Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-11

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 7.0)

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

Overall, the total number of visitors experienced significant growth over the seven-year period. While the number of tourists choosing to stay on cruise ships saw a dramatic and continuous rise, the figures for those staying on the island plateaued in the final years.

In 2010, the total number of tourists stood at 1 million, with the vast majority 750,000 opting to stay on the island, while only 250,000 stayed on cruise ships. Over the next three years, island-based visitors increased at 1.5 million, before stabilizing at this exact figure until 2017, despite a brief dip in 2016.

Conversely, the popularity of cruise ship accommodation grew steadily from 2010 to 2012, followed by a sharp surge. Cruise ship tourists overtook island guests peaked at 2 million by 2017. Driven by this surge, the overall number of visitors climbed consistently, pausing briefly at 2.7 million in 2015 and 2016, before rising sharply to a peak of 3.5 million at the end of the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response effectively covers all requirements of the task. You have identified the main trends, such as the significant growth in total visitors and the contrasting patterns between cruise ship and island-based tourists. The use of data is accurate, and you have successfully made comparisons, such as noting when cruise ship tourists overtook island guests. The overview is clear and provides a good summary of the overall trends. To reach a higher band, ensure that all data points are clearly linked to the correct years, as the phrasing 'increased at 1.5 million' is slightly ambiguous regarding the timeline of that specific growth.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is smooth, and you have used a range of cohesive devices effectively, such as 'Conversely', 'While', and 'Driven by this surge'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different categories of tourists. The flow of information is easy to follow, and the referencing is clear throughout the text. There is a minor issue with the sentence 'Cruise ship tourists overtook island guests peaked at 2 million', which lacks a necessary conjunction or relative pronoun, slightly affecting the cohesion of that specific clause.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have demonstrated a good range of vocabulary appropriate for a report on trends, using terms like 'plateaued', 'stabilizing', 'sharp surge', and 'consistently'. This allows for precise description of the data. There are no significant spelling errors, and the word choices are generally accurate and natural. To improve further, you could incorporate more sophisticated collocations or varied synonyms to describe the movements of the lines, such as 'upward trajectory' or 'fluctuated marginally', to demonstrate a wider lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most sentences are error-free, and the grammar is generally controlled. However, there are a few minor slips, such as the missing preposition in 'increased at 1.5 million' (should be 'to') and the run-on structure in 'Cruise ship tourists overtook island guests peaked at 2 million'. Despite these occasional errors, the meaning remains clear, and the punctuation is generally handled well. Increasing the variety of complex structures would help in achieving a higher band.

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

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