Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-14
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The chart below shows the value of one country’s exports in various categories during 2015 and 2016. The table shows the percentage change in each category of exports in 2016 compared with 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 6.5)
The given bar graph provides the information about export earnings in various categories of a particular country in 2015 and 2016.
Overall, export earnings made in each category increased in a single year with an exception of gems and jewellery where earnings made in export were reduced in the year 2016.
Petroleum products had the highest profits in both 2015 and 2016 followed by engineered goods which managed to cross the profit of 60 billion dollars in 2016.
Although export revenue of gems and jewellery saw a decline, it still managed to become third highest contributor to export earnings.
Even though textiles business was at the bottom of export earnings list, a sudden spike of around 15% was shown in the following year which was the highest increase among all five categories. Export profits of agricultural products shown most stability compared to others between the years 2015 and 2016 at only 0.81% addition.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The student provides a good overview and highlights key features from the chart and table effectively. The main trends are identified, such as the overall increase in export earnings with the exception of gems and jewellery, and petroleum products remaining the highest. Key comparisons are made, noting that textiles had the highest percentage increase at around 15% and agricultural products showed the most stability with a 0.81% addition. The response covers all parts of the prompt well and selects relevant data, fulfilling the task requirements nicely.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The response is logically organised with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory sentence, followed by an overall summary paragraph, and then body paragraphs detailing specific categories. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Although', 'Even though', and 'following year' are used effectively to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the detailed body points, ensuring that the information is easy to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suited for describing graphical data, using terms such as 'export earnings', 'category', 'decline', 'spike', and 'stability'. There are successful attempts at less common phrasing like 'third highest contributor' and 'highest increase among all five categories'. While some word choices like 'profits' are used instead of 'earnings' or 'revenue' when referring to export values, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The writer employs a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively using connectors like 'Although', 'Even though', and 'followed by'. Grammatical control is generally sound, with accurate punctuation. Minor awkwardness occurs, such as 'export earnings made in each category increased in a single year with an exception' or 'agricultural products shown most stability' (missing 'showed'), but these errors are infrequent and do not impede overall communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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