Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-01

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 numbers of tourists who visited a Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017 in terms of where they stayed during their journey.

Overall, the lowest number of people stayed on cruise ships in begging years and it also showed fluctuation before increasing to a height. Similarly, fewest visitors stayed on island in the initial years. However, the numbers grew significantly during the period before falling in the final years compared with those stayed on cruise ships.

In detail, the fewest numbers of people stayed on cruise ships while visiting Caribbean island to about 0.3 millions in 2010, increased to 0.5 millions in 2011, declined to 0.3 million again in 2012, and finally grew sharply to 2 millions until 2017. On island, few number of people stayed to about 0.7 million in 2010 (more than those stayed on cruise ships in the initial year), then grew significantly to 1.5 millions until 2015, and then fell to nearly 1.2 millions in 2016 before reaching to 1.5 millions in 2017.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers the main features of the graph, identifying the trends for both cruise ship and island visitors. You successfully highlight the key data points and make relevant comparisons, such as noting that island visitors were more numerous in the initial year. However, the overview is slightly confusing; the phrase 'lowest number of people stayed on cruise ships in begging years' is unclear, and the summary of the trends could be more precise. To improve, ensure your overview clearly captures the overall trajectory of both categories without focusing on minor fluctuations, which are better suited for the detail paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph. You use some cohesive devices like 'However' and 'Similarly' to link ideas. However, the progression within the detail paragraph is somewhat mechanical, relying heavily on a list-like structure of dates and figures. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'those stayed on cruise ships', which lacks a clear antecedent. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would help the flow of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fluctuation', 'significantly', and 'sharply'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'in begging years' (likely meaning 'beginning') and 'few number of people'. Additionally, the repetition of 'stayed on' and 'numbers of people' limits the sophistication of the response. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, 'those stayed on cruise ships' should be 'those who stayed on cruise ships', and 'reaching to 1.5 millions' is incorrect usage (the preposition 'to' is unnecessary after 'reaching'). There are also issues with pluralization, such as '0.3 millions', where 'million' should remain singular when preceded by a number. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the data, they are frequent enough to limit the score.

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