Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-08

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 two pie charts illustrate 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.

Overall it is clear that, the proportion of students speaking no other language increased, while students speaking spanish only decreased. Students speaking german remained stable over the period.

To begin with, in 2000, 30% of students could not speak another language. Spanish was the second most common language, at 20%, followed by French and another language at 15% each. German and two other languages accounted for 10% each.

Turning to remaining data, in 2010, the proportion of students who spoke no other language increased to 35%. In contrast, the figure for Spanish fell to 10%. French also declined slightly, from 15% to 10%, while German remained unchanged at 10%. Furthermore, the proportion of students speaking another language increased from 15% to 20%, and those who could speak two other languages rose from 10% to 15%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main movements accurately: the share speaking no other language rises from 30% to 35%, Spanish falls from 20% to 10%, and German stays at 10%. The overview also highlights the contrasting trends, and the body includes the figures for all six categories. This gives the report a clear, relevant response to the task. However, the response contains 140 words, below the required 150, so the account is somewhat brief; the overview and comparisons could be developed further. For example, you could explicitly note that “another language” and “two other languages” both increased, and clarify that the categories with the largest shares in 2010 were no other language and another language. This would make the key features more fully reported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information is arranged in a sensible sequence: an introduction, an overview, then details for 2000 and 2010. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “In contrast,” “while,” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships between figures. The paragraphing is appropriate and the report progresses logically. Some cohesion is a little mechanical, however: “To begin with” and “Turning to remaining data” announce sections rather than showing the comparison directly, and the latter phrase is not especially clear. To strengthen the flow, group related changes across both years—for example, compare the declines in Spanish and French together, then the increases in the two other-language categories—using concise transitions and clear references.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for describing the charts, and phrases such as “accounted for,” “remained unchanged,” and “the figure for Spanish fell” communicate the data clearly. You also use several suitable ways to describe proportions and change. The range is somewhat repetitive, though, with frequent use of “proportion,” “students,” and “increased,” and some wording is imprecise: “speaking no other language” is less natural than “speaking no language other than English.” Also, “Spanish” should be capitalised in the overview. Greater variety in trend vocabulary and more precise category labels would improve flexibility and accuracy. For instance, distinguish “another language” from “two other languages” consistently rather than relying on broad descriptions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and most sentences convey the figures clearly. Comparisons are handled effectively in structures such as “French also declined slightly, from 15% to 10%, while German remained unchanged at 10%.” There are some punctuation and sentence-control issues, including the unnecessary comma in “Overall it is clear that, the proportion…”; the comma should not separate “that” from its clause. The opening overview sentence would also read more smoothly without the comma after “clear.” Your grammatical control is generally sufficient for the task, but a wider range of accurately controlled comparison structures would help. Check punctuation around introductory phrases and clauses, and vary sentence patterns without making them unnecessarily long.

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