Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-13

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 chart illustrates the percentage of British undergraduates from a university in England that spoke other languages in addition to English, in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, students speaking no other language has the biggest proportion than all in both years. Undergraduates speaking another language also increased over a decade, whereas amount of students who spoke two other languages remained the same.

In 2000, the biggest proportion was held by students who didn't speak other language, at approximately 30%. It increased to about 35% in 2010, maintaing its highest figure among all. Spanish and French speaking undergraduates shared same amount of percentage in 2010, at about 10%, but in 2000 the former recorded 20% and later recorded 15%.

Those students who were speaking another language were almost 15% in 2000, but after a decade it rose to 20%. Students speaking two other languages recorded 10% in 2000, and increased to about 15% in 2010. German speaking undergraduates were just one-tenth of proportion in both years, so it remained constant.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all the main features of the charts comparing the proportions of British students speaking other languages in 2000 and 2010. The student correctly identifies the general trends, noting that the proportion of students speaking no other language was the highest and increased over the decade. Key figures are highlighted, such as Spanish and French speaking undergraduates sharing about 10% in 2010, and German remaining constant at one-tenth. While some data points could be grouped more analytically to elevate the response further, all parts of the task are addressed with relevant information and clear comparisons. This meets the criteria for Band 6.5 or 7.0; here, the clear reporting of data points earns a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is arranged coherently with a logical overall progression from an introductory overview to specific body paragraphs detailing the statistics. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories and years. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Overall', 'In 2000', and 'after a decade', which guide the reader through the data. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as 'the former recorded 20% and later recorded 15%' where 'the later' is misspelled as 'later'. Cohesion can occasionally feel a bit mechanical, but the overall structure supports a clear, logical flow, aligning well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms such as 'proportion', 'undergraduates', 'percentage', and 'constant'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, but these are sometimes accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice or phrasing, such as 'amount of students' instead of 'number of students' and 'shared same amount of percentage'. Spelling errors also occur, such as 'maintaing' instead of 'maintaining' and 'later' instead of 'latter'. Nevertheless, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication, fitting the Band 6.0 profile.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The pie chart illustrates the percentage of British undergraduates... that spoke other languages...' and 'Those students who were speaking another language were almost 15%...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including 'students speaking no other language has the biggest proportion' (subject-verb agreement), 'didn't speak other language' (missing article/pluralisation), and 'Those students who were speaking another language were almost 15%' (awkward phrasing for data representation). Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear and communication is not severely impeded, which is characteristic of Band 6.0.

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

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