Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-07-28
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)
Three tables illustrate the population differences of New York City, Manhattan, and four more districts such as Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island from 1800 to 2000.
Overall, it is noticed that New York City has been the largest populated city throughout the years. Although Manhattan had the 2nd largest population in 1800 and 1900, other districts' headcounts had suddenly soared in 2000 and gotten the 2nd largest population.
Firstly, in 1800 and 1900 there were almost similar types of results between the city populations. New York was the hugely populated city with 79,216 and 3,437,202 in 1800 and 1900, respectively. Whereas Manhattan was the 2nd largest populated city in 1800 and 1900. Although the population increased more than [redacted phone] in Manhattan, the total population percentage
declined in 1900. The population in other cities had always been less than in the other 2 cities in 1800 and 1900.
On the other hand, in 2000 the other cities' population had surged with 6,471,089 headcounts that actually beat the population of Manhattan City. Thus, Manhattan city was the 3rd largest in 2000. New York City still held its position in 2000 with 8,009,185.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.5 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response covers the main features of the data, identifying the overall population growth and the shift in ranking for Manhattan. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. The student refers to the other districts as 'other cities' or 'other districts' without clearly distinguishing between them or noting the specific growth of individual boroughs like Brooklyn or Queens, which are provided in the data. The comparison between 1800, 1900, and 2000 is present, but the reporting of figures is occasionally imprecise, and the interpretation of the 'percentage' decline in 1900 is not clearly supported by the provided table. To reach a higher band, more specific data points and a clearer synthesis of the trends across all five districts are required.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0
The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that follow a chronological progression. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Firstly', and 'On the other hand' are used to guide the reader. However, the referencing is occasionally confusing; for instance, referring to the districts as 'other cities' is inaccurate as they are parts of New York City, not separate cities. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the flow between sentences could be smoother, as some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Overall, the information is presented in a coherent manner, but the lack of precision in terminology slightly affects the clarity of the progression.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey the main trends. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'soared' and 'surged', which are appropriate for describing population growth. However, there are inaccuracies in word choice, such as referring to the districts as 'cities' and using 'headcounts' in a slightly unnatural way. The phrase 'similar types of results' is vague and does not accurately describe numerical data. A wider range of precise, academic vocabulary related to statistics and trends would improve the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While there are some errors, such as 'the 2nd largest populated city' (which should be 'the second most populous district') and 'the other cities' population had surged', these errors do not impede communication. The use of 'whereas' and 'although' shows an attempt at complex sentence construction. Punctuation is generally correct, though the phrasing is sometimes slightly awkward. The grammatical control is sufficient to maintain clarity, but more variety in complex structures and greater precision in subject-verb agreement would be beneficial.
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