Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-29

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 7.0)

The bar charts compare the percentages of men and women in Great Britain who held a full car driving licence in 1975/76 and 2006, across seven age groups.

Overall, men had a higher proportion of full driving-licence holders than women in every age group in both years. However, the proportion of female licence holders increased substantially over the period, narrowing the gender gap. Licence ownership also became considerably more common among older people by 2006.

In 1975/76, around 80% of men aged 30–49 held a licence, while the figure for those aged 50–59 was about 70%. The proportions were lower among younger and older men, at approximately 35% for 17–20-year-olds and 20–30% for those aged 70 and over. Among women, licence ownership was much lower, ranging from about 5% among those aged 70+ to roughly 40–45% among women aged 21–49.

By 2006, male licence holding had risen to around 90% among those aged 40–69, while approximately 80% of men aged 21–29 had licences. The largest increase among men occurred in the oldest group, which rose to about 60%.

Female ownership also increased markedly. In 2006, approximately 80% of women aged 30–59 held a full licence, compared with around 70% of those aged 21–29 and 60% of those aged 60–69. Even among women aged 70 and over, the figure climbed to roughly 40%. Thus, although men remained ahead, the difference between the sexes became considerably smaller by 2006.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the task well, providing a clear overview and highlighting key trends such as the higher proportion of male drivers, the narrowing gender gap by 2006, and the increase in licence ownership among older demographics. The student selects and reports relevant main features effectively and makes appropriate comparisons between years and demographic groups. However, there are a few minor numerical inaccuracies when compared to the visual data (for instance, stating that male licence holding for the oldest group rose to about 60% in 2006, whereas the chart indicates approximately 77%), but these do not detract from the overall clarity and success of the task response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The response demonstrates a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Information is grouped logically into an introduction, a comprehensive overview, and well-structured body paragraphs examining specific years and cohorts. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'However', 'In 1975/76', and 'By 2006' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used effectively, with each paragraph maintaining a distinct focus on either overall trends or specific chronological comparisons, ensuring the text flows smoothly from start to finish.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student uses a sufficient and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task. Less common lexical items and phrasing, such as 'proportion', 'substantially', 'narrowing the gender gap', and 'licence ownership', are employed with good awareness of style and collocation. Word choices are precise enough to convey statistical trends accurately, and although there are occasional minor discrepancies with the underlying figures, the vocabulary deployed allows for a fluent and flexible description of the visual data without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.5

The response exhibits a good variety of complex sentence structures used to compare data across different years and demographics, such as 'The bar charts compare the percentages...' and '...while approximately 80% of men aged 21–29 had licences.' The majority of sentences are error-free, demonstrating sound grammatical control and punctuation. Minor slips do occur, but they are rare and do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the complex comparative structures easily.

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