Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22
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 graph illustrates the number of tourists falling to the allure of the Caribbean islands. Tourism has always played a huge role in contributing to a nation's economy and such islands help a great deal in attracting tourists. The number of tourists never fall for these sandy beaches, as it can be seen the number of tourists have significantly increased from 2010 to 2017, but the quality of tourists has been vaying over the years.
The graph shows that the number of visitors staying on these islands saw a great incline from the year 2011 to 2015, as a result island visits remained more popular than cruise ships over these years.
After an all time low in 2012, the number of visitors staying in cruise ships saw a sudden rise over the years taking over island visits in 2016 and hitting 2 million visitors in 2017 while number of people staying on these islands fell down to 1 million.
Overall tourism has proven to be a resounding success for this island with the number of tourists rising from 1 million to 3 million in just 7 years.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the prompt by reporting information from the line graph, but there are several factual inaccuracies and unsupported claims. For instance, the text states that cruise ship visitors took over island visits in 2016 and hit 2 million in 2017 while island visitors fell to 1 million. According to the data, cruise visitors reached 2 million in 2017, but island visitors actually rose to 1.5 million in 2017, not 1 million. Furthermore, the final sentence claims total tourists rose from 1 million to 3 million, whereas the data shows an increase from 1 million to 3.5 million. The opening sentences also include irrelevant personal commentary ('falling to the allure', 'sandy beaches') rather than a pure academic summary. Consequently, the response achieves a Band 5.5 due to partial coverage and factual errors in data reporting.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The text is organized into four paragraphs, including an introduction and a concluding overview. However, the logical progression is hindered by imprecise referencing and awkward transitions. Phrases like 'After an all time low in 2012' introduce data that does not accurately reflect the graph, as 2012 was not an all-time low for cruise visitors (0.25 matched 2010). Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes mechanically or inappropriately (e.g., 'as a result island visits remained more popular'). Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas lacks complete coherence. Overall, the arrangement satisfies the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common collocations and phrases such as 'resounding success', 'allure', and 'significant increase'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices that detract from the academic tone. For example, 'quality of tourists has been vaying' contains a spelling error ('vaying' for varying) and a misuse of 'quality' instead of 'quantity' or 'number'. Similarly, 'great incline' is less natural than 'sharp increase' or 'upward trend'. Because the vocabulary is adequate but marred by spelling and word-choice errors, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some structural variety. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are missing articles, preposition errors, and subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'The number of tourists never fall' (should be 'falls') and 'visitors staying in cruise ships' (should be 'on cruise ships'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but run-on structures occasionally occur, such as in the final sentence. These errors do not completely impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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