Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-10

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 illustrates what Anthropology graduates are doing after completing their undergraduate degree. The table displays the salaries of anthropologists after five years of work experience.

Overall, majority of the anthropology graduates are working full-time after completing their undergraduate degree while a minimum portion is occupied by students who are working part-time and are also doing postgraduate study parallely. The anthropologists working in the government sector have the highest salaries followed by freelance consultants.

52% of the total anthropology graduates are working full-time and this category is dominates the chart. 15% of the graduates are working part-time while 12% are unemployed. The proportion of graduates pursuing full-time postgraduate study is 8%. The lowest share which is 5% is occupied by students who are working part-time and are also doing postgraduate study side by side.

After five years, the salaries of 40% of the anthropology graduates working as freelance consultants is between $75,000 and $99,999 and the same percentage is earning $100,000 plus. While 50% of the graduates employed in the government sector are earning more that $100,000 which is the highest percentage. 10% of the graduates working in the private companies are earning between $25,000 to $49,999. This employment type has the highest percentage of people in this range while only 30% are earning more than $100,000.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover both visuals and provide a clear overview: full-time work is the largest destination, while the combined part-time and postgraduate category is the smallest, and government employees have the greatest share in the top salary band. Most figures are accurate, including the 52%, 15%, 12% and 8% destination figures and the salary distributions you select. However, the overview’s claim that government workers have the “highest salaries” is too broad: freelance consultants also have 40% earning $100,000 or more, compared with 50% in government. The table discussion is selective and leaves out useful contrasts, such as private-company employees’ 35% share in the $50,000–74,999 band. More precise comparisons across all three employment types would make the response more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised effectively into an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on graduate destinations and a final paragraph on salaries. This gives the reader a clear progression between the two visuals, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “while” and “After five years” help signal the relationships between ideas. The information is generally easy to follow. Some connections could be made more precise: the overview’s comparison of government salaries with freelance consultants is not fully supported by the figures, and the final paragraph moves between salary bands without consistently comparing the same bands across employment types. Grouping the table data by salary range or making direct sector-to-sector comparisons would strengthen the progression further.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “undergraduate degree,” “postgraduate study,” “freelance consultants” and “government sector.” The wording is generally clear, and you vary expressions for reporting proportions. Some choices are imprecise or awkward, however: “a minimum portion is occupied by students” is unnatural for describing a chart, and “parallely” and “side by side” are not suitable in this formal context. “More that $100,000” also contains a spelling error and would be clearer as “more than $100,000.” Aim for precise, conventional chart language such as “accounted for,” “the smallest proportion” and “earned.” This would improve naturalness and accuracy while retaining your useful range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and most of the information remains understandable. There are some errors in agreement and sentence construction, as in “this category is dominates the chart”; use either “this category dominates” or “is the dominant category.” The overview also needs an article in “the majority of anthropology graduates.” In the final paragraph, “the salaries … is between” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and the sentence beginning “While 50%...” is a fragment because it is not joined to a main clause. You also use a few long sentences that would benefit from clearer punctuation. Check agreement, articles and complete sentence structure, while continuing to use complex comparisons.

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