Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-30
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 first table illustrates changes in total population of New York City from 1800 to 2000, while the second and third tables show changes in the population of the five districts, such as Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten island of the city, over the same period.
Overall, all five districts experienced increase in population, while Manhattan population percentage fell significantly, wheras other districts population percentage accounted a significant increase, throughout the year.
Looking at the details, the population of New York City started with 79,216 in 1800, where it increased steadily in 2000 with 8,009,185. Furthermore, the population of Manhattan district started with 60,515 in 1800 with 76%, where the population experienced a rapid increase in 2000 with 1,58,096 but the percentage fell to 19% in the same year.
On the other hand, the population of other four districts started with 18,701 in year 1800 with 24% of total population, where these districts experienced a significant increase in both population and percentage of total population.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5
The student covers all parts of the task well by reporting the main features, trends, and comparisons across the provided tables. An overview is presented, highlighting the overall increase in population for all districts alongside the contrasting shift in Manhattan's population percentage compared to the other districts. Key data points are cited, such as the total population growing from 79,216 in 1800 to 8,009,185 in 2000. However, there is a minor transcription or typographical error regarding the 2000 population of Manhattan, where the student writes 1,58,096 instead of 1,538,096. Despite this small inaccuracy, the overall response is well-developed and directly addresses the prompt's instructions.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response is logically organised with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory paragraph paraphrasing the prompt, followed by an overview paragraph, and then body paragraphs detailing the specific data. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Looking at the details', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other hand' are used to structure the text effectively, although some phrasing can be slightly repetitive or mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and body details, making the essay easy to follow.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully using terms like 'illustrates', 'experienced increase', 'population percentage', and 'significant increase'. There are some awkward phrasings or minor lexical errors, such as 'wheras other districts population percentage accounted a significant increase' (where 'accounted for' or 'saw' would be more natural) and a numerical typo. However, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the trends and comparisons clearly without impeding communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'The first table illustrates changes... while the second and third tables show...'). There are some grammatical and punctuation errors present, such as missing prepositions or articles ('experienced increase', 'Manhattan population percentage') and minor comma run-ons. Nonetheless, these errors do not impede communication, and the majority of simple sentences are clear and well-controlled.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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