Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-20

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 6.0)

The given graph illustrates the value of one country exports in various categories such as petroleum products, engineered good, gems and jewellery, agricultural products and textiles in 2015 and 2016.

Starting with petroleum products, in 2015 the export value was a little more than 60 billions dollars and in 2016, a raise of 3% was noticed compared to 2015. Similarly engineered goods gathered a value of almost 58 billions dollars in 2015 and took off 8.5% in 2016 crossing the 60 billions dollars mark. But gems and jewellery illustrated an opposite behaviour because in 2015 it was almost 44 billions dollars but in 2016 it landed to 5.18% down in value compared to the previous year.

Moving on to the agricultural products their values kept competing but 2016 value raised 0.81% as compared to value in 2015. On the other hand textiles created a massive gap between values of two consequetive years, showing value of almost 26 billions dollars in 2015 but crossing the 30 billions dollars barrier in 2016 with the value of almost 33 billions dollars with the difference of 15.24% in raise. This was the detailed explanation of the value graph

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all the main categories from the chart and correctly integrates data from the table (percentage changes). The overview, however, is missing; a proper Academic Task 1 response requires a clear summary statement outlining the overall trends (e.g., general growth across most export categories except for gems and jewellery). The student attempts to report key features and comparisons, such as noting that textiles experienced the highest percentage increase at 15.24% and that gems and jewellery declined. However, the lack of an overarching summary and a tendency to present data in a somewhat narrative, mechanical listing style keeps this response at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement, moving logically from product to product. The student uses basic cohesive devices to connect ideas, such as 'Starting with', 'Similarly', and 'On the other hand'. However, paragraphing is weak; the entire body of the report is lumped into just two bulky paragraphs, with the first acting as an introduction and the second containing all the body data plus an unnecessary concluding sentence ('This was the detailed explanation...'). Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of distinct paragraphing to separate different trends or an overview prevents a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to describe values and percentage changes effectively (e.g., 'export value', 'raise', 'percentage change'). However, there are several word-form and collocation errors, such as 'engineered good' (instead of goods), 'a raise of 3%' (instead of an increase), and 'took off 8.5%' (unnatural collocation). Phrases like 'landed to 5.18% down' and 'in raise' also show awkward lexical control. Less common vocabulary is attempted but often misused, placing this criterion at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and comparative structures. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, such as missing commas after introductory phrases ('Starting with petroleum products, in 2015...'), pluralisation inconsistencies ('one country exports' instead of country's exports), and awkward phrasing like 'values kept competing'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching Band 7.0.

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

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