Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the number of shops that closed and the number of new shops that opened in one country between 2011 and 2018.

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

Number of shop closures and openings 2011– 2018

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The line graph illustrates the number of shops that closed and the number of new shopes that opened in one country between 2011 and 2018.

Overall, the number of shopes that closures fluctuated noticable during the period, reaching adramatically low in 2015 before climbed. However, shop opening generally declined, despite some fluctuations.

To begin with, in 2011 around 6,400 shpos closed, while approximately 8500 new shops opened, making opening dominated source in beginning. The number of closures then fell slightly to about 5900 in 2012, before rising sharply to a peack of approximately 7200 in 2014. It subsequently declined to 6500 in 2014. In addition, most noticeable change occured in 2015, when the number of closures fell dramatically to about 700. After that figure for closure recoverd and reached around 5200 in 2016 and 5000 in 2017 respectively, before increasing to 5200 in 2018.

Furthermore, shops openings, figure dropped dramatically from 8500 in 2011 to 4000 in 2012. It then incresed gradually reaching 5000 in 2013 and about 6200 in 2014. After that openings fell around 4000 in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, it followd by a small rise to 4200. Finally figure declined significantly to just 3000 in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have successfully identified the main features of the graph, including the overall trends and key data points. You provided a clear overview and supported your points with relevant figures. However, there are some inaccuracies in your reporting of the data. For example, you state that closures reached a 'dramatically low' in 2015, which is accurate, but your description of the 2014 data is confusing, as you mention a peak of 7200 and then a decline to 6500 in the same year. Ensuring that your data points are accurately transcribed from the graph is essential for a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into clear paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on closures and openings respectively. You use cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'To begin with', 'In addition', and 'Furthermore' to guide the reader through the information. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are occasional issues with referencing, such as 'figure for closure recoverd', where the article 'the' is missing. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the flow could be improved by varying the sentence structure more effectively.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fluctuated', 'declined', 'sharply', and 'dramatically'. However, there are several spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'shopes', 'shpos', 'peack', 'occured', 'recoverd', 'incresed', and 'followd'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning, the high frequency of spelling mistakes limits your score in this criterion. Focusing on proofreading your work for common spelling errors will significantly improve your performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('making opening dominated source') and verb forms ('before climbed', 'shops openings, figure dropped'). Some sentences are also missing necessary prepositions or articles, which makes the writing feel slightly disjointed. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. You should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve your accuracy.

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

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