Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-11

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 describes the number of tourists visiting a Carribian islans in millions between 2010 and 2017. Overall, the number grew steadily over the seven year period for both the visitors staying on the island as well as staying on the cruise ships.

In the line chart, the people staying on the cruise ships were over 0.25 million and on the island in 2010 were almost 0.75 million respectively. And as the years go on the number grew steadily for both. The tourists staying on the island peaked at 1.5 million in the year 2013 and stayed the same for the next two years and the then saw a minor fall in 2016 to about 1.3 million but went back up to 1.5 million in 2017.

Meanwhile, the visitors which are staying on cruise ships saw a contineous increase in the number of people which peaked in 2017 at 2 million.

In addition, the total number of tourists visiting a carribian island also saw a gradual rise during the same seven year period. It started at 1 million tourists in 2010 and peaked at 3.5 million in 2017.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall rise and report the key endpoint figures: total visitors increase from 1 million in 2010 to 3.5 million in 2017, while cruise-ship visitors reach 2 million. You also describe the island-stayer series, including its plateau and slight dip. This covers the main features and is generally accurate. However, the overview says both categories grew steadily, which is not quite true: island visitors level off and fluctuate, while cruise-ship numbers also dip in 2012. The account would be more complete with direct comparisons between the two groups and a clearer summary of how the total changed across the period, rather than only its start and end points. These omissions keep the report from being fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by details about island visitors, cruise-ship visitors, and the total. This makes the information easy to follow, and transitions such as “Meanwhile” and “In addition” help signal shifts in focus. Some linking is less controlled, however. The sentence beginning “And as the years go on” is awkwardly attached to the preceding detail, and “In addition” introduces the total without explaining its relationship to the two visitor categories. The repeated use of “number” and “visitors” also makes progression somewhat mechanical. Grouping the figures into clearer comparisons—for example, contrasting the two categories at the beginning and end—would make the organisation more purposeful and cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing trends, including “grew steadily,” “peaked,” “minor fall,” “gradual rise,” and “stayed the same.” These choices communicate the main movements, and the range is adequate for this chart. However, several noticeable spelling and word-choice problems reduce precision: “Carribian” and “islans” are misspelled, “contineous” is incorrect, and “over 0.25 million” is less accurate than “about 0.25 million.” Phrases such as “the number of people” and “the number of tourists” are repeated, while “the visitors which are staying” is an awkward way to refer to a group. Use accurate chart vocabulary and vary expressions such as “visitor numbers,” “rose,” and “remained stable” to improve control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mixture of simple and more complex forms, including the contrast introduced by “Meanwhile” and the relative clause in “the visitors which are staying on cruise ships.” Most of the meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions are present. For example, “And as the years go on the number grew” shifts from present to past tense; “the people staying on the cruise ships were over 0.25 million” has an unsuitable verb construction; and “and the then saw a minor fall” contains an unnecessary pronoun. The sentence beginning “In the line chart” also joins ideas with “And” in a way that is not well controlled. Keep the past tense consistent and check sentence boundaries, pronoun reference, and verb patterns when revising.

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