Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-02

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)

The data provided in bar charts and line graph illustrate the views of the residents of London over the period of three years about the best and worst places as well as the major problems with the help of a survey.

Overall, range of shops is consistently considered as on of the advantage for the city, while cost of living is the most commonly mentioned disadvantage. In addition, litter is one of the biggest problem faced by the overall population.

Regarding the positive aspects, over 40% of respondents selected range of shops in year 1 and nearly 42% in year 2 and 3, making it the most popular. Job opportunities and mixture of people were also selected by 38% which gradually decreased to 35% in year 3. Museums and art galleries were not popular initially however it subsequently rose to 36%. Night life and trasnport remained stable between 22% - 25%.

As for the disadvantages, cost of living fell from roughly 59% to 50%. Traffic congestion and crime declined from abput 55% to 50% and 40 % respectively. The cost of housing remained stable for 2 years and increased slightly to 38% by year 3. Meanwhile, Transport dropped to 28% by year 3.

The problem of litter was faced by 70% of the population which peaked at 75% and subsequently dipped to 67%. Air quality has improved slightly dropping the records from 65% to 62%. While, noise showed a similar trend, dropping to 56% by Year 3.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the visual data by reporting on the best and worst aspects of living in London, as well as the major problems surveyed over three years. An overview is provided, highlighting the main trends such as the consistent popularity of shops and the dominance of the cost of living as a drawback. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in data reporting; for example, stating that the cost of living fell from 59% when it was actually around 57% in year 1. The selection of data is generally appropriate, yet extending the analysis with sharper comparisons would elevate the response further. It covers the core requirements well enough to demonstrate strong competence while showing some minor limitations in fully articulating every data point.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The report exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from an introduction to an overview, followed by distinct body paragraphs covering positive aspects, negative aspects, and major problems. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate these distinct themes. However, cohesion is at times a bit mechanical, and referencing can occasionally feel slightly abrupt, such as the transition into the final paragraph regarding litter and environmental factors. Cohesive devices are generally present but not always used with complete flexibility. To reach the next level, the connections between sentences and paragraphs could be smoothed out to make the flow entirely seamless and natural throughout the entire text.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying information about survey results, percentages, and trends. The student attempts less common lexical items such as 'consistently', 'disadvantage', and 'gradually decreased'. However, there are some word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'trasnport' instead of transport, and awkward phrasing like 'best places' instead of best aspects. These minor errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the report easily. A broader range of precise vocabulary and greater attention to spelling and collocation would be necessary to achieve a higher band descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, successfully employing subordinate clauses and varied structures to report data. There are some grammatical errors and punctuation slips present, such as missing articles ('as on of the advantage' instead of as one of the advantages'), subject-verb agreement issues ('Museums and art galleries were not popular initially however it subsequently rose'), and incorrect prepositions. Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, with many sentences remaining completely error-free. Good control over sentence boundaries is maintained overall, though ironing out minor slip-ups in articles and plurals would secure a higher level of accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.