Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-01
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 comapres the number visitors who did two different activities on Caribbean island from 2010 to 2017. Overall, the total number of visitors rose substantially throughout the period. Staying on island was the most popular activity until about 2015, whereas staying on cruise ships became the most attractive option.
The total number of people who visited the Caribbean island grew dramatically over the seven-year period. In 2010, just 1 million visitors on the island, before increasing steadily over the next six-year when it reached just over 2.5 million in 2015 and 2016, than followed by a sharp grow to 3.5 million by 2017.
looking at the activities people engaged during their stay on the island. Visitors preferred to remained on the island from 2010 to 2015, their number starting from about 0.75 million until 2011 when the figure experienced a gradual rise to reach 1.5 million in 2013 and remaiend at this level until 2015. In contrast, staying on cruise ships during their stay was the least common, as it constituted less than 0.5 million in 2010 and fluctuated around 0.5 million until 2013, when it grow to reach just over one million by 2015.
Turining to the most common activity after 2015. Althoug staying on island was the most preferred activity over the five-year period, its figure ecperienced a fall after 2015 as visitors attracted to stay on cruise ships. By 2017, the figure for staying on cruise ships had grown to 2 million, while that for staying on island was 1.5 million.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features, trends, and comparisons regarding visitor numbers to the Caribbean island. An appropriate overview is provided, noting the overall upward trend in total visitors and the shifting popularity between cruise ship visitors and those staying on the island. Key data points are selected and reported accurately, such as the total reaching 3.5 million by 2017 and the crossover in visitor types after 2015. However, some areas are slightly under-developed or less fully explained, such as the mid-period plateau in island-staying visitors. Furthermore, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting specific intermediate years, which prevents the response from reaching a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The report presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression throughout the text. Information is divided into logical paragraphs, starting with an introductory overview, followed by the total figures, and then detailed breakdowns of the two visitor categories. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', and 'Turning to'. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or slightly faulty, and referencing is not always completely clear—for instance, in phrases like 'their number starting from about 0.75 million' where the antecedent is slightly ambiguous. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but minor lapses in cohesive flow prevent a higher score.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to data trends such as 'rose substantially', 'grew dramatically', and 'fluctuated'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, form, and spelling. Examples include typos and awkward collocations like 'comapres', 'sharp grow' instead of 'growth', 'remained' instead of 'remain', and 'ecperienced' instead of 'experienced'. While these vocabulary errors and spelling slips do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to the current level due to a lack of precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as subordinate clauses ('whereas staying on cruise ships became...'). However, control over grammar and sentence architecture is inconsistent, containing frequent errors that point towards lower-band limitations while still retaining some mid-level elements. There are missing verbs and articles, awkward prepositional phrases, and tense inconsistencies, such as 'just 1 million visitors on the island, before increasing' (missing main verb), 'over the next six-year' (plural error), and 'than followed by' (incorrect conjunction and passive structure). These frequent errors in grammar and punctuation mean that error-free sentences are relatively scarce.
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