Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-20

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 table presents the information about the changes in the total population of New york city over the period between 1800 and 2000. The second table illustrates the changes in the total population of Manhattan, while third table provides the information of remaning cities of the New york over the same period of time.

Overall, it is evident that the total population of New york districts recorded a significant increase over 2 centuries and recorded the highest population in 2000. Turning to the specific districts, the Manhattan fell steadily, by contrast remaining districts rose steadily.

Moving to the total population, overall in 1800 the New york districts showed 79,216 of population with mostly 76% of population occupied by the manhattan. The total population of New cities rose steadily to 3,437,202 in 1900, however manhattan experience a significant decline in their population to 54%. The overall population continued to increase and climbed to 8,009,185 in 2000, while manhattan drop to its lowest population with just 19%.

By contrast, other districts like Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island followed the upward trend. Initially, they had a least population with only 24%. However, the population grew to 46% in 1900 with overall 1,587,109 of population. Furthermore, it continued to increased and reached to it's highest peak with 81% population in 2000.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features, selecting appropriate data points from the tables, and making relevant comparisons between Manhattan and the other districts across the specified years (1800, 1900, and 2000). An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the overall upward trend of the total population alongside the shifting proportions of the districts. While there are a few minor lexical inaccuracies in describing the district percentages (e.g., stating that Manhattan 'fell steadily' in population rather than its percentage share, though the absolute numbers are later clarified), the overall response is fully relevant and satisfies the requirements of an Academic Task 1 response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and then detailed body paragraphs splitting the data between total population/Manhattan and the other districts. Cohesive devices such as 'Turning to the specific districts', 'By contrast', and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the data. However, paragraphing could be slightly more polished, and referencing is occasionally mechanical (e.g., 'the Manhattan fell' or 'The total population of New cities'). Despite these minor flaws, there is a clear overall progression throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'significant increase', 'upward trend', and 'significant decline'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as referring to districts as 'remaning cities of the New york' and using lowercase for proper nouns ('New york', 'manhattan'). Additionally, confusing absolute population numbers with percentage shares occurs in places (e.g., 'manhattan drop to its lowest population with just 19%'). These errors do not impede communication, placing the response securely in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'While the overall population continued to increase...'). There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors present, such as capitalization mistakes ('New york', 'manhattan'), missing articles, and occasional awkward phrasing like 'it continued to increased and reached to it's highest peak'. Complex structures are attempted with varying degrees of success, and punctuation is occasionally imprecise. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication.

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