Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-28

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 6.0)

The foremost table demonstrates the changes occurred in the whole population of the New York city between 1800 and 2000, while remaining other two tables share information about changes happened in the population of five districts over the same period.

Overall, the New York city showed a substantial growth in population over the periods. In addition, Manhattan shared a major portion of population in 1800, significantly declined over the time. However, other districts contributed much less in 1800 but rose steadily across the upcoming period.

Initially, the New York city had a small number of population, stood at 79,216, which was most contributed by the Manhattan region of the New York, about 60,515 which was roughly 76% of whole population. Meanwhile, other districts shared only 24% of all. In next 100 years population of a city became around 3,437,202 which was massive growth whereas the Manhattan was continued to share more than half of full population.

Alongside this, other areas also showed a significant growth in population by reaching 1,235,821.

Moving forward, a huge amount of population lived in the New York, about 8,009,185. Moreover, the Manhattan faced a great declination by sharing only 19% of all population. By contrast, other districts grew gradually and stood at 6,471,087, which was about 81% of the New York population.

Overall, a substantial growth in the population of the New York city was observed, although movement of population from the Manhattan to other regions of the New York city which led to equal distribution among all districts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the population changes in New York City and its districts between 1800 and 2000. Key data points are selected and accurately reported, such as the total population growing from 79,216 to over 8 million, and Manhattan's percentage dropping from 76% to 19%. A clear overview is provided in both the introduction and conclusion, capturing the primary shift in population distribution from Manhattan to the other districts. Comparisons are effectively made throughout the response. The figures cited generally align with the provided visual data, with only a slight numerical inaccuracy when quoting other areas in the middle period.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is logically organised, with a clear progression from the introduction of the tables to the overall trends, followed by detailed chronological body paragraphs, and concluding with a summary. Cohesive devices such as 'while remaining other two tables', 'In addition', 'Initially', 'Meanwhile', and 'Moving forward' are employed to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overall summary, detailed body points, and final conclusion. However, some referencing is slightly clumsy, such as 'remaining other two tables' and 'population of a city', which slightly impacts the fluency of the cohesive flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task 1 response, using terms such as 'substantial growth', 'significantly declined', 'proportion', and 'distribution'. There are some successful attempts at less common lexical items, but also noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'changes occurred in the whole population' instead of 'changes in the total population', 'most contributed by' instead of 'mostly contributed by', and 'a great declination' instead of 'a sharp decline'. Spelling is generally accurate, but some phrasing sounds unnatural or awkward.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'which was roughly 76% of whole population'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as missing articles ('the New York city' used inconsistently, 'population of a city'), incorrect prepositions ('in population over the periods'), and awkward passive/active constructions ('Manhattan was continued to share'). While these errors are noticeable and require occasional rereading, they do not severely impede communication.

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