Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The first table below shows changes in the total population of New York City from 1800 to 2000. The second and third tables show changes in the population of the five districts of the city (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island) over the same period.

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

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The given tables illustrates the change in overall popullation of New York City in 200 years. The other two tables demonstrates the change in inhabitants of five major cities in the same time.

It is evidently seen from table, populance in all five New York Cities increases significantly with the passage of years. New York had small population in 1800. The population extremely jumps after 2 centuries.

Moving towards the detail, population in New York was 79,216 in 1800 which reached at 3.4 millon in 1900 and after one more century it reached to 8 millon of inhabitants. Manhattan is a district of New York which had a popullation of 60,515 in 1800, which is 76% of total population. While, other disticts had 18,701 residents which is 24%. Morever, in 1900 the population of Manhattan raised up to 1,850,093, and percentage fall to 54. The other districts reached 1,587,109 with raise of proportion to 46.

In 2000, the population of Manhattan decreased significantly to 1,538,096, which is the contribution of 19% to total. While, other districts raised sharply and reached the population of 6,471,089, however the population reached upto 81%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers the main changes and reports the key figures accurately: the city grows from 79,216 to about 8 million, Manhattan rises to a peak in 1900 before declining, and the other districts increase in both population and share. The contrast between Manhattan’s falling share (76% to 19%) and the other districts’ rising share (24% to 81%) is particularly relevant. However, the overview is broad and partly repetitive: “increases significantly” does not capture the important shift in where residents live, and the district figures are mostly presented year by year rather than synthesised into a clear comparison. Also, “five major cities” misidentifies the districts as cities. A more focused overview of the overall growth and changing distribution would make the key features clearer and more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a general overview, and detail organised chronologically. This makes the figures reasonably easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “Moving towards the detail” and “In 2000” signal progression. The comparison of Manhattan with the other districts is also maintained across the response. To strengthen cohesion further, avoid relying on repeated “While” constructions and make the overview a distinct summary of the main contrasts. Some links are mechanical or unclear, particularly “however the population reached upto 81%,” where the relationship between the population figure and its share is not expressed cleanly. More precise referencing and transitions between the two groups would create smoother progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “overall population,” “inhabitants,” “proportion,” “decreased significantly,” and “raised sharply.” These choices help describe change and comparison. However, several word-choice and collocation problems reduce precision: “five major cities” should refer to districts, “the population extremely jumps” is unnatural, and “the contribution of 19%” is not the usual way to describe a population share. Spelling errors such as “popullation,” “millon,” “disticts,” and “Morever” are also noticeable. Aim for accurate, conventional reporting language and check spelling carefully; this would make the vocabulary more natural without requiring more elaborate words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is an attempt to use both simple statements and more complex sentences, including clauses with “which” and contrasts introduced by “while.” The main figures and comparisons remain understandable. However, some grammatical errors recur. The opening says “tables illustrates” and “tables demonstrates,” where plural subjects require plural verbs. Other examples include “reached at 3.4 million,” “the percentage fall,” and “with raise of proportion,” which show problems with verb forms and sentence patterns. Several long sentences also join multiple facts with commas, making the relationships less controlled. Practise subject–verb agreement, verb tense consistency, and the grammatical patterns used to report figures; then check punctuation when combining clauses.

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

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