Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows average carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per person in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.

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

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The line graph elucidate an average emission of carbon dioxide per head in five countries which are United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal from the year 1967 to 2007.

Taking a general overview, the release of carbon dioxide gas per person is the highest in United Kingdom at the end of the year 2007. The country that least emitted the carbon dioxide is Sweden in 2007.

It is pellucid that the United Kingdom in the beginning of the year 1967 was the highest emitter of carbon dioxide which was almost 11 metric tones, which later dwindled throughout the years and reached around 9 metric tones at the end of 2007. In addition to that, Sweden was the second most emitter of the carbon dioxide from the list which began around 8 metric tones of CO2 release which spiked over a decade and reached 11 metric tones of emission. The quantity of emission decreased throughout the three decades and reached almost 6 metric tones for release of carbon dioxide.

Moving further, Italy was the second lowest emitter of carbon dioxide starting from 4 metric tones and slowly increasing the quantity per person, which reached almost 8 metric tones in 1997 which remained the same over the period of 10 years. Furthermore, Portugal was the lowest emitter of carbon dioxide per head which gradually increased throughout the period of 30 years and remained around 5 metric tones of carbon dioxide release per person.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the graph, including the trends for all four countries. However, there are significant inaccuracies in the data reporting. For example, you state the UK was the highest emitter in 2007, but the graph shows the UK's emissions dropped below Sweden's by that time. Additionally, you mention five countries in the introduction, but only four are listed. While you identify key trends, the misinterpretation of the data points prevents a higher score. To improve, ensure you carefully cross-reference the data points with the axes before writing.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In addition to that', 'Moving further', and 'Furthermore' to transition between ideas. However, the progression of ideas is occasionally hindered by the factual inaccuracies mentioned in the task achievement section. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall structure is clear, but the flow could be improved by using more varied linking phrases rather than relying on standard list-like transitions.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'dwindled', 'spiked', and 'gradually increased'. However, there are some awkward word choices and inaccuracies, such as 'pellucid' (which is overly formal and slightly misused in this context) and 'second most emitter' (should be 'second largest emitter'). There are also minor errors in collocation, such as 'metric tones' (should be 'metric tonnes'). While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, the precision is inconsistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The line graph elucidate...' and '...which remained the same over the period of 10 years.' There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The line graph elucidate' should be 'The line graph elucidates') and article usage ('the United Kingdom' is correct, but 'the list' is unnecessary). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage.

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

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