Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-19

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 6.0)

The given line graph illustrates the number of tourist visitors in millions who visited the Caribbean Island and the means of accommodation preferred between 2010 and 2017.

Overall, there is a significant growth in the number of visitors over the period. Although at the beginning people preferred staying on island but later witnessed a decline. Visitors staying on cruise ships characterized by a sharp rise.

Initially, the number of visitors were approximately 1 million. However witnessed a surge and reached to 3.5 million in 2017. In 2010, many tourist opted staying in island but by the mid 2015 staying in cruise ship had overtaken it and rose to 2 million.

Subsequently, visitors staying in island plummeted to around 1.5 million. It is noticeable from the graph that the least individuals stayed in cruise ship in 2010 and 2012 where it only accommodated less than 0.5 million visitors. Visitors staying on island remained the same in 2010 and 2011.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the graph, including the overall upward trend and the crossover point between the two accommodation types. However, the reporting of data is sometimes imprecise. For instance, stating 'approximately 1 million' for the start is acceptable, but the description of the cruise ship data is slightly confusing, particularly the claim that it was the 'least' in 2010 and 2012 without clearly contrasting it with the island accommodation figures. While the main trends are identified, the analysis lacks a more sophisticated comparison of the two categories throughout the period, which is necessary for a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However', 'Subsequently', and 'Although', but they are sometimes used mechanically or with slight awkwardness. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be smoother. Referencing is mostly clear, though the sentence 'Visitors staying on cruise ships characterized by a sharp rise' lacks a proper verb, which disrupts the flow of information.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with attempts at topic-specific language like 'surge', 'plummeted', and 'overtaken'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation. For example, 'least individuals stayed' is unnatural, and 'many tourist opted staying in island' contains grammatical and lexical inaccuracies. The phrasing 'staying on island' is repetitive and lacks the precision expected at higher bands. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of variety and occasional awkward phrasing limit the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'the number of visitors were' (subject-verb agreement), 'reached to 3.5 million' (incorrect preposition), and 'opted staying' (incorrect verb pattern). Additionally, some sentences are incomplete, such as 'Although at the beginning people preferred staying on island but later witnessed a decline'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable, though they do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points of the report.

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

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