Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-01
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 chart and the table show the changes across various sectors of exports of a country such as petroleum products, engineered goods, gems and jewellery, agricultural products and textiles in 2015 and 2016.
Overall, the data show that majority of exports rose in 2016 compared to 2015 in all sectors except gems and jewellery.
Petroleum products and engineered goods were the most exported goods in terms of USD value, both stood at approximately 61 billion USD and 56 billion USD respectively with having 3% and 8.5% increment in export value in 2016.
Gems and jewellery is the only sector where a country faced decline in exports in 2016 compared to 2015. Its figures dropped from 43 billion USD in 2015 to 41 billion USD in 2016 which is 5.18% decline. The agricultural exports stayed relatively stable during those years with 0.81% increase in 2016 compared to the 31 billion USD of exports in 2015. The textile sector saw the significant development in exports which grew from 26 billion USD in 2015 to 31 billion USD in 2016 which is 15.24% of growth in a year.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of export earnings across five categories for both 2015 and 2016 while accurately integrating the percentage changes provided in the table. The overview clearly highlights the overarching trend that most sectors experienced growth, with gems and jewellery as the sole exception. Data points are appropriately selected and supported, such as noting that petroleum products and engineered goods were the top earners and detailing the 15.24% surge in textiles. To achieve a higher score, the response could have extended its comparisons by contrasting the magnitude of growth across multiple sectors more dynamically, ensuring every detail is fully elaborated with deeper analytical commentary rather than simply listing figures.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the introductory paraphrase to the overview and subsequent body paragraphs. Information is generally well-sequenced, with each body paragraph dedicated to specific groupings of data. Cohesive devices are employed adequately to link ideas, such as using 'Overall' to signal the summary and transitional phrases like 'The agricultural exports stayed relatively stable'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel somewhat mechanical or formulaic, and paragraphing could be structured more fluidly to bridge the transition between the top two sectors and the remaining categories. Strengthening the flexibility of cohesive ties would elevate the organizational quality further.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully incorporating domain-specific terms such as 'sector', 'export value', 'increment', and 'decline'. Less common lexical items are attempted with some success, such as 'relatively stable' and 'significant development'. However, there are occasional awkward word choices and minor inaccuracies in collocation, such as 'a country faced decline' (missing an article or plural form) and '15.24% of growth' (where 'growth of 15.24%' would be more natural). While these errors do not impede communication, refining word choice and utilizing a wider variety of precise terminology would enhance the lexical score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied syntactic structures such as relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'which grew from... to... which is 15.24% of growth'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('majority of exports' instead of 'the majority of exports') and slight awkwardness in phrasing clauses. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication and the majority of simple sentences are clear. To reach a higher standard, the writer needs to improve control over complex grammatical patterns, ensure accurate article usage, and reduce minor structural slips.
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