Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-17

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows what Anthropology graduates from one university did after finishing their undergraduate degree course. The table shows the salaries of the anthropologists in work after five years.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparison where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates the percentage of the six different destination of anthropology graduates that obatin their degree from a particular university while the accompanying table describes four categories of monthly earnings that anthropology graduates recieved after five years of working.

Overall, it is evdient that highest percentage of anthropology graduates are full-time workers and the largest percentage of graduates who earn above $100,000 work in government sectors and as freelance consultants. However, larger number of people who works in private companies earns $50,000-49,000.

Regarding the destination of the anthropology gradutes, 52% of these graduates secured a full-time work, followed by those who work as a part time at 15% and 12% of these graduates are unemployed. Meanwhile, people who secured full time alongside with postgrad study and those who their destination are unknown shared similar percentage at 8% and people with part-time work and still doing their postgrad study reported the lowest percentage at 5%.

Turning to salaries of anthropology graduates, 5% of those who work as freelance consultants and at government sectors earn between $25,000- 49,999 while 10% of those who secured a job at private companies earn $25,000- 49,999. However,15% of freelance consultants and government sectors earn $50,000-74,999 and 35% of those works in private companies earn 50,000-$74,999. Conversely, 40% of freelance consultants earn a salary between $75,000-99,999 and $100,000 above whereas 30% of those who work in government sectors earn $75,000-99,999 and 25% of people who gained employment in private companies earn similar amount. Consequently, 50% of candidates who secured a job in government sectors and 30% of people in private companies recieved a salary above $100,000.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The candidate successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by summarizing the main features of both the bar chart and the table, and makes relevant comparisons. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting key trends such as the dominance of full-time work and the high salaries in government sectors and among freelance consultants. Key data points are correctly cited, such as 52% for full-time work and 50% of government sector workers earning above $100,000. However, there is a minor error in the overview regarding private company salaries ($50,000-49,000 range typo), and some figures are slightly compressed, but overall, the task is well covered with appropriate detail and accurate reporting of the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by an overview, a body paragraph on graduate destinations, and a final body paragraph detailing salary distributions. Logical progression is maintained throughout the text. Cohesive devices are used adequately to guide the reader, with phrases like 'Meanwhile', 'Turning to salaries', and 'Conversely'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes slightly mechanical or clumsy, as seen in awkward phrasing like 'those who their destination are unknown'. Paragraphing is handled appropriately, ensuring the structure is easy to follow despite minor cohesive flaws.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The candidate demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'consultants', 'unemployed', and 'distribution' concepts. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the response, including 'obatin' instead of 'obtain', 'recieved' instead of 'received', 'evdient' instead of 'evident', and the range error '$50,000-49,000'. Despite these errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas clearly, and the choice of reporting verbs and percentages is generally appropriate for an academic task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate structures like 'while the accompanying table describes...' and 'percentage of anthropology graduates who earn...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward constructions, such as 'destination of anthropology graduates that obatin', 'those who work as a part time', and 'those who their destination are unknown'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but minor slip-ups occur. While errors are present, they do not impede communication, and the writer demonstrates a reasonable control over sentence architecture.

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