Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-04

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 presents the data about the chances in new york city's total population from 1800 to 2000. Another two tables depicts the changes in the population of the district Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island between the same timeline.

Overall, Population of new york city has grown massively over two centuries. In initial years, Manhattan use to contain most of the city's population, which shows a massive change over the period of time.

The new york city's total population in 1800 was 79,216, which raised to 3,437,202 in next 100 years, this shows the growth of the city. In 2000, the total population climb to 8,009,185, more than double in next 100 years.

Manhattan, was the home of total 76% of the total population of new york, which shows that Manhattan was the main district of city in 1800. However, by 2000, other district population grow to whopping 81%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall trends: New York City’s population rose substantially, and Manhattan’s share declined as the other districts became more dominant. The total figures for all three years are accurate, and the comparison between Manhattan’s 76% share in 1800 and the other districts’ 81% share in 2000 is relevant. However, some key information is only partly reported: Manhattan’s population peaked at 1,850,093 in 1900 before falling to 1,538,096, and the other districts’ share had already reached 46% by that year. The overview would be stronger if it stated this shift more precisely and the body compared all three dates, rather than leaving the middle-period pattern largely unexplained.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure, moving from an introduction to an overview and then to details, and the paragraphs generally follow a sensible order. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “In 2000” help signal the direction of the discussion. At times, though, the connections between ideas are not fully clear: the sentence about Manhattan’s 76% share is followed by a broad claim about the other districts without explaining the change in 1900. The repeated use of “which shows” also makes the progression feel somewhat mechanical. To improve, organise the details around the three dates and use clearer comparisons to connect the figures across periods.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some suitable vocabulary for describing data, including “grown massively,” “total population,” and “more than double,” and the meaning is generally clear. There is also an attempt to vary wording with “whopping,” although this is too informal for an academic report. Several choices are inaccurate or awkward, such as “chances” for “changes,” “raised” for a population that “rose,” and “use to contain” where “used to account for” would be more appropriate. Capitalisation of “New York City” and “Manhattan” should also be consistent. Aim for precise, neutral reporting language and accurate collocations when describing population figures and proportions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple sentences and some longer structures, and most of the information remains understandable. However, some grammatical errors reduce accuracy. For example, “Another two tables depicts” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “Manhattan use to contain” has an incorrect verb form. The sentence beginning “Manhattan, was the home…” also has an unnecessary comma and an awkward article pattern. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, including lower-case “new york” and the comma after “Manhattan.” Practise checking agreement, past-tense forms, articles, and sentence punctuation. More accurate control of these patterns, alongside varied sentence structures, would make the report clearer and more polished.

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