Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

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 substantially. Speakers of German, two other languages and another language increased their share, while German remained unchanged.

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 surpassed 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 6.0

The response effectively identifies the main trends and makes relevant comparisons between the two years. You have successfully highlighted the growth in Spanish and the decline in students speaking no other language. However, there is a factual inconsistency in your summary: you state that German remained 'unchanged' in the overview, but later mention it remained 'stable'. Looking at the data, German actually increased from 10% to 15%. This inaccuracy in data interpretation prevents a higher band score. To improve, ensure that your overview accurately reflects the data provided in the charts, as precise reporting is essential for Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'In both periods', 'In contrast', and 'while' to link ideas effectively. The progression of information is generally smooth, moving from the most popular languages to the decline of non-speakers. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different aspects of the data. To reach a higher band, ensure that the transition between sentences is more varied, as some of your sentence structures feel slightly repetitive in their reliance on simple conjunctions.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Phrases like 'proportions of British students', 'declined substantially', and 'upward trend' are used accurately. You also attempt to use more precise language, such as 'contribution' and 'surpassed'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies, such as using 'jumped' which is slightly informal for an academic report, and the confusion regarding the German data mentioned earlier. To improve, focus on using more academic collocations and ensure your vocabulary choices are consistently precise when describing statistical changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. You show good control over basic grammar, and your punctuation is generally accurate. There are some minor issues with phrasing, such as 'at the end of the first decade, another language surpassed French with the difference of 10%', which could be phrased more naturally as 'by a margin of 10%'. While there are no major errors that impede communication, the range of complex structures is somewhat limited. Incorporating more varied subordinate clauses would help demonstrate a higher level of grammatical flexibility.

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

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