Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-27
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 bar graph illustrates the percentage of male and female Australians carrying out daily physical activities.
Overall,the Y axis shows the percentage and the X axis shows the age groups of the individuals.The age groups starts from 15 years to 65 and over.
The age group starting from 15 to 24 shows there are 52.8 male and 47.7 females working out regularly.While, 25 to 34 shows 42.2 males & 48.9 females. Age 35 to 44 displays 39.5 males and 52.5 females.
45 to 54 age sees 43.1 males & 53.3 females.55 to 64 45.1 males & 53 females.
65 and over shows 46.7 males and 47.1 females.It is seen that the younger age group of males are very active which shows 52.8 comparing all the age groups.Although, the females have shown an increase in their percentage from the age group of 15 to 64.After 65 and over the percentage is similar to the 15 to 24 age group.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the data, but the analysis is somewhat mechanical. You have listed the data for each age group sequentially rather than grouping the information to highlight trends or significant comparisons. While you identified that younger males are the most active and noted the upward trend for females, the overview is weak. To reach a higher band, you should focus on synthesising the data—for example, contrasting the peak activity levels of men and women across different life stages—rather than simply transcribing the figures from the chart into sentences. The inclusion of 'daily' is also inaccurate, as the prompt specifies 'regular physical activity', not daily.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into paragraphs, but the flow is disjointed. The second paragraph is essentially a list of data points, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often mechanical or misused, such as the abrupt start of sentences with 'While,' or 'Although,'. The referencing is also slightly confusing; for instance, 'the younger age group of males are very active which shows 52.8 comparing all the age groups' is grammatically awkward and lacks clear logical connection to the rest of the paragraph. Improved paragraphing and more varied linking words would enhance the logical flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely heavily on basic terms like 'shows', 'displays', and 'sees'. There is little attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'peaked', 'remained stable', or 'surpassed'. Additionally, there are minor issues with word choice, such as 'carrying out daily physical activities' instead of 'participating in regular physical activity'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise verbs and nouns that describe statistical data, and avoid repeating the same sentence structures when presenting figures.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex structures, but there are frequent errors in punctuation and grammar. For example, there are missing spaces after commas ('Overall,the', 'While, 25'), and the sentence 'The age groups starts from 15 years to 65 and over' contains a subject-verb agreement error. Furthermore, the use of symbols like '&' is inappropriate for an academic report. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors occur frequently enough to distract the reader. You should focus on proofreading for basic punctuation and ensuring that your subjects and verbs agree.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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