Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-04
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The bar chart below shows the percentage of Australian men and women in different age groups who did regular physical activity in 2010.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The chart illustrates the percentage of Australian men and women of different age groups who performed physical activities regularly in 2010. 52.8 percent women and 47.7 percent men who were between 15 to 24 years old were doing physical activities regularly in 2010. Furthermore, the number of men ranging from 25 to 34 who participated in physical activities were 48.9 while, women's number showed a sudden decrease to 42.2 when they grew upto 25. Similarly, people between age of 35 to 44 , more men became consistent to physical work than women as the number of men increased to 52.5 while, number of women decreased to 39.5 which is lowest among the chart. The number of women increased as they grew upto 45 to 54, it reached 43.1 percent and the number of men who did regular physical exercise increased to 53.3 which is the highest in the chart. When women and men reached the age of 55 to 64, 53 percent of men were doing physical activities and 45.1 percent women were regular in doing exercise. This number decreased to 47.1 for men while, increased to 46.7 for women when they reached the age of 65 and over.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all age groups and makes relevant comparisons between men and women. However, it lacks an overview paragraph, which is essential for a Band 7 or higher. The report is essentially a list of data points rather than a summary of the main features or trends. While the data is accurate, the lack of a clear synthesis of the information—such as identifying the overall trend that men generally participate more in physical activity than women across most age groups—limits the score. To improve, you should group the data more effectively and provide a clear summary of the key trends at the beginning or end of the report.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is presented as a single block of text, which significantly impacts the coherence. IELTS Academic Task 1 requires clear paragraphing to separate the introduction/overview from the body paragraphs. While there is some logical progression in the way the data is presented chronologically, the lack of paragraph breaks makes the text feel dense and difficult to navigate. Additionally, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat repetitive (e.g., 'the number of...'). Using a wider variety of linking words and structuring the response into at least three distinct paragraphs would greatly improve the flow and readability.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely heavily on the phrase 'the number of' and 'doing physical activities'. There is little attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary related to data description, such as 'proportion', 'percentage', 'fluctuated', or 'remained stable'. Furthermore, there are some awkward collocations, such as 'consistent to physical work' and 'grew upto', which are not standard English. Expanding your range of synonyms and focusing on more precise reporting verbs and nouns would help you reach a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. For example, 'women's number showed a sudden decrease to 42.2 when they grew upto 25' is grammatically awkward and confusing. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'the number of men... were 48.9') and punctuation, particularly regarding the placement of commas and spaces. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and refining sentence structure will improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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