Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-03

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 number of visitors who stayed on a specific Carribbean island on ships or lived inland has been illustrated in the line graph. The data has callibrated in numbers and years spanning from 2010 to 2017.

Overall, the total number of tourists were continuously rising until 2016, but the numbers reached its peak in 2017. Also, people preferred to stay on island than ships until 2014 and in the following years, they began to inclined towards the cruise ships.

To commence with, more than half of a million people opted to stay on island in 2010 and 2011. Whereas almost 0.3 million travellers visited the island stayed on ships in 2010 and it increased to half of a million in 2011. The number of visitors who lived on island kept increasing from 2011 to 2013 as it became 1.5 million and remained unchanged until 2015. In sharp contrast, the visitors who stayed on water decreased in 2012 and regained its previous status in 2013. However, it kept witnessing an upward trend until 2017 and surpassed the number of persons who lived inland in the mid of 2016.

Finally, the number of visitors who lived on ships was 2 million in 2017. While the number of tourists who lived on island was 1.5 million in the same year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview of the trends and reporting the main features of the chart regarding visitors to the Caribbean island. The writer covers both categories of visitors—those staying on cruise ships and those staying on the island—and tracks the total figures across the years. Key features, such as the peak in 2017 and the crossover point where cruise ship visitors outnumbered island-based tourists, are appropriately highlighted. However, certain comparisons and details are slightly under-developed or imprecise, such as the initial data points for 2010 and 2011. To move towards higher bands, the writer should ensure that all key data points are stated with greater precision and that the overview clearly captures the overarching structural movements of all three series from start to finish.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression from an introductory paraphrase and overview, through body details, to a concluding summary sentence. Paragraphing is used to separate different sections of the report. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical or formulaic, such as 'To commence with' and 'Finally'. Additionally, referencing could be smoother, as pronouns and connecting phrases occasionally create slight ambiguities in how data series are contrasted. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the writer needs to integrate cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that the links between sentences and paragraphs guide the reader effortlessly through the comparative data.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, successfully conveying trends and numerical changes using terms such as 'continuously rising', 'peak', 'upward trend', and 'surpassed'. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'callibrated', but this reveals some inaccuracy in word choice and spelling ('calibrated', 'Carribbean', 'inclined' instead of 'inclining'). There are also occasional awkward phrasings like 'stayed on water' or 'lived inland'. While these lexical shortcomings do not impede communication, they reflect a restricted control over precision and collocation. To reach a higher standard, the writer should expand their repertoire of academic reporting vocabulary and pay closer attention to spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting various clauses to report the visual data. There are several grammatical and mechanical errors present, including tense inconsistencies ('has been illustrated', 'The data has callibrated'), article errors ('surpassed the number of persons'), and prepositional choices ('stayed on island' instead of 'stayed on the island'). While these errors do not impede overall communication and the reader can still follow the report, they are frequent enough to restrict the score. To improve grammatical range and accuracy, the writer needs to demonstrate better control over verb tenses when describing past trends, refine article usage, and ensure closer attention to prepositions in complex sentence patterns.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.