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, while the share of students who spoke no other language declined in 2010 by a margin of 10%. Speakers of two other languages and another language increased their share by 5% in 2010. German was the only language whose percentage remained constant in both eras.

In both periods, Spanish remained the highest, while there was a relative 5% increase in 2010, and it jumped 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 a steady increase of 5%. The contribution of multilingual 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%. The number of students speaking Another language experienced an upward trend and showed a slight increase of 5% at the end of the decade. The proportion of German speakers remaining 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 and made relevant comparisons between the two years. The data points are generally accurate, although there is a slight inconsistency in your description of the 'no other language' category, which you correctly identified as declining from 20% to 10%. The inclusion of specific percentages adds clarity to your report. To reach a higher band, ensure that all comparisons are precise; for instance, when mentioning that 'another language' outweighed French, explicitly stating the figures would strengthen the analysis. Overall, the response is well-structured and addresses the prompt effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and supporting body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Overall', and 'In both periods' to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the general trends from the specific details. However, the flow could be improved by varying the sentence structure slightly more to avoid repetitive phrasing. The progression of ideas is logical, moving from the most significant trends to specific language categories. The use of referencing is generally clear, ensuring that the reader can easily follow the comparisons made between 2000 and 2010.

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. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'in both eras' (which is slightly unnatural for a ten-year period) and 'the contribution of multilingual students', which is a bit imprecise given the data. However, these do not impede communication. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic collocations related to data reporting, such as 'a marginal decrease' or 'a significant shift'. Your spelling is accurate throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most sentences are clear and easy to follow. There are a few grammatical slips, such as 'The proportion of German speakers remaining stable' (which is a fragment rather than a full sentence) and 'at the start of the 21st century' (which is slightly wordy). Despite these minor errors, your control of grammar is generally good, and the meaning is never obscured. To achieve a higher score, focus on ensuring that every sentence has a clear subject and a finite verb, and try to incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures.

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.