Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-02

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 different categories of library users at university, while the table chart shows the satisfaction of library users with different services.

Overall, full time undergraduate is the largest category of library university, whereas academic staff make up the smallest proportion. In the table, library users show the highest satisfaction in helpfulness of staff.

According to the pie chart, full time undergraduate students made up 44% of the users. Full time postgraduate students were 25%, while part time postgraduate students were 16%. Distance-learning students made up for 8%. Academic staff were the smallest group at 7%.

On the other hand, the table shows that 95% of users were very satisfied with the helpfulness of staff. Also, 65% were very satisfied with the library opening hours. For the availability of books 50% were very satisfied. Then, journals and Wi-Fi were 45% and 48%, respectively very satisfied. Only 0% of users were not satisfied with the library opening hours and helpfulness of staff.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview and reporting key features from both the pie chart and the table. The main trends are correctly identified, such as full-time undergraduates forming the largest demographic and staff helpfulness receiving the highest satisfaction ratings. The figures cited, including 44% for undergraduates and 95% for staff helpfulness, are accurate according to the visual data. However, the response stops short of fully extending all comparisons. While some data points are grouped effectively, others are listed in a somewhat mechanical sequence without deeper analytical comparison between the categories and satisfaction metrics. To reach the next level, the writing would need to integrate the data more fluidly, drawing sharper comparisons across the different survey categories rather than treating the two visuals in isolation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into logical paragraphs, separating the introduction, overview, chart details, and table details. Information flows reasonably well, and basic cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Overall', 'According to the pie chart', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and transitions occasionally feel slightly mechanical, and the progression within the body paragraphs relies heavily on simple listing rather than sophisticated cohesive linking. To achieve a higher band, the student should employ a more varied and flexible range of cohesive devices to connect ideas smoothly across sentences and paragraphs, ensuring that the relationships between different data points are highlighted more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the statistical information with terms like 'proportion', 'category', 'demographic', and percentages. There are appropriate attempts at less common phrasing, such as 'smallest proportion' and 'highest satisfaction'. However, there are some minor lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, notably 'largest category of library university' instead of 'university library', and 'respectively very satisfied', which affects precision. Spelling and word choice errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument easily. To move up to a higher band, the student needs to demonstrate a wider and more precise range of vocabulary, avoiding awkward collocations and using more sophisticated academic terminology naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases effectively. There is good control over basic grammatical structures, and punctuation is generally accurate. However, there are some noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as the missing hyphen in 'full time' (which should be hyphenated as a compound modifier when preceding a noun), and minor prepositional slips like 'made up for 8%' instead of 'accounted for 8%'. These errors are relatively infrequent and do not impede communication. To attain a higher band, the student should incorporate a wider variety of complex structures with greater frequency and eliminate minor mechanical errors in hyphenation and preposition usage.

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.