Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-07

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 pie charts illustrate the proportions of British students at a university in England who could speak languages other than English in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, students who spoke no other language accounted for the largest proportion in both years, while German represented one of the smallest shares. The proportions speaking another language and two other languages increased, whereas Spanish and French declined.

Turning to the details, students who spoke no other language accounted for 30% in 2000, making this the largest category. This figure increased by 5 percentage points to 35% in 2010. By contrast, the proportion speaking Spanish fell considerably, from 20% to 10% over the same period.

Regarding the remaining categories, the proportion of students speaking another language increased from 15% to 20%, while the figure for those speaking two other languages rose from 10% to 15%. In contrast, the percentage speaking French declined from 15% to 10%. Meanwhile, the proportion of students who spoke German remained unchanged at 10% in both years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response effectively addresses the task by summarizing the main features of the two pie charts. You have successfully identified the key trends, such as the increase in students speaking no other language and the decline in French and Spanish speakers. The data is accurately reported, and the comparisons between the two years are clear. To reach a higher band, ensure that the 'overview' paragraph highlights the most significant shifts more explicitly, perhaps by noting the overall trend of linguistic diversity decreasing. However, all parts of the prompt are covered well, and the data selection is appropriate for a summary task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing the specific data points. The progression of ideas is smooth, and you have used cohesive devices such as 'Turning to the details', 'By contrast', and 'Regarding the remaining categories' effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the general trends from the specific data. The flow is natural, and the relationship between the different categories is easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information precisely. Phrases like 'accounted for the largest proportion', 'remained unchanged', and 'fell considerably' are used accurately. While the vocabulary is functional and appropriate for an Academic Task 1, it is somewhat standard. To achieve a higher band, you could incorporate more varied synonyms for 'increase' and 'decrease' (e.g., 'surged', 'plummeted', 'witnessed a marginal rise') to show more flexibility and sophistication in your lexical choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response displays a good command of grammatical structures. You have successfully used a mix of simple and complex sentences, such as 'students who spoke no other language accounted for 30% in 2000, making this the largest category.' The punctuation is accurate, and there are no significant errors that impede communication. The majority of your sentences are error-free. To move toward a higher band, you could experiment with more complex sentence structures, such as using passive voice or participle clauses to vary the sentence rhythm further.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.