Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-11

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 show the proportion of British students that are able to speak languages other than English in 2000 and 2010. All students belong to one university in England.

In 2000, it was highlighted that 30% of the students could not speak any language other than English. The 3 most popular languages were Spanish, French and German, in that order. 15% students were bilingual, speaking another language along with English. Similarly, 10% students were trilingual.

In 2010, monolingual students' share, i.e.those who only speak English, increased to 35%. On the other hand, Spanish and English-speaking students proportion halved, compared to 2000, at only 10%. Percentage of trilingual students increased from 10% to 15%. Simillarly, the share of bilinguag students reached 20%, from 10% a decade ago.

The overall trend of language learning of British pupils shifted from popular languages like Spanish, French and German to others. Furthermore, Contrastingly, the proportion of monolingual students increased in 10 years' time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and report several accurate changes, including the rise in students speaking another language (15% to 20%) and in those speaking two other languages (10% to 15%). However, the overview is not fully reliable: saying language learning shifted away from Spanish, French and German towards other languages overlooks that the no-other-language group also grew, while Spanish and French declined and German stayed unchanged. There is also a key inconsistency: you describe 10% as trilingual in 2000, but the chart assigns 10% to students speaking two other languages; the 15% “another language” group is a separate category. The response covers the charts, but some comparisons and the overall trend need clearer, more complete interpretation. Group the figures accurately and make the overview reflect both increases and decreases.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph for each year, and a concluding overview. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and phrases such as “On the other hand” help signal contrast. The progression is generally logical, but the final overview repeats points already made and its contrast between popular languages and “others” is not clearly supported by the data. Some linking is also mechanical or awkward, particularly “Similarly” followed by “Furthermore, Contrastingly.” To strengthen cohesion, use the final paragraph to synthesise the main changes rather than restate them, and connect comparisons precisely—for example, note that Spanish and French fell, German was stable, and the no-other-language share rose.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “monolingual,” “bilingual,” “trilingual,” and “share,” which helps describe the chart categories and changes. Some less common terms are attempted, but accuracy and natural collocation are uneven: “Spanish and English-speaking students proportion” is difficult to interpret, and “language learning … shifted from popular languages … to others” overstates what the figures show. There are also spelling errors in “Simillarly” and “bilinguag,” and “i.e.those” needs clearer spacing and punctuation. Aim for precise chart language such as “the proportion of students speaking Spanish” and “students who spoke one additional language,” and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the relative clause in “students that are able to speak” and the comparison “increased from 10% to 15%.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical patterns are awkward or incomplete. For example, “15% students” needs an article or possessive construction, and “Spanish and English-speaking students proportion halved” lacks a clear grammatical relationship between the subject and the noun “proportion.” The punctuation in “i.e.those” also makes the sentence harder to read. Use structures such as “The proportion of students who spoke Spanish and English halved” and “15% of students spoke another language.” These revisions would improve control while retaining your range of sentence forms.

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