Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-07-27

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the proportions of British students at one university in England who were able to speak other languages in addition to English, in 2000 and 2010

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The two pie charts show the percentages of British students who could speak other languages in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, more students could speak another language in 2010 than in 2000. Spanish was the most popular language in both years. Also, fewer students spoke only English in 2010.

In 2000, 30% of students spoke no other language. Spanish was the second largest group at 20%. French and another language were both 15%. German and two other languages were 10% each.

In 2010, the percentage of students who spoke Spanish went up to 35%. Another language also increased from 15% to 20%. Students who could speak two other languages rose from 10% to 15%. However, French went down from 15% to 10%. German stayed the same at 10%. The number of students who spoke no other language fell from 30% to 10%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the charts and makes relevant comparisons. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the task achievement score. While the overview is clear and the data is accurately reported, the analysis lacks depth. To improve, you should aim to group data more effectively rather than listing figures for each category. For instance, you could contrast the significant decline in 'no other language' with the growth in 'Spanish' and 'two other languages' more synthetically. Because the response is under-length, it cannot reach the higher bands, as it fails to fully develop the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on the specific years. The use of cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In 2000', 'In 2010', and 'However' helps the reader follow the progression of information. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the time periods. To reach a higher band, you could incorporate a wider variety of linking phrases to connect the data points more fluidly, rather than relying on simple sentence structures to present each statistic.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have used a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the data, such as 'proportions', 'percentages', 'increased', 'rose', and 'fell'. The vocabulary is accurate and appropriate for the task. However, the range is somewhat limited and repetitive. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated synonyms for trends and proportions, such as 'a significant shift', 'remained stable', or 'accounted for'. The current vocabulary is functional but lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher band scores.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The response demonstrates a good level of grammatical accuracy, with most sentences being error-free. You have used a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. While there are no major errors that impede communication, the range of structures is somewhat basic. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to integrate more complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses or participle phrases, to describe the changes in the data. For example, instead of 'Spanish was the second largest group at 20%', you could write 'Spanish, which was the second largest group, accounted for 20% of the total'.

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