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 the proportions of five different groups that use the university library, while the table details user satisfaction of library users across five different metrics.

Overall, full-time undergraduate students make up the largest number of library users, while the academic staff has the lowest share of users. Staff helpfulness received the highest approval, by contrast, reliability of wifi and availability of the journal received the most negative feedback

Full-time undergraduate students make up the largest share of students, at 44 percent, followed by postgraduate students at 25 percent. Both of them represent one-third of users at the library. Part-time students represent 16 percent, while distance learning and academic staff represent 8 and 7 percent of users, respectively.

Regarding the satisfaction level, the helpfulness of staff achieved the highest satisfaction rating, with 95 being very satisfied and 5 being fairly satisfied. Library opening hours also received 100 percent positive feedback, divided into 65 being very satisfied and 35 being fairly satisfied.

In contrast, other services received some level of dissatisfied feedback. The highest among them was availability of journals, with 20 not being satisfied, followed by reliability of wifi at 19 and availability of books at 10 not being satisfied. However, more than 50 percent of people were still satisfied with these services

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features from both the pie chart and the table. An adequate overview is provided at the beginning, noting that undergraduates are the main users and highlighting staff helpfulness versus wifi and journal dissatisfaction. Key figures are correctly cited, such as undergraduates at 44 percent and academic staff at 7 percent. However, some areas are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in data interpretation—for instance, stating that postgraduate students and full-time undergraduates together represent 'one-third of users at the library' when undergraduates alone comprise 44 percent. Furthermore, satisfaction percentages in the table are described using raw numbers (e.g., '20 not being satisfied') rather than percentages, which shows a slight lack of precision. To reach a higher band, the overview could be more fully integrated, and all statistical references should be handled with absolute mathematical accuracy.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the introduction to the overview, the chart data, and finally the table data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different sets of information. Cohesive devices are generally well managed, with transitions such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', and 'Regarding the satisfaction level' guiding the reader through the data. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent repetition of phrase patterns introducing percentages. To move into higher bands, the student could employ more sophisticated referencing and seamless logical transitions between sentences, ensuring that relationships between data points are linked with greater stylistic flexibility rather than simple transitional adverbs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and functional phrases such as 'proportions', 'details user satisfaction', and 'positive feedback'. Word choices are generally clear and allow the message to be communicated without impediment. However, there are minor lexical inaccuracies, such as referring to 'the journal' instead of 'journals', and minor awkwardness in phrasing like 'dissatisfied feedback' instead of 'negative feedback' or 'dissatisfaction'. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate. To achieve a higher score, the vocabulary range needs to be wider and more flexible, incorporating more sophisticated collocation and precise academic phrasing to describe statistical trends and survey results naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

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 structures, and punctuation is generally sound. However, there are some grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'reliability of wifi and availability of the journal received' where 'journal' lacks a plural, and slight preposition or article slips. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication. The presence of error-free sentences alongside minor slips places this firmly at the mid-level. To reach the next band, the writer would need to produce a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and demonstrate finer control over articles, plurals, and subject-verb agreement.

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

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