Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-10

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 the population growth in New York city between 1800 and 2000. Therefore, the second and third table provides data on the population development of the five districts of the city: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten , over the similar period.

Overall, the total population of New York increased dramatically over the period. While, in Manhattan the population grew in initial time but decreased slightly at the end of the period. However, the citizens of other five districts were also increased significantly.

In 1800, the population of New York city was the highest with 79,216 , compared to Manhattan and other five districts with 60,515 and only 18,701. However, Manhattan included 76% of total population. While other five districts with contributed 24% of total population. In addition, in 1900, the population of New York was increased significantly to 3,437,202 , as followed Manhattan population was 1,850,093 and 1,587,109 citizens in other five districts.

Furthermore, in 2000, the population of New York city becomes more than twice of before with 8,009,185 in numbers. Whereas, Manhattan population experienced a sligh decline about 1,538,096, compared to other five districts, which was more than triple of before almost 6,471,089 and contributed 81% of total population.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main time points and report the central changes accurately: the city grows from 79,216 to 8,009,185, while Manhattan’s population falls from its 1900 peak and the other districts’ share rises to 81%. The overview identifies these broad trends, and the figures support your comparisons. This is a strong response to the task, though some details are less fully or precisely expressed. For example, “the citizens of other five districts were also increased significantly” does not clearly distinguish population growth from the changing share, and the 1900 comparison would benefit from stating that Manhattan still had the larger population then. Also, “highest” in the 1800 comparison is unclear because it refers to the city total alongside district figures. A more precise overview and comparisons would strengthen the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs covering the figures chronologically. This makes the main development easy to follow, and time markers such as “In 1800,” “in 1900,” and “in 2000” help organise the data. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear. Several sentences begin with “However,” “While,” or “Whereas” without forming a complete or logically connected contrast, and “Therefore” does not express the relationship between the two tables. The phrase “other five districts” also makes the reference confusing, since the table groups four districts apart from Manhattan. Use fewer formulaic linkers and connect comparisons directly—for example, contrast Manhattan’s declining share with the other districts’ rising share.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “population,” “increased dramatically,” “contributed,” and “experienced a slight decline,” so the key trends are generally understandable. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which limits precision. “Population development” is less natural here than “population changes,” while “citizens … were also increased” does not express the intended trend clearly. “The population … was the highest” is also an imprecise way to describe the 1800 figure. There are occasional spelling or form issues, such as “sligh,” and “New York city” should be consistently capitalised as “New York City.” Aim for accurate reporting verbs and collocations rather than adding more elaborate vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex structures, including clauses beginning with “While” and “Whereas,” and most of the data remains understandable. However, control is uneven: some complex sentences are incomplete or have faulty verb forms, as in “While other five districts with contributed 24%” and “the citizens of other five districts were also increased.” There are also tense and agreement problems, including “the second and third table provides” and “the population … becomes” when describing past data. Articles and punctuation around figures are inconsistent, too. Practise making each contrast clause part of a complete sentence, and use past simple consistently for the historical figures. More accurate sentence construction would make the comparisons clearer.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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