Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-29

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart below shows the top ten countries for the production and consumption of electricity in 2014.

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The bar chart compares the amounts of electricity produced and consumed by the ten leading countries in 2014, measured in billion kilowatt-hours.

Overall, China and the United States were by far the largest producers and consumers of electricity. In most countries, electricity production was slightly higher than consumption. The only notable exception was the United States, where consumption exceeded production.

China generated approximately 5,400 billion kWh of electricity, which was considerably more than the United States, at around 4,100 billion kWh. China also consumed the most electricity, at just over 5,300 billion kWh, while consumption in the US stood at approximately 3,900 billion kWh. Russia ranked third in both categories, producing about 1,100 billion kWh and consuming slightly less.

Japan and India occupied the next positions, although their figures were substantially lower than those of the top three countries. Japan produced around 1,000 billion kWh and consumed approximately 950 billion kWh, while India generated about 1,000 billion kWh but used roughly 850 billion kWh.

Among the remaining countries, Canada, France, Brazil, Germany and South Korea recorded production and consumption figures of below 700 billion kWh. Germany was the only country besides the United States where consumption was marginally higher than production, while Canada had a relatively large surplus of electricity production over consumption.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing a clear overview and selecting key features from the chart. The opening accurately identifies the main trend, noting that China and the US were the largest producers and consumers. However, there is a minor factual misreading in the body paragraphs: the student states that Germany was the only country besides the US where consumption exceeded production, but looking at the data, China's production (5,398) also slightly exceeded its consumption (5,322). Furthermore, some figures quoted in the text (such as Japan's production of around 1,000 billion kWh versus the actual 936.2) are slightly exaggerated due to rough rounding, though general comparisons remain sound.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an effective introductory sentence and a well-formulated overview paragraph. Information is grouped sensibly into paragraphs comparing the top producers and the remaining countries. Cohesive devices are used appropriately to link ideas, such as "Among the remaining countries" and "The only notable exception." Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the report effectively, making it easy to follow the progression of data.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response. Phrases like "by far the largest producers," "notable exception," and "relatively large surplus" show a strong awareness of appropriate style. Less common lexical items are attempted with general success, although there are minor inaccuracies in exact data representation (e.g., rounding 936.2 up to 1,000). Spelling and word choice are accurate and do not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The student uses a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms with generally high accuracy. Complex structures are handled competently, as seen in sentences like "China generated approximately 5,400 billion kWh of electricity, which was considerably more than the United States..." Grammatical control is strong throughout the response, featuring frequent error-free sentences, correct punctuation, and accurate past tense verb usage when referring to the 2014 data.

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