Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-17

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 compare the proportions of British students at university in England who could speak other languages apart from English in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, Spanish was most popular in both periods of 2000 and 2010, while the proportion of students who spoke no other language declined in 2010 by the margin of 10%. Speakers of two other languages and another language increased their contribution by 5% in 2010. German was the only language whose proportion remained constant in both eras.

In 2000 and 2010, Spanish remained the highest proportion, while there was only a 5% increase in 2010, and it fluctuated from 30 to 35%. French and another language had the same position at the start of the 21st century, but at the end of the first decade, another language outweighed French by the dramatic increase of 5%. The contribution of multilingual language students who spoke two languages rose significantly from 10 to 15%.

In contrast, the percentage of students who spoke no other language fell in the next ten years from 20 to 10%. Another language students experienced an upward trend and showed a slight increase of 5% at the end of the decade. The contribution of German speakers remained stable in both periods.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main features and provided a clear overview of the data. You covered all categories (Spanish, French, German, 'another language', 'two languages', and 'no other language') and made relevant comparisons between 2000 and 2010. However, the analysis is slightly repetitive, and some descriptions of the trends are a bit imprecise—for example, stating that Spanish 'fluctuated' when it simply increased from 30% to 35%. To reach a higher band, ensure that your data reporting is perfectly accurate and that you avoid repeating the same information in different paragraphs. Overall, you have addressed all parts of the task well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Overall', and 'while' to connect your ideas effectively. The progression of information is generally clear, although the transition between the second and third paragraphs feels slightly disjointed because you repeat information about the 'no other language' category and 'another language' category. Improving the flow between these sections would make the response more cohesive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different aspects of the data.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Phrases like 'remained constant', 'upward trend', and 'outweighed' are used effectively. However, there are some minor issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'increased their contribution' or 'at the end of the first decade', which sound slightly unnatural in this context. You also repeat the word 'contribution' several times. To improve, try to vary your verbs and nouns when describing statistical changes (e.g., 'rose', 'climbed', 'dipped', 'remained stable') to show more flexibility and precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most of your sentences are clear and easy to follow. There are some minor grammatical slips, such as 'the proportion of students who spoke no other language declined in 2010 by the margin of 10%' (should be 'by a margin of 10%') and 'Another language students' (which is slightly awkward phrasing). Despite these occasional errors, your grammar does not impede communication, and you maintain good control over tense usage throughout the report.

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

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