Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar charts and line graph below show the results of a survey conducted over a three-year period to discover what people who live in London think of the city.

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

What are the best things about living in London?

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The given charts illustrates the best and worst aspects of living in the London city over three years of period as a resident. The final graph shows the proportions of people who thought litter, air quality and noise to be significant problems.

Overall, range of shops was considered to be the best thing for living there but the ratio slowly reduced over the three years. In contrast, cost of living was the most significant disadvantage. Among the environmental issues, litter was considered the biggest problem over the survey period.

In the first year, as for the benefits of living in London majority of people at around 45% thought range of shops was the best thing which got reduced by 3% till the third year. Moreover, transport was considered least advantageous at 21 percentage in first year to 20 percent after two years.

Regarding the disadvantages, around 57 percentage of residents believed cost of living as the worst aspect in initial year which eventually decreased to 50% afterwards. Similarly, traffic congestion and crime ratio were the most dissappointing virtue to live there which dramatically lowered from 65% to 49% and 65 percentage to 40 percentage respectively.

Finally, the citizens thought litter as a huge problem each year at around seventy percent in first year, 75 percent in second year and 65% in the last year. Meanwhile, noise pollution was the third largest affecting problem which slowly reduced from 58% to 55%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the charts and line graph regarding the survey results in London. Key features are selected and highlighted, such as the trends for the best aspects (range of shops) and worst aspects (cost of living, traffic congestion, crime, and environmental issues like litter). Data is incorporated to support the descriptions, for instance, noting that around 57 percent of residents believed the cost of living was the worst aspect in the initial year. While some minor figures could be more thoroughly contrasted, the response successfully fulfills the requirements of an Academic Task 1 report by outlining the main trends and data points accurately. Therefore, it fits comfortably into Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The report displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information is grouped logically into paragraphs, starting with an introductory overview paragraph, followed by a general summary paragraph, and then breaking down the specific details into structured body paragraphs covering benefits, disadvantages, and environmental problems. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as "Overall," "In contrast," "Moreover," and "Meanwhile." However, there is some occasional slight mechanical use of linking and referencing. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, ensuring the reader can easily follow the progression of the data presented across the three-year period.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate and generally sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and descriptive phrases such as "significant problems," "traffic congestion," "noise pollution," and "proportions of people." However, there are some noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as writing "the London city" instead of "London," "ratio slowly reduced" instead of "percentage steadily decreased," and "dissappointing virtue" which is inappropriate for describing negative survey aspects. Spelling is generally fine except for a minor slip like "dissappointing." These lexical errors do not impede communication, placing the response securely at Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures. There are several grammatical errors present throughout the text, such as article omission ("The given charts illustrates" where it should be 'illustrate' and missing articles before percentages), preposition errors ("over three years of period" instead of 'over a three-year period'), and tense inconsistencies. For example, "which got reduced by 3%" is overly colloquial and inaccurate in structure. Despite these errors in grammar and punctuation, the meaning remains clear and they rarely impede communication.

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