Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-01

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 compares the trends of carbon emissions per person in countries United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.

Overall, the United Kingdom remains at top and decrease significantly, followed by Sweden peaking at some point then sharply went down. And Italy and Portugal increased significantly throughout the years.

To begin with, the decreasing trends the carbon emission per person of United Kingdom went down from 11 tonnes in 1967 to 8.7 tonnes in 2007. While Sweden started at 8.7 tonnes in 1967 Sharply increased and almost touched UK at 10.1 tonnes in 1977 and then dramatically fell down 7 tonnes in 1987 after that moderately decrease to final 5.5 tonnes in 2007.

Whereas Italy and Portugal had same pattern throughout the years where Italy started with 4.2 tonnes in 1967 significantly increase to 6.2 tonnes in 1977 after that trend went slowly upward to 7.8 tonnes and remain same through the final decade. Lastly Portugal almost followed the Same pattern with 1 ton in 1967 gradually increased with two decades to 3.2 tonnes went upwards till 1997 to 5.3 tonnes lastly increased slowly to meat the Sweden in 2007 with 5.5 tonnes

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover all four countries and identify the main overall patterns: the UK and Sweden decline over the period, while Italy and Portugal rise. The overview also notes Sweden’s peak, and the body includes relevant start and end figures, so the response meets the task well. Some comparisons are less fully developed, however. For example, the UK remains the highest by 2007, while Italy has risen to second place and Portugal catches Sweden; these changing rankings could be stated more clearly. The claim that Italy and Portugal follow the “same pattern” is broad, since Italy levels off at the end whereas Portugal continues to rise. A more precise overview and clearer comparisons would strengthen the report further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs grouping the declining and rising countries. This makes the main information easy to locate. However, some linking is mechanical or awkward, particularly the repeated use of “after that” and the opening “Whereas” in a sentence that is not properly connected to the previous one. The overview’s sequence, “And Italy and Portugal,” also feels abrupt. Within the final paragraph, the figures are presented in a long chain, so the reader has to work to distinguish the stages of each country’s trend. Use clearer sentence boundaries and a few purposeful comparisons to improve progression and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “peaking,” “dramatically fell,” “moderately decrease,” and “gradually increased,” which helps describe changes over time. Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, though: “remains at top” and “meat the Sweden” do not express the intended comparisons naturally, while “carbon emissions” and “carbon emission” are used inconsistently. There are also spelling and form errors, such as “Same” being capitalised mid-sentence and “decrease” where a past-tense form is needed. Aim for precise collocations and consistent terminology, such as “per-capita CO₂ emissions,” “remained the highest,” and “matched Sweden’s figure.” This would make the report more fluent and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex structures, including clauses linked with “while” and “whereas,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, complex sentences are often incomplete or poorly joined. For example, “While Sweden started at 8.7 tonnes … Sharply increased” is a fragment, and “Whereas Italy and Portugal had same pattern” is not a complete sentence in this context. Verb forms also need attention: “the United Kingdom … decrease” should be “decreased,” and “Italy … increase” should be “increased.” Missing articles and punctuation, as in “had same pattern” and the long final sentence, further reduce accuracy. Build shorter complete sentences first, then combine them with correctly punctuated clauses.

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

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