not score well, and etud checks for that.
3. Basic checks. Word count against the task minimum, paragraphing, and whether every part of the prompt is addressed.
4. Criterion-level assessment. Your response is assessed against each criterion of the public assessment standards for that exam, for example the four IELTS Writing criteria.
5. Your report. An estimated score for each criterion and overall, with notes that quote the sentences behind each judgement and a short list of what to work on first.

How we check accuracy

We are testing etud's estimates against responses whose scores were set by experienced human raters. We plan to publish how closely the estimates match those scores, including where they do not, and to update the figures as the tool improves.

Limits you should know about

• An estimate is not an official score and cannot predict your result on test day with certainty.
• Real examiners work under specific conditions and training that no tool reproduces exactly.
• Responses written outside exam conditions, for example with unlimited time or a dictionary, will usually score higher in practice than in the test.

We would rather give you a slightly cautious estimate than a flattering one.