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 with the difference of 10%. 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 remained stable in both periods.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You covered all categories (Spanish, French, German, 'another language', and 'no other language') and made relevant comparisons between the two years. The data is accurately reported, such as the decline in students speaking no other language from 20% to 10%. To reach a higher band, ensure that your overview is more distinct from the body paragraphs and focus on highlighting the most significant shifts rather than listing every change. Overall, you have addressed the requirements of the task well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Overall', and 'In both periods' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the progression of ideas could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be improved to better link the specific language data to the broader trends. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the information is presented in a way that is easy to follow.

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 'at the end of the first decade' which is slightly wordy, and 'another language' which is a bit repetitive. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'plateaued', or 'a marginal decrease'. Your spelling is accurate throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most of your sentences are clear and error-free, though there are occasional minor slips, such as 'outweighed French with the difference of 10%', which would be more natural as 'outweighed French by a margin of 10%'. Punctuation is generally accurate. To achieve a higher band, try to vary your sentence structure further by using more complex subordinate clauses or passive voice constructions to describe the data trends more sophisticatedly.

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

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