Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-19
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 two pie charts compare the proportions of British university students in England who could speak languages other than English in 2000 and 2010. Overall, in 2010, a higher percentage of students knew additional languages, with Spanish becoming more popular while French usage declined.
In 2000, Spanish-only speakers accounted for 30% of the student population, followed by French-only speakers at 15% and German-only speakers at 10%. 15% knew another single language, and 10% mastered two other languages. Meanwhile, 20% could not speak any language besides English.
By 2010, the proportion of students speaking Spanish only rose to 35%. French-only speakers dropped to 10%, while German-only speakers remained at 10%. The percentage of students knowing another single language increased to 20%. The "no other language" group shrank to 10%, and those speaking two other languages rose to 15%.
These changes indicate a growing trend of students learning other languages, with Spanish emerging as the most commonly studied language over the decade.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to summarise the main features of the two pie charts comparing British university students' language skills in 2000 and 2010. However, there are notable inaccuracies in reading the data. For instance, the student states that in 2010 'the proportion of students speaking Spanish only rose to 35%,' whereas the chart shows 'No other language' at 35% in 2010, while Spanish is listed at 10%. Similarly, the figures for 2000 are misattributed regarding 'Spanish-only speakers' versus 'No other language'. Consequently, the overview and data reporting contain factual errors based on the ground-truth visual data, leading to a partial and flawed representation of the source material. A clearer distinction between monolingual students and those speaking specific languages is required.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organised into four paragraphs, following a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs for each year, and a concluding overview. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Meanwhile,' 'By 2010,' and 'These changes indicate.' Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two time periods. Although the logical flow and progression are generally clear, the misinterpretation of the underlying data affects the overall coherence of the comparative points. Nevertheless, the structural organisation itself is coherent and easy to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing statistical data and proportions, such as 'proportions,' 'student population,' 'accounted for,' and 'declined.' There are attempts to use less common phrasing like 'mastered two other languages' and 'growing trend.' However, due to the misreading of the data, the precise application of vocabulary to the specific data points fails. Minor lexical choices are generally appropriate, but the vocabulary range remains somewhat limited and repetitive when discussing percentages and categories.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The two pie charts compare the proportions of British university students in England who could speak languages other than English in 2000 and 2010.' Grammatical control is generally sound, with accurate past tense forms used consistently for reporting historical data ('accounted for,' 'rose,' 'remained'). There are no major grammatical errors that impede communication, and punctuation is handled correctly throughout the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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