Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The table below shows the numbers of visitors to Ashdown Museum during the year before and the year after it was refurbished. The charts show the result of surveys asking visitors how satisfied they were with their visit, during the same two periods.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The table illustrates the numbers of visitors to Ashdown Museum during the year before and the year after it was refurbished and the charts displays the result of surveys asking visitors how satisfied they were with their visit, during the same two periods.

Overall, it is clear that number of visitors increased after the refurbishment. Moreover, proportion of people who were satisfied and very satisfied increased and dissatisfied and very dissatisfied decreased. No reponse remained stable.

To begin with, number of visitors to Ashdown Museum before refurbishment were 74000. However after the refurbishment the figure increased to 92000 visitors during the year. In terms of satisfaction, before refurbishment only 15% of visitors were very satisfied and 30% of visitors were satisfied. However, 40% were dissatisfied and a further 10% were very dissatisfied. The remaining 5% gave no response.

Drawing attention to the rest of the data, after the refurbishment, the proportion of very satisfied visitors more than doubled, rising from 15% to 35%. The percentage who were satisfied also increased from 30% to 40%. In contrast, dissatisfaction fell from 40% to 15%, while very dissatisfied visitors dropped from 10% to 5%. The proportion giving no response remained unchanged at 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of both the visitor numbers and the satisfaction surveys, meeting the criteria for a strong performance. The overview clearly highlights the main trends, noting both the increase in visitor numbers and the overall positive shift in satisfaction levels. Key data points, such as the rise from 74,000 to 92,000 visitors and the changes across the various satisfaction categories, are accurately selected and compared. However, some aspects of the data are slightly under-developed or treated with a tendency to over-generalise, keeping it just below the highest bands. For instance, while the general trends are captured well, a slightly deeper synthesis of how the dissatisfaction categories halved could have been extended further. Note that 36 words copied from the prompt were correctly excluded from the word count evaluation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression throughout. Information is divided effectively into appropriate paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by the table data and then the survey charts. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as transitional phrases like 'To begin with', 'In terms of', and 'In contrast', which help guide the reader through the data. However, cohesion occasionally feels slightly mechanical or repetitive in its sentence-opening structures. Furthermore, referencing could be managed with greater flexibility; for example, paragraph transitions rely heavily on explicit signposting rather than smoother implicit connections. To reach a higher band, the essay would benefit from a more varied and sophisticated integration of cohesive devices that make the flow of information entirely seamless and unobtrusive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'illustrates', 'proportion', 'dissatisfaction', and 'remained unchanged'. There are clear attempts to use less common vocabulary items like 'refurbished' and 'stabilise'. However, some word choice and spelling inaccuracies are present, such as 'reponse' instead of 'response'. Additionally, phrasing is at times repetitive, relying on standard museum and survey terms without demonstrating the more flexible, precise control or idiomatic collocations characteristic of higher band levels. These minor lexical slips do not impede communication, but they prevent the writing from achieving a more advanced lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a workable mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic structures and accurate reporting tenses for past data. There are several error-free sentences, particularly when handling comparative data and percentages. Nevertheless, some persistent errors in grammar and punctuation occur, notably missing articles or pluralisation issues, such as 'it is clear that number of visitors' missing the article 'the', and 'before refurbishment were 74000' where subject-verb agreement or article usage requires fine-tuning. Complex structures are attempted with varying success, but occasional minor slips persist. These errors rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the numerical data easily, but they prevent the grammar score from advancing further.

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

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