Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-10

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 bar chart illustrates the value of a country's exports in several categories in the year 2015 and 2016 while the table represents the change in each category's exports from 2015 to 2016.

Overall, the data considers 5 product categories. While most of the products have observed a growth in the value of exports, gems and jewellery remains the only category that has noticed a decrement of 5.18% from 2015 to 2016.

Despite petroleum products observing a marginal growth from 61 billion dollars in 2015 to 64 billion dollars in 2016 it continues to be the product category that tops the chart in terms of export value. This is followed by engineered goods which has noticed a surge by 8.5%. Following this is the agricultural goods category which observed minute growth of 0.81%. Lastly, while textile remained the good with the lowest value of exports across all consumer goods it has seen a significant growth by 15.24% from 2015 to 2016.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main pattern that most categories rose and gems and jewellery was the only one to fall, and you correctly report its 5.18% decline and the percentage increases for engineered goods, agriculture and textiles. Petroleum products are also correctly identified as the leading category. However, the 2016 petroleum figure is given as $64 billion, whereas the chart shows approximately $63 billion. The overview could also compare the categories more fully: textiles had the largest percentage rise, while agricultural products changed very little, and gems and jewellery fell in value. The account is relevant and covers the main features, but some comparisons and supporting figures are less fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing category-level details. The sequence from petroleum to engineered goods, agriculture and textiles is easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “This is followed by” and “Lastly” help signal progression. However, the final paragraph omits the actual values for several categories and does not explain the gems and jewellery figures, so the comparison feels incomplete. Some transitions are also repetitive, particularly the repeated use of “followed” and “Following this.” Grouping the categories by their trends, or comparing the highest and lowest values together, would create a more developed progression and make the relationships between the data clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “marginal growth,” “surge,” “minute growth” and “significant growth,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are, however, some imprecise or unnatural choices. “Decrement” is not a natural way to describe a fall in export value, while “observing” and “noticed” are awkward when applied to product categories or data. “Consumer goods” is also inaccurate in this context, as the chart concerns export categories rather than consumer goods. Aim for precise reporting verbs and standard collocations, such as “rose,” “recorded an increase,” and “declined.” This would make the vocabulary more natural and better suited to formal data description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concessive structure beginning “While most of the products…” and a longer sentence contrasting petroleum’s growth with its leading position. Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical choices reduce accuracy. In “petroleum products observing … it continues,” the participial clause does not connect cleanly to the main clause; a clearer construction would be “Although the value of petroleum exports rose…, this category remained…”. There is also a number-agreement issue in “engineered goods which has noticed,” since the plural category name calls for “have,” or the sentence can be recast with “the value … has.” More consistent control of clause structure and agreement would strengthen the response.

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