Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-01

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 bar graph and line graph illustrate the opinions of the people living in London about the city by comparing the best and worst features through a survey conducted over a three-year period.

Overall, the bar graphs represent the likes and dislikes about the city of native people by comparing various categories, while the line graph visualizes the percentage of people reporting the major problems in London. However, people love the city for its range of shops. Conversely, they also think of it as the worst because of the high cost of living.

London attracts people with many job opportunities and a mixture of people, as reported by approximately 33-35% of people. Over the three years, museums, art galleries and nightlife have also gradually become attractions for people to visit. Transport is another reason the city is better for everyone.

On the contrary, more than 50% of people think that London is not a top choice to live in for its cost of living in the first year, which was reduced a bit in the next two years. Almost 55% of the residents feel that traffic congestion and the crime rate are two major reasons that make the city worse. People expressed their feelings about the crime rate over the next 2 years, declined to roughly 38-40%. Moreover, the cost of housing and transport remains another major reason.

However, people feel that litter is the major problem in London which fluctuated over three years whereas air quality and noise follow a gradual decrease.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by covering both charts and the line graph, providing an overview and selecting key data points. However, some areas are under-developed or contain inaccuracies in data interpretation. For instance, the statement that a mixture of people was reported by '33-35% of people' broadly aligns with Year 2 and Year 3 figures, but the overview introduces vague assertions such as 'people love the city for its range of shops' without sufficient contextual nuance. Furthermore, details regarding specific percentages—such as the decline in crime rates—are somewhat generalised, and comparisons between the best and worst features lack rigorous synthesis. To reach a higher level, the response should present a more thoroughly developed overview that highlights broader trends and integrates data points more precisely across all visual elements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure, moving from an introductory overview to body paragraphs discussing the best and worst aspects of living in London, and concluding with the line graph data. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct categories of information. Nevertheless, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. Transitional phrases like 'However,' and 'On the contrary,' are used repetitively or somewhat inaccurately to link contrasting ideas, and referencing between sentences occasionally creates mild ambiguity. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother transitions between sentences to establish a clearer, more natural progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating sufficient range to discuss survey data and public opinion. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'traffic congestion', 'gradually become attractions', and 'fluctuated', which demonstrates an effort to use precise terms. However, there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as stating that feelings about the crime rate 'declined to roughly 38-40%' rather than the rate itself declining, or using 'the city is better for everyone'. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate and do not impede communication. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of sophisticated and idiomatic vocabulary while ensuring precise collocation in statistical descriptions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic structures and attempting complex clauses with relative pronouns or subordinate conjunctions, such as 'opinions of the people living in London about the city by comparing...' and 'which fluctuated over three years'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, notably awkward relative clauses and prepositions, such as 'not a top choice to live in for its cost of living' and dangling modifiers like 'declined to roughly 38-40%'. However, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication. To move to a higher band, the writer should increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and exercise tighter control over modifier placement and prepositional phrasing.

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

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