Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-25

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 line graph illustrates the number of visitors travelling to a specific Caribbean island from 2010 to 2017.

Overall, the total number of visitors increased throughout the period. However, visitors staying on cruise ships was lower in the beginning while it exceeded and their number crossed the visitors staying on island.

The total number of visitors were 1 million but their number soared dramatically over the years and reached approximately 2.7 million in 2015. It hovered around at that level until 2016 before reaching 3.5 million visitors. Tourists staying on cruise ships was lowest below 0.5 million in 2010 but this number started increasing gradually and reached 0.5 million. It is followed by a slight decline in 2012 before experiencing it's highest peak at 2 million people.

In terms of people staying on island, the number remained around 0.7 million for the first two years. After that, it started soaring and accounted for at least 1.5 million tourists on island. It plateaued at this level until 2015 which is followed by a slight decline and again restored the number at the same level in 2017 as it was in 2015.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You covered all categories (total visitors, cruise ship visitors, and island stayers) and made relevant comparisons, such as noting when cruise ship numbers overtook island stayers. However, some data points are slightly imprecise, such as stating the total was 1 million in 2010 when the graph shows it closer to 0.5 million. To reach a higher band, ensure that your data extraction is highly accurate and that you consistently highlight the most significant features rather than listing every minor fluctuation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into clear paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs focusing on specific categories. You use cohesive devices like 'Overall', 'In terms of', and 'After that' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing in the second paragraph ('their number crossed the visitors') is a bit ambiguous. Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to the intended noun would enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the trends, using words like 'soared', 'hovered', 'plateaued', and 'decline'. This is appropriate for a task of this nature. There are some minor issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'restored the number at the same level', which sounds unnatural. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations for describing statistical changes and ensure that your vocabulary is used in a way that sounds natural to a native speaker.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, subject-verb agreement issues like 'The total number of visitors were' (should be 'was') and 'Tourists staying on cruise ships was' (should be 'were'). Additionally, there is a punctuation error with 'it's' (possessive 'its' does not take an apostrophe). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for basic agreement and possessive forms.

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

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