Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-17

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 6.5)

Overall, the range of shops was seen as the biggest advantage of London, while cost of living, traffic and crime were seen as the biggest disadvantages. Despite these complaints, concern about litter, air quality and noise as major problems fell slightly by Year 3.Best things - Top chart:

The most valued aspect was the range of shops, cited by 45% in Year 1, falling to around 42% in Year 2 and Year 3. Job opportunities and mixture of people were both rated at about 36-38% across all three years, with a very slight decline. Museums and art galleries became more appreciated over time, rising from 29% in Year 1 to 35% in Year 3. Night life also improved from 22% to 25%, while transport and the availability of open spaces / other category remained lowest at around 20-22%.Worst things - Bottom left:

For negatives, cost of living was the top concern at 57% in Year 1, then dropped to 49% in Year 2 and 50% in Year 3. Traffic congestion was joint top in Year 1 and Year 2 at 55%, before falling to 49% in Year 3. Fear of crime saw the biggest change, plummeting from 56% in Year 1 to 38% in Year 2 and 40% in Year 3. Cost of housing rose slightly to 36% by Year 3, while dissatisfaction with transport fell from 35% to 27%.In terms of weather litter, air quality and traffic noise litter is cosider a big obstacles from all problems .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all three visual components presented in the prompt, providing a clear overview and accurate data points across the three-year period. You appropriately selected key features, such as the range of shops being the top positive aspect at 45% in Year 1, and tracked trends like the sharp decline in fear of crime from 56% to 38-40%. The figures cited closely match the visual data. However, the final paragraph becomes slightly disjointed and introduces informal headings or bullet-like formatting ('Best things - Top chart:', 'Worst things - Left:'), which detracts slightly from a seamless academic report format, placing this response solidly at Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The report demonstrates a clear overall progression, starting with a concise introductory overview and moving systematically through the positive and negative aspects shown in the charts. Paragraphing is used to separate the different survey categories, making the information easy to follow. Cohesive devices are generally well managed (e.g., 'Despite these complaints', 'rising from... to...'), though the structure breaks down towards the end of the text with unstandardised sub-headings and a fragmented concluding sentence. Referencing is mostly clear, but the lack of a cohesive concluding paragraph prevents the response from achieving a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary appropriate for an Academic Task 1 response, employing terms such as 'advantage', 'disadvantages', 'decline', 'plummeting', and 'dissatisfaction'. There is some attempt to use less common phrasing ('most valued aspect', 'plummeting from 56%'). However, there are notable lexical and spelling errors in the final sentence ('cosider' instead of considered, 'obstacles' instead of obstacles/problems) along with minor awkward phrasing like 'availability of open spaces / other category'. These occasional slips restrict the lexical score to Band 6.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using participial phrases ('rising from 29% in Year 1 to 35% in Year 3') and subordinate clauses effectively. Many sentences are grammatically accurate and communicate the statistical data clearly. However, grammatical control slips towards the end of the text, culminating in a run-on and structurally broken final sentence ('In terms of weather litter... litter is cosider a big obstacles...'). Because errors are concentrated in the final section and do not generally impede overall understanding, a Band 6.5 is appropriate.

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

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