Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-27

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the number of French adults whose parents spoke a French regional language to them when they were children and the number who speak a French regional language to their own children.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

Number of adults (in thousands) whose parents spoke a regional language to them in childhood

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The two charts compare the number of french adults whose parents spoke a regional language to them in childhood and the adults who speak a regional language to their own children. The figures given are in thousands.

Overall, the chart shows that the number of adults who were exposed to their regional language by their parents are considerably higher than the adults who speak passed their language to their next generation. In addition, habitual use was more common than the occasional use for most of the languages mentioned. Occitan had the largest number of adults exposed to it whereas Corsican had fewest.

Looking first at the languages spoken by parents, Occitan was by far the most widespread, with approximately 600,000 adults having been spoken to habitually and around 1.05 million having been spoken to occasionally. Alsatian was also relatively common, with roughly same number of adults experiencing habitual use and about 250,000 experiencing occasional use. By comparison, the corresponding figures for Breton were considerably lower, at approximately 200,000 and 300,000 respectively.

The second chart shows a clear reduction in the transmission of these languages to the next generation. Occitan remained the most commonly passed-on language, although the figures were much lower than those for parental use. Alsatian and Breton followed a similar pattern, while Creole and Corsican had smaller numbers. Overall, the charts indicate that regional languages were spoken to far more adults by their parents than these adults later spoke to their own children.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing a clear overview and effectively comparing the data from the two charts. The introduction paraphrases the prompt accurately, and the body paragraphs select and highlight key features, such as the dominance of Occitan and the general decline in language transmission. However, there are some minor data inaccuracies in the body paragraphs; for instance, the student states that Alsatian had 'roughly same number of adults experiencing habitual use and about 250,000 experiencing occasional use,' whereas the chart shows 600,000 for habitual and 240,000 for occasional use. Despite these minor misreadings, the response fulfills the requirements of Task Achievement at a solid band 6.5 to 7.0 level, presenting a clear overall progression and relevant comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay is logically organised with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introduction and a summary overview paragraph, followed by well-defined body paragraphs analysing the visual data. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader through the comparisons, such as 'Overall,' 'Looking first at,' 'By comparison,' and 'The second chart shows.' Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different aspects of the visual data. While referencing and linking are generally clear and natural, the occasional slight awkwardness in transitions prevents it from reaching a higher band. Overall, the structural flow is coherent and meets the criteria for Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 report, incorporating terms like 'widespread,' 'transmission,' 'reduction,' and 'exposed to.' Less common lexical items are attempted, such as 'habitually' and 'occasionally.' However, there are a few lexical and collocational infelicities, such as 'speak passed their language to their next generation' (instead of passing down) and missing capitalisation in 'french.' Despite these minor flaws, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly, supporting a Band 6.5 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, utilising relative clauses and comparative forms effectively (e.g., 'the number of adults who were exposed to their regional language by their parents are considerably higher...'). There are, however, a few noticeable grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement ('the number of adults... are considerably higher' instead of 'is') and preposition usage ('speak passed their language' instead of passing). Punctuation is generally sound, and despite the recurring errors, communication is not impeded. This performance aligns well with the Band 6.5 descriptors.

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

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