Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-07-26

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 6.5)

At the start of the year 1800 in New York City, the population was 79,216. Between that year and the following year, the population had risen to 3,347,202, meaning that an extra 3,357,986 people had joined the population in the span of a century. Between 1900 and 2000, another 4,571,983 people joined the population, bringing the total to 8,009,185 in 2 centuries.

In the Manhattan district, the year 1800 had a population of 60,515; that's 76% of the population compared to the other major districts (Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island) in New York City, that have an amount of 18,701 and only 24% of the population. And in the year of 1900, Manhattan still had the highest population of 1,850,093 to the 1,587,109 of the other districts but average percentage was close of 54% to 46%. In the year 2000, the other districts finally surpass the Manhattan districts with 6,471,089 population and Manhattan had 1,538,096, that's 81% of the population.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main trends in the total population and provides a comparison between Manhattan and the other districts. However, there are significant inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, the text claims the population rose to 3,347,202 between 1800 and 1801, which is a misinterpretation of the table data (1800 to 1900). Furthermore, the calculation of percentages in the second paragraph is confusing and mathematically inconsistent with the provided figures. While the main features are identified, the lack of precision in reporting the data and the failure to clearly present the trends for all five districts limit the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organised into two paragraphs, which is a logical approach for this task. There is a basic attempt at progression from the total population to the district-specific data. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally confusing, such as the transition between the 1800 and 1900 data. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when discussing 'the other districts' as a collective group, which makes the comparison difficult to follow. Paragraphing is present, but the internal flow of ideas within the second paragraph is disjointed.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to describe trends and figures. There are some attempts at using more precise language, such as 'surpass' and 'span of a century'. However, there are errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'the year 1800 had a population' (instead of 'in 1800, the population was') and 'average percentage was close of 54%'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do show a lack of flexibility and precision in expressing statistical information.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'the year 1800 had a population' and 'to the 1,587,109 of the other districts'. The use of punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the comma splices and the phrasing of the percentage comparisons. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. The sentence structure is often repetitive, relying on basic subject-verb-object patterns.

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