Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-17

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 population that lived in cities in four different countries - the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia from 1970 to 2020 along with projections for 2030 to 2040.

In 1970, approximately 30% of the population in both Philippines and Malaysia lived in cities, whereas around 18% and only 13% were lived in Thailand and Indonesia respectively. Over the two decades, the Philippines remained almost unchanged until 1980 at 33% before crossing 45% in 1990. Meanwhile, Malaysia also gradually increased to nearly 45% in 1990. From 1990, Malaysia had experienced the most dramatic increased. Its urban population grew from about 43% to 60% in 2000 and then to 70% in 2010, before reaching to 73% in 2020. Malaysia is expected to remain the top country with the highest number of populations till 2040. The Philippines, whereas, faced a significant downfall from more than 45% in 1990 to 40% in 2010. After this downfall, it subsequently recovered in to 46% in 2020. It is predicted to steadily grow by almost 7% in 2040.

Thailand and Indonesia had never encountered the phase of declined from 1970 to 2020 and forecasted to have upward trend only in 2030 and 2040. Indonesia surpassed the Thailand during 2000 year and Philippines between 2010 and 2020, reaching 46% in 2020. While, Thailand remained almost stable between 27% to 31% from 1990 to 2020. Once the year of 2020 over, it is expected to suddenly go up to 46% in 2040.

Overall, all the four countries will have the growth of urbanization in cities, but most of the growth will be observed in Malaysia.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student has successfully addressed all parts of the task by reporting the main features, trends, and making relevant comparisons across the four countries over the given time period. An overview is provided at the end, capturing the main trend of increasing urbanisation with Malaysia seeing the most significant growth. However, there are some inaccuracies in reading specific data points from the chart (for instance, stating Indonesia surpassed Thailand during the year 2000, whereas the chart shows Indonesia lower than Thailand until around 2010). Despite these minor data discrepancies, the key developmental patterns are correctly identified and supported with relevant figures. The response satisfies all requirements for a Band 6.5 to 7.0, and fits comfortably within Band 6.5 due to occasional imprecise data reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs dedicated to different country groupings and trends, and a concise concluding overview. Cohesive devices such as 'Meanwhile', 'From 1990', 'whereas', and 'Once the year of 2020 over' are used to signal time and contrast, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or awkward (e.g., 'Once the year of 2020 over'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas and countries. Reference and substitution are generally clear, contributing to an overall coherent arrangement that allows the reader to follow the progression of data easily.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, employing terms such as 'proportion', 'projections', 'urban population', and 'urbanisation'. There are some successful attempts at less common vocabulary ('dramatic increased', 'downfall'). However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'were lived in' instead of 'lived in', 'most dramatic increased' instead of 'increase', 'number of populations' instead of 'proportion of the urban population', and 'recovered in to'. These lexical slips indicate control characteristic of Band 6, though the vocabulary remains sufficient to communicate the main data trends.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and time prepositional phrases. However, there is a recurring presence of grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb forms and passive/active voice confusion (e.g., 'were lived in', 'had never encountered the phase of declined', 'is forecasted to have upward trend'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but preposition usage is occasionally faulty ('recovered in to 46%'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a higher band score, placing it securely at Band 6.0.

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