Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-12
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The graph below gives information about the percentage of the population in four Asian countries living in cities from 1970 to 2020, with predictions for 2030 and 2040. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 6.0)
The line graph illustrates the proportion of the population who live's in the cities in four different Asian countries namely Philippines, Malaysia Thailand and Indonesia between 1970 and 2020, with projected for 2030 and 2040. The figures are measured in percentage.
In 1970, approximately 30% of Malaysian population lived in urban areas. Followed by Indonesian citizen at 12%. Then the percentage of both countries rose steadily between 1970 and 1990 Malaysia at around 45%. Indonesia accounted for 25%. After that, there were significant increase in Malaysia and Indonesia population till 2020 80% and 50% respectively. It is anticipated for Malaysia population will increase just over the 80% and for Indonesia forecasted to 60% till 2040.
As regards, Philippines and Thailand are concern, both countries had similar impact in the rise of population. Philippines stood at 31% in 1970 and remained same till 1980. Then Philippines experienced a constant fluctuation until 2020 and stayed just under the 50%. It is anticipated for Philippines their figure will move up to 50% till 2040. However, Thailand population grew slowly from 19% to 30% between 1970 and 2020. It is expected for Thailand. Their population will grow around 50% in 2040.
To sum up, it would be quite interesting to note that Malaysia and Indonesia had followed similar trend but Malaysia at the top among all countries. As Philippines and Thailand also shared same trend.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by selecting, reporting, and comparing the main features of urban population percentages across the four countries from 1970 to 2040. You successfully identified key trends, such as Malaysia and Indonesia experiencing significant upward trajectories while Thailand and the Philippines followed different patterns. However, some data points are slightly inaccurate or awkwardly phrased, such as stating 'Malaysia at around 45%' for 1990 without fully integrating the comparison smoothly, and minor inaccuracies with percentages. Overall, the main features are highlighted well, supporting a solid score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The report has a clear overall progression and is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs grouping the countries logically, and a brief concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In 1970', 'After that', and 'As regards... are concern', though some linking is mechanically constructed or grammatically awkward. For instance, 'As regards, Philippines and Thailand are concern' contains referencing and phrasing errors. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate different countries and time periods, maintaining an overall coherent arrangement.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'proportion', 'projected', 'anticipated', and 'fluctuation'. However, there are notable lexical and collocational errors throughout the text, such as 'who live's' instead of 'who live', 'Indonesian citizen' instead of 'the Indonesian population', and 'similar impact in the rise of population'. These word choice and form errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not seriously impede overall communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and future predictions ('It is anticipated for Malaysia population will increase'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and sentence structures, such as 'who live's in the cities', 'projected for 2030' (instead of 'projections for'), 'there were significant increase' (plurality error), and fragment sentences like 'Followed by Indonesian citizen at 12%.' Punctuation and article usage also show persistent flaws that keep the grammar score at the band 5 level.
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