Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-05

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)

The tables compare changes in the population of New York City as a whole and in Manhattan and the other four districts combined between 1800 and 2000.

Overall, the population of New York City had been dramatically increase over 200-year period.While Manhattan was the dominant district in terms of population at the beginning of the period,its shares of city's total population declined steadily,whereas the combined population of the four districts grew substantially and became the majority by 2000.

In 1800, complete population of the New York City was 79,216, Manhattan accounted for 60,515,representing 76% of the total population, while the other four districts together contained just 18,701 inhabitants, which was 24% of city's population.

By 1900, the city's population had risen sharply to 3,437,202.Manhattan reamined the largest district with 1,850,093 people, although its proportion of the total had fallen to 54%.In contrast, the population of Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island combined climbed to 1,587,109, making 46% of the city's resident.

In 2000, New York City population reached 8 million.However Manhattan population declined slightly to 1,538,096 and represented only 19% of the total while tyhe o0ther four districts combined made up around 81% of the whole population of the New York City accounting for 6,471,089 people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features, selecting appropriate data points, and making relevant comparisons across the years. An overall trend is clearly stated in the introduction, highlighting the dramatic growth of the city and the shifting population distribution between Manhattan and the other four districts. Key figures are accurately cited, such as the initial 76% in Manhattan in 1800 and the 81% share in the other districts by 2000. While the ideas are well-supported and extended throughout the body paragraphs, a minor tendency to over-generalise or slightly misread exact numbers could be refined, yet the overall coverage remains comprehensive and clear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The writing demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression from 1800 through to 2000. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by chronological data paragraphs for 1800, 1900, and 2000. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'While', 'In 1800', 'By 1900', and 'In contrast' are used effectively to guide the reader through the data, although referencing occasionally feels slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is handled appropriately, ensuring that information is easy to follow and that comparisons between Manhattan and the other districts remain coherent throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'proportion', 'inhabitants', and 'district'. However, there are some word choice and spelling inaccuracies that prevent the score from being higher, such as 'reamined' instead of 'remained', 'tyhe' instead of 'the', and 'o0ther' instead of 'other'. Collocations are generally acceptable, though phrasing like 'making 46% of the city's resident' would be more natural as 'making up 46% of the city's residents'. These errors do not impede communication, but they highlight the need for greater precision and careful proofreading.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is attempted, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while' and 'whereas'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly with verb forms, articles, and missing punctuation or spacing (e.g., 'had been dramatically increase' instead of 'had increased dramatically', 'complete population' instead of 'the total population', and missing spaces after commas like 'period.While' and '1800, Manhattan'). Subject-verb agreement and prepositional patterns also show recurring slips. While these errors rarely impede communication, they demonstrate a lack of consistent control over complex structures.

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