Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-18

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 given bar chart illustrates the export revenue generated by a country across five different types for the years 2015 and 2016, whereas the table represents the percentage change in each industry of export business from 2015 to 2016.

The bar diagram declares petroleum goods and engineered products as the top revenue generating categories from 2015 to 2016, where petroleum goods earned 60 billions USD in 2015 and 62 billions USD in 2016 with 3% increase. Engineered goods experienced a 3.5% rise in earning taking the value to almost 60 billions USD. A massive 5.18% decline in export value has been observed in Gems and jewelry category which brought down the earning to almost 40 billions USD and this is the only declining industry in 2016 compared to 2015.

Agricultural products and textiles are two least contributing categories in both 2015 and 2016, although the revenue the textile industry climbed dramatically from 25 billions to 32billions which is approximately 15.24% growth in 2016. Minimum growth nearing to 0.81% can be observed for agriculture sector in 2016 which is the lowest percentage change among all the categories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and several important comparisons, including petroleum and engineered goods as the leading earners, textiles as the fastest-growing category, and gems and jewellery as the only category to decline. However, some figures and trends are inaccurate: engineered goods rose by 8.5%, not 3.5%, and agricultural exports were essentially stable at about $31 billion rather than clearly increasing. The overview is also incomplete: it would be stronger if it stated that petroleum remained the largest category and that textiles rose to roughly the same level as agriculture. These inaccuracies and omissions leave parts of the data only partially reported, despite the relevant comparisons you do make.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised in a clear sequence: an introduction identifies the chart and table, followed by discussion of the leading categories and then the smaller ones. Linking expressions such as “whereas,” “although,” and “compared to” help show relationships between the information, and the reader can follow the overall progression. To make the organisation more effective, add a distinct overview after the introduction, then group comparisons more deliberately—for example, the two highest earners together and the remaining categories together. Some sentences combine several figures and interpretations, so clearer separation would make the comparisons easier to process. Overall, the structure is logical, with room to make the progression more purposeful.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a reasonably varied range of task-related vocabulary, including “export revenue,” “percentage change,” “decline,” “contributing,” and “climbed dramatically.” These choices allow you to describe both values and trends, and some less common expressions show an attempt at precision. However, several collocations are awkward or imprecise, such as “bar diagram declares” and “minimum growth nearing to.” “Industry of export business” is also unnecessarily wordy, while “billions USD” is not a natural way to express the units. Greater control of standard chart-description phrases would improve precision and fluency. The range is sufficient, but occasional word-choice and collocation problems prevent consistently natural expression.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

You demonstrate a useful range of sentence forms, including a complex opening with “whereas” and a concessive sentence beginning “although.” Many sentences are grammatically clear, and the main comparisons remain understandable. A few errors persist in sentence construction and punctuation. For example, “Engineered goods experienced a 3.5% rise in earning taking the value…” needs clearer punctuation or a relative clause, and “the revenue the textile industry climbed” has an incorrect structure; write “textile-industry revenue climbed.” There are also inconsistent article and number patterns in phrases such as “in Gems and jewelry category” and “60 billions USD.” These issues do not generally obscure meaning, but proofreading and more controlled complex clauses would strengthen accuracy.

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