Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-24

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graphs below show the percentage of people holding full driving licences in Great Britain by age and sex.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Full car driving licence holders: by sex and age

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The bar charts compare the proportion of people holding complete driving licences by men and women aged between 17 and 70 years old in Great Britain.

Overall, the highest proportion of licence holders were men in both years. Meanwhile, men showed the highest proportion in their 50s. At the same time, women in their 40s held the highest ratio of licences.

Men aged between 50 and 59 held the highest share at 90% in 2006, while in 1975/76 it stood at just below 80%. This was followed closely by men aged 40–49, who contributed 85% in 2006 and 82% in 1975/76. A great difference occurred among men aged 70 and above; their figure stood at just below 80% in 2006, whereas it halved to just below 40% in 1975/76. The lowest proportions of licence holders were found among men aged 17 to 20, standing at just below 40% in both years.

For women, a reverse trend was noticed, where those aged 70 and above contributed the least at 30% in 2006 and just above 0% in 1975/76. Women did not hold a large proportion of complete licences in 1975/76, with figures mostly ranging between 5% and just above 40%. Meanwhile, in 2006, the value peaked at 80% for women aged 40 to 49. Furthermore, in 2006, the figures for women aged 21 to 69 hovered between just above 60% and 80%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of full driving licence holders in Great Britain by age and sex. The student highlights key trends, such as the overall higher proportion of male licence holders in the past compared to the massive increase among women by 2006. Figures are cited accurately, such as '90% in 2006' for men aged 50-59 and '80% for women aged 40 to 49'. A clear overview is provided at the beginning, summarizing the general patterns effectively. Comparisons between the two years (1975/76 and 2006) and between genders are well integrated throughout the body paragraphs, fulfilling all requirements of Academic Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory sentence and an overview paragraph, followed by well-defined body paragraphs dedicated to men and women respectively. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Meanwhile', 'At the same time', and 'Furthermore' are used effectively to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is logical and appropriate, separating the demographic groups clearly. Referencing and substitution are generally clear, contributing to a smooth and cohesive reading experience without noticeable mechanical errors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing synonyms and functional phrasing like 'proportion of people holding complete driving licences', 'peak at 80%', and 'reverse trend'. Less common lexical items and phrases are attempted with some awareness of collocation, such as 'hovered between' and 'contributed the least'. While vocabulary is generally appropriate, there are minor awkwardness issues like 'complete driving licences' instead of 'full driving licences' and 'ratio of licences' instead of 'percentage of licence holders', which keep the lexical score at a solid Band 6.5 to 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response exhibits a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, utilizing subordinate clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'while in 1975/76 it stood at just below 80%' and 'followed closely by men aged 40–49, who contributed 85%'). There are frequent error-free sentences, and grammatical control is generally strong. Punctuation is accurate, and verbs match their subjects correctly. Minor lapses, such as 'compared the proportion of people holding complete driving licences by men and women' (where 'between' or 'for' would be more natural than 'by'), do not impede communication, placing the response comfortably in the Band 7 range.

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