Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 given pie chart depicts what students of Anthropology of a same university did after completing their undergraduate degree course, while the accompanying table compares the 5 year salaries of these graduates working in different departments.

Overall, most the students did full-time work, while least number of students continued their postgrad study after university. However, students working in government sector and as freelance consultants are the one with highest salaries.

Students working full-time are highest in the propotion about 52%. While unemployed and part-time workers contributed to only 12% and 15%, respectively. Whereas, the students that studied after graduation are 16% combined, in part-time and full-time postgrad study.

The students that are employed in goverment sector had the highest salary, about 50% of them had more then 100,000 dollars and 30% had salary betweein 75,000 and 99,999 dollars. The freelance consultants showed a similar trend like government employees. In contrast, students working in private companies had least salaries, with just 30% above 100 thousand and 25% above 75 thousand dollars.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses both visuals and gives a clear overview: full-time work is correctly identified as the largest destination, and government and freelance roles as the strongest-paying categories. Most reported figures are accurate, including the 52% in full-time work and the government-sector shares of 50% and 30% in the two highest salary bands. The combined 16% in postgraduate study is also correctly calculated. However, saying this is the “least number” continuing postgraduate study is imprecise: the 5% combining part-time work and study is the smallest single destination, but full-time postgraduate study is 8%. The salary comparison is relevant but selective; for example, the private-company distribution and the freelance figures could be reported more fully to support the overview and comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall progression: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on graduate destinations, and a final paragraph comparing salaries. This makes the main information easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Whereas,” and “In contrast” help signal relationships. The organisation is effective, though some transitions are awkward: “While unemployed…” is a sentence fragment, and “Whereas” begins another incomplete contrast. The final paragraph also moves quickly from government salaries to freelance work and then private companies, without giving the freelance figures that would make the comparison more complete. Use complete sentences and connect each comparison explicitly to the relevant salary bands.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “undergraduate degree course,” “postgrad study,” “freelance consultants,” and “salary.” These choices communicate the subject clearly, and phrases such as “in contrast” help express comparisons. However, some word choices and collocations are imprecise or repetitive, including “the one with highest salaries,” “showed a similar trend like,” and “had least salaries.” There are also spelling errors in “propotion,” “goverment,” and “betweein,” alongside inconsistent forms such as “postgrad” and “postgraduate.” More precise terms such as “proportion,” “salary distribution,” and “earned” would make the comparisons more natural and accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

There is a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and the opening sentence successfully combines information about the chart and table. Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “most the students” is missing “of,” while “the one with highest salaries” has problems with number and article use. “While unemployed and part-time workers contributed…” and “Whereas, the students…” are incomplete clauses when punctuated as separate sentences. The phrase “50% of them had…” is understandable, but the response would benefit from more consistent control of articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries. Practise joining contrast clauses to a main clause and checking each sentence for a complete subject and verb.

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.