Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The line graph illustrates the volume of tourists at a Caribbean island including visitors staying on cruise ships and on island from 2010 to 2017.

Overall, it can be seen that the figures recorded a notable increase in the number of visitors, remained unchange in one year. Furthermore, people staying on cruise ships were low in number initially compared with those staying on an island, but it increased substantially during the end of the period and overtook the figure of visitors staying on island.

Looking at the total number of tourists, it was 1 million at the beginning, climbed up steadily till 2015 before remaining at the constant number for one year, afterwards increasing up to 3.5 million by the end of the period.

In terms of the number of tourists staying on an island, the figure started off at approximately 0.7 million, remained the same for one year before increasing up to 1.5 million in 2013. After that, it stood up at this point for two years before facing a substantial decline in 2016, and eventually ended up at 1.5 million.

Although, the number of tourists staying on cruise ships was smaller initially than those staying on an island, comprising almost 0.3 million, it increased to 1.5 million in 2016, overtaking the figure of the visitors staying on an island and reached up to 2 million by the end.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features, trends, and comparisons for both categories of tourists as well as the total figures. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the main trend and the significant crossover between the two visitor types. Key data points, such as the initial and final figures and the peak in 2017, are correctly identified and supported with figures from the graph. The response demonstrates a clear understanding of the visual data, satisfying the requirements for Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organised, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs dedicated to different trends. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overall description, the total figures, and the individual categories. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Looking at', and 'In terms of' are employed effectively to guide the reader through the data. However, there are minor cohesion issues, such as the fragment 'Although, the number of tourists...' at the start of the final paragraph, which slightly disrupts the flow and logical progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task, including terms like 'volume of tourists', 'notable increase', 'substantially', and 'overtaking'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary with varying degrees of success, such as 'remained unchange' (which contains a grammatical/form error) and 'stood up at this point' (which is awkward collocation). Spelling is generally accurate, but lexical control is occasionally imprecise, placing this response firmly in Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures successfully in places. However, several grammatical errors are present, such as 'remained unchange' instead of 'unchanged', 'stood up at this point' instead of 'remained stable', and an incorrect comma usage in 'Although, the number of tourists...'. While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from achieving a higher band score due to a lack of consistent control over complex structures.

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

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