Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-25
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
below shows the value of one country’s exports in various categories during 2015 and 2016. The table shows the percentage change in each category of exports in 2016 compared with 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 6.5)
The bar chart illustrates the export earnings of five different types of products like petroleum, engineered goods, gems and jewellery, agricultural products, and textile. The record is of 2015 and 2016.
Overall, four of the five categories recorded growth over this period, with textiles showing by far the largest rise. Gems and jewellery was the only category to decline in value, standing out as the exception among generally positive trends.
The highest increased is seen in textile which is about 15.24%and on the second number their is engineered goods which has gone up about 8.5%, the petroleum products rises 3%.
Agricultural products recorded only a marginal increase of 0.81%, suggesting a fairly stagnant year for this sector. By contrast, gems and jewellery bucked the overall trend, falling by 5.18% — the single largest movement, in either direction, across all five categories. Overall, the gap between the strongest performer, textiles, and the only decliner, gems and jewellery, exceeded 20 percentage points, highlighting a considerable difference in performance across sectors.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing a clear summary of the export earnings in 2015 and 2016 alongside the percentage changes. The main features are identified, such as textiles experiencing the highest growth (15.24%) and gems and jewellery being the only declining category (-5.18%). Data is accurately cited from the chart and table, and appropriate comparisons are made between categories, such as contrasting agricultural products with textiles and gems and jewellery. The overview is well-formulated and grounded in the visual data. The response meets all the requirements for Task Achievement at a high level, showing good selection and reporting of main trends.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The response is logically organised with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory statement, moves into a concise overview paragraph, and follows with detailed body points analysing specific categories. Cohesive devices are used effectively, such as 'Overall,' 'By contrast,' and 'overall trend,' ensuring smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and body details. However, occasional minor clunkiness in phrasing prevents it from reaching the highest band.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suited to Task 1, employing terms like 'export earnings,' 'stagnant year,' 'bucked the overall trend,' and 'considerable difference.' Less common lexical items are attempted with some success, although there are minor issues with word forms and phrasing, such as 'The highest increased is seen in textile.' Despite these minor lexical slips, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey precise meaning and comparisons clearly throughout the response.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The writing includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, featuring relative clauses and comparative constructions. There are, however, several grammatical errors that detract from precision, such as 'The highest increased is seen' (should be 'increase'), 'their is engineered goods' (should be 'there are'), and missing articles or punctuation issues like '15.24%and'. While these errors do not impede communication, their frequency prevents the score from rising into the higher bands where error-free complex sentences predominate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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