Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-01

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart below shows the percentage of Australian men and women in different age groups who did regular physical activity in 2010.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The bar graph illustrates the proportion of Australian males and females from six distinct age groups who did daily fitness exercise in 2010.

Overall, it is clearly seen that the percentage of women who did exercise regularly is more than men except the citizens aged 15 to 24. The highest percentage of men was recorded in 15 to 24 age group, while the percentage of women aged 45 to 54 was highest among all women.

To begin with, the percentage of males from 15 to 24 age group was accounted for 52.8%, decreased significantly to its lowest, 39.5% for the age group 35 to 44. The percentage rose slightly to 43.1 for 45 to 54 age group. Similarly, the percentage of male aged 55 to 64 and 65+ followed upward trend, accounted for 45.1% and 46.7% respectively.

Furthermore, 47.7% of females aged 15 to 24 did physical activities which increased slightly to 48.9% for 25 to 34 age group. Highest percentage of women who did exercise is accounted for 53.3% from 45 to 54 age group. However, women aged 65 and over were recorded with minimum physical activities with 47.1%.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview and detailing the main features and comparisons from the chart. The overview captures the general trend that women generally had higher rates of physical activity except in the youngest age bracket, and notes the highest points for both genders. However, some details are slightly under-developed or contain minor generalisation issues, such as stating that women aged 65 and over recorded minimum physical activities when the youngest male group actually hit a lower low or grouping trends generally rather than pinpointing every specific comparison. To push to a higher band, the writer could provide a more integrated comparison between genders across all matching age brackets rather than addressing them in separate sequential paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression. The response is divided into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and a clear overview, followed by separate body paragraphs for male and female data trends. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'To begin with', 'Similarly', and 'Furthermore', ensuring the reader can follow the flow of information. However, referencing and cohesion can occasionally feel a bit mechanical or repetitive in structure. To achieve a higher band, the writer should employ more sophisticated and varied linking phrases and ensure smoother transitions between sentences without relying heavily on formulaic sequence markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'proportion', 'fluctuation trends', and descriptive verbs like 'decreased significantly'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form. For instance, writing 'did daily fitness exercise' when the chart specifies regular physical activity, or 'male aged' instead of 'males aged'. There is also a slight inaccuracy in 'minimum physical activities'. These minor lexical slips and awkward word choices do not impede communication, placing the response securely in the mid-range band. Incorporating more precise, natural phrasing would elevate this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures. There are several error-free sentences, showing control over basic structures. Nevertheless, some grammatical errors are present, particularly with missing articles and prepositions, such as 'except the citizens aged', 'percentage of male aged', and leaving out verbs in places like 'was accounted for 52.8%' (which should be active or without 'was'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and these errors rarely impede communication. To reach the next band, the writer must increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and eliminate small structural slips.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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