Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-26

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 illustrates the number of tourists,measured in millions, who visited a particular island called Caribbean from 2010 to 2017.

Overall, Both visitors who stayed on cruise ships and on island had significant increased throughout the period, but fluctuated in each section.

In 2010, the tourists who stayed at ships started from 0.25 million and the tourists who spent time on island at 0.75 million and total visitors was at 1 million. In 2012, the cruise ship visitors fluctuated and stayed at similar position as in 2010 and island tourists had soared to 1.25 million and 1.5 million as total. In 2014, the visitors of cruise ships surged at 1 million and the island people slightly increased to 1.5 million, and the sum up tourism reached at 2.5 millions.

In 2016, the visitors who stayed on ships had considerable rise to reach at 1.5 millions. In contrast, the island tourists had progressively decline to 1.25 millions, in total, the tourism climp up at 2.75 millions. In 2017, the tourists who stayed on cruise ships reached at 2 millions and people who stayed on island recovered to 1.5 millions and ended up in 3.5 millions as final.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main components and give a clear overview that both categories rose overall, while island stays fluctuated. The selected figures are generally accurate: for example, cruise-ship visitors reached 1.5 million in 2016 and 2 million in 2017, while island visitors fell to 1.25 million before recovering. However, the overview says both groups increased “throughout,” which is not quite accurate because cruise-ship numbers dipped in 2012 and island numbers declined in 2016. Some stages are also less fully reported: the 2011 and 2013 figures are omitted, and the final comparison could make clearer that cruise-ship visitors overtook island visitors in 2017. State the overall pattern more precisely and select key turning points to strengthen the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is arranged in a sensible sequence: an introduction and overview are followed by chronological details, with later years grouped into separate paragraphs. This gives the reader a generally clear progression, and transitions such as “In contrast” and “In 2017” help signal comparisons and time changes. To make the organisation more effective, avoid presenting the data as a series of isolated year-by-year statements; group the two visitor categories around their contrasting trends. Some linking is awkward or unclear, as in “In 2016… In contrast… in total,” where the relationship between the island decline and the total increase could be expressed more smoothly. Clearer sentence boundaries and more consistent punctuation would also help cohesion feel less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing trends, including “surged,” “fluctuated,” “recovered,” and “considerable rise.” These choices help distinguish changes across the period, and the meaning is generally understandable. However, several phrases are inaccurate or unnatural for this task, such as “tourists who stayed at ships,” “island people,” “sum up tourism,” and “climp up.” There is also some repetition of “visitors” and “tourists,” and “significant increased” uses the wrong form. Aim for precise chart language and natural collocations, such as “cruise-ship visitors,” “visitors staying on the island,” and “the total rose.” Proofreading spelling and word forms would make your vocabulary more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause in “In contrast, the island tourists…” and several sentences combining figures for the two groups. The main trends remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “had significant increased” has an incorrect verb form, while “the tourists who stayed on island” needs an article. In “the tourists who spent time on island at 0.75 million and total visitors was at 1 million,” the sentence lacks a clear main verb for the first figure and has subject–verb disagreement in “visitors was.” Commas also join independent clauses in places, particularly around the 2016 details. Check articles, agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries to improve accuracy while retaining varied structures.

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.