Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23

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 6.0)

The pie chart and table illustrates the categories of library users at a university.

Overall, full-time undergraduate students accounted for the largest proportion of library users, while academic staff represented the smallest group. It is netwweoticeably seen that full time students, both undergraduate and postgraduate made up the majority of users.

Firstly, full-time undergraduate consituted 44% of all library users, which was considerably higher than the figure for full time postgraduates, at 25%. Furthermore, part-time postgraduate students accounted around 16% meaning that these three categories together represented 85% of library users.

The remaining users consisted of distance-learning students and acedamic staff. Distance learners made up 8% and the academic staff was at 7%. The difference between these two groups was therefore minimal.

In contrast, the library was used mostly by full-time undergraduate students, whereas part-time was the second highest shows our intrest. Similarly,academic staff and distance-learning students shows relatively small proportions of the total.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses the main features of the visual data. The student provides a clear overview in the second paragraph, highlighting that full-time undergraduate students formed the largest group while academic staff represented the smallest. Key data points are accurately reported, such as 44% for full-time undergraduates, 25% for full-time postgraduates, and 16% for part-time postgraduates. However, a major limitation is that the student completely ignores the table regarding library user satisfaction (covering opening hours, helpfulness of staff, availability of books, etc.). Band 6 is appropriate because while the main features of the pie chart are adequately covered, the omission of the entire table means some parts of the task are not fully addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged coherently with a logical overall progression. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and body details. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as 'Overall', 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', and 'In contrast'. However, there are mechanical errors in cohesion and referencing, particularly in the final paragraph where the phrasing 'whereas part-time was the second highest shows our intrest' becomes awkward and somewhat disjointed. Additionally, there are minor typographical errors like 'netwweoticeably' in the second paragraph that disrupt the flow. Overall arrangement is clear, but cohesive control is occasionally faulty, fitting a Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, incorporating terms such as 'proportion', 'represented', 'considerably higher', and 'minimal'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are occasionally marred by spelling mistakes and awkward word choices (e.g., 'netwweoticeably', 'consituted' instead of 'constituted', 'acedamic' instead of 'academic', and 'intrest' instead of 'interest'). Despite these lexical errors and typos, communication is not impeded as the intended meaning remains clear. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor where an adequate range is used with some inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses and comparative structures ('which was considerably higher than the figure for...'). There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text. For instance, the opening sentence has a subject-verb agreement error ('The pie chart and table illustrates'), and the phrase 'full time students, both undergraduate and postgraduate made up' lacks proper punctuation. Furthermore, spelling and typographical errors are frequent ('full time' missing a hyphen, 'acedamic'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they prevent the response from achieving a higher band. A score of 6 reflects a mix of sentence structures with noticeable errors that rarely impede understanding.

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

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