IELTS Vocabulary: 50 Linking Words That Raise Your Band Score

Examiners assess Coherence and Cohesion (CC) as 25% of your Writing score. One key CC criterion is 'uses a range of cohesive devices'. This means using linking words beyond 'because', 'so', and 'also'.

Cause and effect (beyond 'because')

• as a result of / owing to / due to / consequently / therefore / hence / thus / for this reason

Contrast (beyond 'but')

• however / nevertheless / nonetheless / despite this / on the other hand / in contrast / whereas / while / although / even though

Adding information (beyond 'also')

• furthermore / in addition / moreover / what is more / not only… but also / besides this

Giving examples (beyond 'for example')

• for instance / such as / including / in particular / to illustrate / a case in point is

Concession (admitting the other side)

• admittedly / granted / it is true that… however / while it is the case that…

Conclusion

• in conclusion / to sum up / overall / in summary / taking everything into consideration

How to use these effectively

Do not begin every sentence with a linker — that scores Band 6 for CC, not Band 7. Instead, vary your methods: sometimes use a linking word, sometimes use a pronoun ('This'), sometimes use repetition of a key noun. A mix of methods signals sophistication.