Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-24
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 7.5)
The line graph illustrates how the total number of visitors to a Caribbean island changed between 2010 and 2017, broken down into those staying on cruise ships and those staying on the island itself.
Overall, the total number of tourists rose substantially over the period, more than tripling from 1 million to 3.5 million. This growth was driven initially by visitors staying on the island, but from 2014 onwards it was largely fuelled by a sharp rise in cruise ship passengers.
In 2010, tourists staying on the island (0.75 million) considerably outnumbered those on cruise ships (0.25 million), and this pattern of island-based visitors dominating continued until 2013, when numbers reached 1.5 million and 0.5 million respectively. From 2012 to 2015, the number of on-island visitors remained comparatively stable, hovering around 1.25 to 1.5 million, with only minor fluctuations.
By contrast, cruise ship visitors saw little change until 2013, but then rose steeply and consistently, climbing from 0.5 million to 2 million by 2017. This growth was so pronounced that cruise passengers overtook on-island visitors in 2017, becoming the larger of the two groups for the first time in the period shown.
Overall total visitor numbers increased steadily throughout, with the most rapid rise occurring in the final year, when the total climbed from 2.75 million to 3.5 million, a rise attributable almost entirely to the surge in cruise ship arrivals.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 7.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 7.5 |
| Overall | 7.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5
The response fully and accurately addresses all parts of the task. It provides a clear, well-supported overview highlighting the main trends and the shift in dominance between tourist types. Specific figures from the visual data, such as the rise from 1 million to 3.5 million overall and the crossover of cruise ship passengers in 2017, are correctly reported and contrasted. The student successfully identifies and describes key features without getting bogged down in unnecessary minor details, meeting all the requirements of the Task Achievement descriptor for Band 8.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5
Information and ideas are logically sequenced throughout the response, creating a clear progression from the overall trends down to specific data points. Paragraphing is used effectively and appropriately, with a distinct introductory paragraph, a clear overview, and well-structured body paragraphs focusing on different categories. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'By contrast', and 'respectively' are managed naturally and flexibly without being mechanical, fully satisfying the requirements for a high band score.
Lexical Resource: Band 7.5
The student demonstrates a wide and flexible lexical range suitable for an Academic Task 1 response. Vocabulary is used with precision to describe trends and comparisons, featuring strong phrases such as 'substantially over the period', 'fuelled by a sharp rise', and 'comparatively stable'. Word choice and collocations are natural throughout, with only occasional minor phrasing choices that remain completely unobtrusive. The lexical control easily meets the criteria for Band 8.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.5
The response employs a wide and varied range of complex sentence structures with a high degree of control. The majority of sentences are error-free, featuring effective use of participial phrases, relative clauses, and comparative structures. Grammar and punctuation are handled with accuracy, allowing the reader to follow the complex data comparisons effortlessly. Only rare, non-systematic slips are present, aligning securely with the Band 8 descriptors.
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