Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-07-25

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The pie charts below show responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain to a survey concerning why their students are learning a foreign language. The first chart shows the main reason for learning a foreign language. The second chart shows how many teachers felt that there has been a recent change in the reason.

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

% of teachers reporting the following as most common reason for learning:

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The pie charts illustrates the common reasons for learning a foreign language by students in Britain and a recent increase in the percentage of students learning it.

Overall, the most common reason to learn an overseas language is for the purpose of travel, followed by a business visit. Recently, it is also observed that significantly greater number of individuals learn a foreign language who want to buy property overseas.

The following are the reasons for learning a new foreign language. 33% of the teachers believe that youngsters learn a language for the purpose of travel, followed by business or work visits, for which 26% of the teachers have voted. Only around 5% of the lecturers believe that students learn language because of their general interest, whereas only 3% believe that they learn it for the purpose of a foreign partner.

The teachers felt that there is an increase in the number of students learning a new foreign language. 34% of the total teachers have the opinion that students buy property overseas and this is the reason why they learn a language. Followed by 19% of the teachers for the reason that youngsters go to some business trips and only 4% and 3% believe it is for a foreign partner and travel respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the task by describing the two pie charts. However, there is a significant misunderstanding of the data. The second chart represents the 'change' in reasons, but the student interprets it as an absolute increase in the number of students learning a language, rather than a shift in the reasons provided by teachers. This misinterpretation affects the accuracy of the report. While the key features are identified, the analysis is hampered by this conceptual error. To improve, ensure you clearly distinguish between the two charts: one shows the current primary reason, and the other shows how teachers perceive changes in these reasons over time.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The report is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'followed by', and 'whereas' are used to link ideas. However, the progression of information is sometimes mechanical. The transition between the first and second body paragraphs could be smoother to better reflect the relationship between the two charts. The use of referencing is generally clear, though the interpretation of the data makes the overall flow of information slightly confusing for the reader.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, using terms like 'overseas', 'individuals', and 'lecturers'. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'overseas language' (which is not standard) and 'foreign partner' (which is slightly ambiguous in this context). The student attempts to use a variety of reporting verbs and descriptive phrases, but the vocabulary remains somewhat repetitive. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations related to data description, such as 'a significant proportion' or 'a notable shift'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The pie charts illustrates') and awkward phrasing ('significantly greater number of individuals learn a foreign language who want to buy property'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the general message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency. More attention to proofreading for basic agreement and sentence structure would improve the accuracy of the writing.

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