Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-28

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 pie chart and the table illustrate the different paths that the antropology graduates took up following their undergraduate degree and the percentage of employees in different income brackets across different sectors.

The majority of graduates were employed in full-time jobs, while only a small percentage pursued part-time work while simultaneously undertaking postgraduate study. Those earning the highest salaries ($100,000+) were most commonly employed in the government sector. There was a more varied distribution of employees across the different salary ranges in private companies and among freelance consultants.

The highest proportion of students took up full time jobs (52%). By contrast, a significantly smaller proportion of individuals took up other paths, 15% were employed as part-time workers, 8% took up full-time postgraduate study and much smaller percentage of just 5% took up part-time work along with postgraduate study. 12% of all students remained unemployed while information regarding 8% of students was not available.

The percentage of graduates employed in different sectors was compared across four distinct salary brackets. The highest earners were employed in government sector with upto 50% of individuals earning over $100,000, while only 40% of freelance consultants and 30% of private company employees were able to achieve this income. The highest proportion of employees in private companies (35%) earned in the range of $50,000-74,999. An equal proportion of freelance consultants fell into the $75,000–$99,999 and $100,000+ categories. The highest proportion falling in the lowest income bracket ($25,000-$49,999) were employed in private companies (10%).

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The student provides a good overview of both the charts and effectively selects and reports key features. The response covers both the post-graduation destinations and the salary brackets across sectors. For instance, the student correctly highlights that the majority of graduates entered full-time work (52%) and that the highest earners ($100,000+) were most commonly found in the government sector (50%). Comparisons between sectors and salary brackets are well made, such as contrasting freelance consultants and private company employees. The data is accurately reported without any major misinterpretations, satisfying all the requirements of Task 1 effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organised into clear paragraphs, starting with an introductory sentence, followed by an overview paragraph, and then detailed body paragraphs handling the destination data and the salary data respectively. Cohesive devices are used appropriately to link ideas, such as "By contrast," and "The highest proportion of students..." Paragraphing is handled well, ensuring that the progression of information feels natural and easy to follow. Referencing is clear throughout, making the overall structure robust and coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response. Phrases like "significantly smaller proportion," "varied distribution," and "distinct salary brackets" show an ability to use less common lexical items with some precision. However, there is a minor spelling slip in the introduction ("antropology" instead of "anthropology") and some slight repetition in sentence openings. Overall, the lexical range is sufficient to convey precise information and comparisons effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writer demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and comparative constructions ("The highest proportion of students took up full time jobs (52%)" and "while only 40% of freelance consultants... were able to achieve this income"). The majority of sentences are grammatically accurate, with good control over tense and punctuation. While there is a minor missing hyphen in "full time" and a missing article in "in government sector," these errors are infrequent and do not impede communication at all.

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