Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-22

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 bar graph and accompanying table illustrate the export revenues of a country across five distinct product categories for the years 2015 and 2016, alongside the percentage changes experienced within this period.

Overall, there was a notable variation in export values, with the most significant increase recorded in textiles, while agricultural products exhibited minimal change.

In 2015, the export earnings from petroleum products amounted to approximately $60 billion, however, this figure experienced a slight decline of 3% in 2016, resulting in revenues of around $58 billion. Engineered goods, contrastingly, saw a remarkable increase from $50 billion in 2015 to $54 billion in 2016, marking an increase of 8.5%. Similarly, agricultural products remained stable at around $22 billion, reflecting a modest rise of 0.81% over the same period.

The category of gems and jewellery faced a downturn, with exports decreasing from about $42 billion in 2015 to approximately $38 billion in 2016, corresponding to a decrease of 5.18%. Notably, textiles demonstrated the most profound growth, with revenues increasing sharply from around $18 billion to approximately $20 billion, which translates to a substantial rise of 15.24%. Such patterns underline the fluctuations within the export landscape while highlighting textiles as a notable growth sector.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview and selecting key data points to report and compare across the five product categories. However, there are significant data inaccuracies when comparing the student's figures to the source chart and table. For instance, the student states that petroleum products declined to around $58 billion (actual was $63 billion), agricultural products were around $22 billion (actual was $31.5 billion), and textiles started around $18 billion (actual was $26 billion). While minor deviations from approximate values are acceptable, these errors indicate a misreading of the visual data. Consequently, the task achievement is limited by these factual inaccuracies, earning a band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into a logical structure with an introduction, a clear overall summary, and body paragraphs dedicated to specific categories. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to link ideas, such as 'contrastingly', 'similarly', and 'notably'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different groupings of data. However, due to the inaccuracies in the underlying data points, the progression of comparisons feels somewhat disconnected from the actual visual evidence. Overall, the text maintains a coherent arrangement and clear logical organization throughout, satisfying the requirements for band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task 1 response, employing terms such as 'revenues', 'exhibited', 'fluctuations', and 'downturn'. Less common lexical items are attempted, such as 'profound growth' and 'substantial rise', though some word choices and data interpretations are flawed. Spelling and word choice are generally clear and do not impede communication, allowing the response to comfortably secure a band 6.0 for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory participial phrases effectively (e.g., 'resulting in revenues of around $58 billion', 'marking an increase of 8.5%'). There is good control of basic grammar and punctuation. While minor errors exist, particularly in the precision of data reporting, grammatical structures are generally accurate and do not impede communication. The control over sentence patterns warrants a band 6.5.

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