Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the number of tourists visiting a particular Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The line graph illustrates the number of tourists who visited a specific Caribbean island from 2010 to 2017.

Overall,what stands out from the graph is that the total number of visitors was considerably rising during the given time frame,while tourists who were staying on island higher at beginning but by the end of the given period more tourists preferred to stay on cruise ships.

The total number of visitors was 1 million in 2010.These numbers saw a considerable rise until 2015, almost 2.7 million tourists were staying on Caribbean island.In 2016, huge surge was recorded in number of visitors and reached its peak in 2017, accounting for around 3.5 million people.

In 2010, approximately 0.7 million people stayed on island, while nearly 0.3 million preferred to stay on cruise ships.The number of individuals who stayed on island was increasing until 2013, and then stayed at around 1.5 million for next 3 years till 2015.While the tourists on cruise ships were continuesly rising except in 2012, there was a decline in numbers.In the middle of 2015 and 2016, it overtook those who were staying on island and welcomed its highest visitors in 2017, almost 2 million people

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response covers the main features and gives a clear overview: total visitor numbers rose overall, while island-based visitors were more numerous at the start and cruise-ship visitors at the end. Most figures and trends are accurately reported, including the total reaching about 3.5 million in 2017 and cruise-ship visitors rising to around 2 million. One important detail is misrepresented: the total did not surge in 2016; it remained at about 2.75 million from 2015 to 2016 before rising in 2017. The account of island visitors also says they stayed at 1.5 million for three years, although the figure fell to about 1.25 million in 2016. More precise comparisons would strengthen an otherwise well-selected summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear four-part structure, moving from an introduction and overview to the total figures and then the two visitor categories. This gives the reader a generally logical progression, and phrases such as “while” help compare the groups. However, some links are awkward or unclear: “In the middle of 2015 and 2016” does not clearly identify when cruise-ship visitors overtook island visitors, and the final paragraph contains several trends in one long sequence. Punctuation spacing and missing full stops also make the flow less controlled. To strengthen cohesion, separate the comparisons into clearer sentences and use precise time references such as “by 2016.”

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

There is an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “accounting for,” “peak,” “decline,” and “overtook,” which helps describe changes and comparisons. Some less common choices are attempted, but several are imprecise or do not collocate naturally: “huge surge” is inaccurate for the unchanged total in 2016, “welcomed its highest visitors” is not a natural way to describe a peak, and “staying on island” needs a more idiomatic form. “Continuesly” is also misspelled. Aim for precise, conventional graph language and check spelling; this will make the description more flexible and accurate without relying on emphatic wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons with “while” and a time clause beginning “until 2013.” Meaning is generally understandable, but errors in sentence boundaries, articles, and verb forms are frequent enough to limit control. For example, “Overall,what” and “time frame,while” lack spaces after punctuation, while “almost 2.7 million tourists were staying” is joined to the preceding sentence without a suitable connector or full stop. “The number … was increasing … and then stayed” shifts awkwardly between forms, and “for next 3 years” is missing an article. Practise accurate sentence boundaries and consistent past-tense reporting, especially in longer sentences.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.