Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-03

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 graph compares the percentages of me and women in different age gropus who held their full car driving license in Great britain in 1975/76 and 2006.

Overall, the propotion of licensed drivers increased considerably among women across almost all age gropus between two periods. By contrast, the figurrs for men changed less dramatically, although there are notable increases among older people. In both years, people aged 40-49 has highest rate of license ownership, while the youngest group had the lowest.

In 1975/76 approximately 70% of men aged 21-29 held a full driving license compared to 45% in women. The difference was seen more pronounced among elder groups. For instance, around 60% of men aged 60–69 and 35% of those aged 70 and over had licences, whereas the corresponding figures for women were only about 12% and 5%, respectively. Among 30–49-year-olds, male ownership was around 80–85%, compared with roughly 40–50% for women.

By 2006, the gender gap had narrowed substantially. Around 60–65% of women aged 21–29 held licences, compared with approximately 70% of men. The figures for women aged 30–59 were particularly high, reaching about 80%, which was broadly similar to the rates for men. There was also a substantial rise among older women: approximately 65% of women aged 60–69 and 30% of those aged 70 and over were licensed drivers.

Overall, the most striking change was the sharp increase in female driving-licence ownership, particularly among middle-aged and older women, while male figures remained relatively high in both periods.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing a clear overview and selecting and reporting key features from the visual data. The main trends—such as the significant increase in female licence holders across most age groups and the relative stability among men—are well-identified and supported with accurate data points, such as mentioning that 'approximately 70% of men aged 21–29 held a full driving license' and noting the narrow gender gap by 2006. The response demonstrates a clear overview of the main differences and similarities. However, there is a slight tendency to over-generalize in a few descriptive points without full extension of every single detail, which places this performance at a solid level where all requirements are met competently and thoroughly, showing elements of higher-level task coverage.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are structured into appropriate paragraphs, starting with a clear introductory statement, moving into a well-defined overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing the 1975/76 and 2006 data respectively, and ending with a concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'By contrast', 'For instance', and 'whereas' are used to connect ideas effectively, though referencing is occasionally slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to guide the reader through the comparisons. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the transitional phrasing could be slightly more varied and seamless, avoiding minor repetitive patterns at the start of sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and functional language such as 'proportion', 'considerably', 'substantially', and 'gender gap'. However, there are some spelling errors ('gropus' instead of groups, 'britain' instead of Britain, 'figurrs' instead of figures) and minor word choice slips ('me and women' instead of 'men and women'). These errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the score from reaching a higher tier. The vocabulary is generally functional and appropriate for describing statistical data, but lacks the precision, flexibility, and rare lexical choices characteristic of more advanced bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses, comparative structures, and participial phrases reasonably well (e.g., 'reaching about 80%, which was broadly similar to the rates for men'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('has highest rate' instead of 'has the highest rate') and minor prepositional or agreement slips (e.g., 'percentages of me and women'). Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, allowing the majority of complex sentences to be constructed with good control. To reach the next level, the student needs to produce a higher frequency of error-free complex sentences and eliminate minor structural inaccuracies entirely.

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

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