Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-07

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 6.0)

The bar chart provides comprehensive information of a country through export earnings between 2015 and 2016, along with highlighting key growth of several products.

Overall, the bar chart compares share of export earnings in billion dollars of different products like petroleum products, engineered goods, gems and jewellery, agricultural products and textiles. In 2016, textiles reported highest growth, followed by engineered goods, petroleum products and agricultural products respectively. Gems and jewellery were on decline in 2016 when compared with 2015.

Although the maximum share in export earnings belong to petroleum products with more than 60 billion dollars share, a figure slightly higher than preceeding year with an increase of 3%, the textiles have grown significantly in size in 2016 with 15.24% increase in its size than 2015 and contributing more than 40 billion dollars towards exports of a country. The share of engineered products grew by 8.5% in 2016 than that in 2015, hence reporting a share of 70 billion dollars in earnings. The gems and jewellery in contrast reported a decline in its share and exported 5.18% less products in 2016 than it did in 2015. The agricultural products contributed almost the same amount in export earnings, however.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern that most categories increased and that gems and jewellery declined, and you highlight textiles as the fastest-growing category. However, several figures are misread or inconsistent with the chart: engineered goods reached about $62 billion, not $70 billion, and textiles reached about $31 billion, not more than $40 billion. The overview also says agricultural products increased, whereas the chart shows their value staying at about $31 billion; the table’s 0.81% change is small. Your comparison of petroleum earnings is broadly accurate, but the report would be clearer if it distinguished export values from percentage changes and accurately described the key figures. Some categories are therefore covered less fully than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph giving category details. This gives the reader a coherent overall route through the information. Linking expressions such as “Although,” “in contrast,” and “however” help signal comparisons, but some connections are awkward or do not clearly express the relationship between the data. For example, “The agricultural products contributed almost the same amount … however” leaves the contrast unfinished, while the long third paragraph combines several categories and comparisons without a clear grouping. Organise the details into more deliberate comparisons—such as the highest-earning categories and the lower-earning ones—and use references that make each comparison explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “export earnings,” “decline,” “contributed,” and “increase,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “reported a decline” and “maximum share.” However, some word choices and collocations are imprecise: “provides comprehensive information of a country through export earnings” is unnatural, and “grown significantly in size” does not describe export value precisely. “Share” is repeated where “value” or “earnings” would be clearer, and “exported 5.18% less products” confuses the value change with the quantity of goods. Choose vocabulary that accurately describes monetary values and percentage changes, and check spelling such as “preceding.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concessive opening with “Although” and a contrast introduced by “in contrast.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions reduce precision. For example, “the maximum share in export earnings belong” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “the textiles have grown … with 15.24% increase” has problems with article use and sentence construction. The final sentence, “The agricultural products contributed almost the same amount … however,” is incomplete in its use of “however.” There is also inconsistent tense and number handling in phrases such as “the textiles have grown” and “its size.” Aim for complete, well-controlled comparisons and check agreement, articles, and punctuation when joining clauses.

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