University of Sydney: Human Trafficking Criminal wwww.ielts.agency 81
Table 13 outlines four scenarios where a candidate may be awarded a score of zero, without
receiving specific justification from IELTS. I support each claim with primary evidence extracted
from a current IELTS policy document.
Table 13
IELTS May Award Scores of Zero for ‘Perfect’ Answers
A score of zero may be awarded if Sample authorities
Examiners merely suspect that a candidate has
memorized an answer.
IELTS (2017c; 2017d; 2017e)
Assessment rubrics (writing/speaking) Per Research Communique 1, p. 126
An unrelated candidate in the same test room cheated and this did not impact others in the room.IELTS (2017c)(^)
A candidate’s scores increase rapidly in comparison
to prior tests.
A candidate achieves a very high band score for one
or more language skills and receives a very low score for one or more different language skills taken
in the same test cycle.
Extracts from two policy documents listed in Table 13 are shown in the two figures below.
Figure 42
Suspected Totally Memorized Responses
Source: British Council (2017i)