Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart and table below show the results of a survey of library users at a university.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Categories of library users

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The pie chart illustrates the breakdown of library users into distinct groups, while the table demonstrates the proportion of library users in categories in terms of different library services.

Overall, full-time undergraduates account for the highest proportion, while academic staff account for the smallest percentage across the five categories. The table depicts the proportion of user satisfaction levels. The helpfulness of staff and library opening hours have the highest proportion of satisfaction. Meanwhile, availability of journals and reliability of wi-fi have the most dissatisfied users.

Full-time undergraduates make up the largest proportion of library users at 44%, while academic staff account for the smallest share at 7%. Full-time postgraduates stand in the middle with 25% user population. However, both part-time graduates and distance learning (all courses) account for 16% and 8% respectively.

The table describes the customer satisfaction levels at the library with different services. For instance, the helpfulness and library opening hours receive 95% and 65% satisfactory remarks and 5% and 35% fair satisfaction with 0% dissatisfaction. The availability of books stands in the middle with 50% satisfactory remarks. However, the availability of journals and reliability of wi-fi have the lowest satisfaction levels with 45% and 48% respectively. On the other hand, the proportion of dissatisfaction accounts for 20% and 19% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate successfully covers all parts of the task by presenting an overview of both the pie chart and the table. The response accurately identifies key features, such as full-time undergraduates accounting for the highest proportion of library users (44%) and academic staff representing the smallest percentage (7%). Furthermore, the student effectively reports data from the table, noting that helpfulness and library opening hours received high satisfaction ratings, while journals and wi-fi faced the highest dissatisfaction. Comparisons are made appropriately across categories and services. The overview paragraph captures the main trends effectively, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 7 response under Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response exhibits a clear logical organization and progression throughout. The student makes effective use of paragraphing, with an introductory paragraph, an overview, a body paragraph detailing the pie chart data, and a final body paragraph discussing the table data. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'while', 'For instance', and 'On the other hand' are used to connect ideas smoothly. Although referencing is mostly clear, a minor issue appears in the transition between sentences when discussing satisfaction levels, but this does not disrupt the overall readability. Overall, the structural flow aligns well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic task, employing terms like 'proportion', 'breakdown', 'satisfactory remarks', and 'reliability'. There are successful attempts to use less common items such as 'sub-categories' implicitly and phrasing like 'account for the highest proportion'. However, there are some minor awkward collocations, such as 'satisfactory remarks' instead of 'satisfaction ratings' or 'positive feedback'. Vocabulary is generally functional and precise enough to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication, supporting a solid Band 6.5 or 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including subordinate clauses and comparative constructions ('while full-time undergraduates account for...', 'The table describes the customer satisfaction levels...'). There are frequent error-free sentences, demonstrating good control over basic and intermediate grammar. However, a few minor inaccuracies occur, such as a punctuation slip in '35% fair satisfaction with 0% dissatisfaction' and slight awkwardness in phrasing numerical breakdowns. These errors are non-systematic and do not impede communication, matching the criteria for a Band 7 in grammatical control.

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