Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-21

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 tabular data highlights the overall population of the New York City and the percentage increase in population in its 5 districts between the 19th century to 21st century.

Overall, it can be seen that the percentage of increase in citizens keep on declining in Manhattan by the time, whereas it rose significantly in all other states combined. However, the total amount of people in New York City surged drastically.

The total number of people in Manhattan was around 60,515 in the 1800's and it was the highest increase at around 76%. In 1900's and 2000's the population went up to around 1,850,093 and 1,538,096 but the percentage went down to around 54% and 19% respectively that was the lowest increase in its population.

Meanwhile, in the other districts Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island the there were just about 18,701 individuals and the proportion by which it was increasing was around 24% in 1800's. The percentage and population rose immensely in 1900's and 2000's to around 46% addition and 1,587,109 people in 1900's and 81% surged in 2000's with 6,471,089 people in total.

The overall population went significantly up as it was just about 79,216 in 1800's that rose to 3,437,202 in 1900's and 8,009,185 in 2000's

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main changes and provide a relevant overview: New York City’s total population rose sharply, while Manhattan’s share fell and the combined share of the other districts increased. Most figures are accurately reported, including the city totals and the 2000 figures for both groups. However, the overview refers to a “percentage of increase” rather than the districts’ changing shares of the city population, and the description of Manhattan’s population as having its “highest increase” is unclear: it rose to a peak in 1900 and then declined by 2000. The other-district figures are also not consistently paired with their years. More precise descriptions of population levels versus percentages would make the key comparisons clearer and more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs on Manhattan, the other districts, and the city total. This makes the main groups of information easy to locate. Linking expressions such as “Overall” and “Meanwhile” help signal the progression, although the final paragraph repeats the city’s overall rise rather than integrating it with the earlier comparisons. Some connections within sentences are difficult to follow, particularly the long sentence beginning “The percentage and population rose immensely,” where the figures and years are not presented in a clear sequence. Use a consistent pattern for each year—population first, then share—and make references between clauses more explicit to improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing change, including “surged drastically,” “declining,” and “rose significantly.” The meaning is generally understandable, but several choices are imprecise or unnatural for statistical reporting. “Percentage increase” suggests a rate of growth, whereas the table gives each group’s percentage of the total population; “states combined” is also inaccurate because these are districts. Phrases such as “the highest increase” and “81% surged” do not clearly describe the data. Aim for precise terms such as “population share,” “accounted for,” and “reached,” and avoid repeating “around” when the figures are exact. This greater control of collocation and meaning would make the report more fluent and accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, and the overall meaning can usually be followed. Some grammatical errors remain, especially with agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “the percentage of increase in citizens keep on declining” has an agreement problem and an awkward clause structure; “the there were” contains an unnecessary repeated subject; and “the overall population went significantly up as it was just about 79,216 … that rose” creates an unclear relative clause. There are also inconsistent forms such as “in 1800’s” where a year should be expressed without a plural apostrophe. Check subject–verb agreement and build shorter, clearly structured comparisons when reporting several figures. More consistently accurate complex sentences would strengthen the response.

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