Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-23
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)
With ascending age, decline in excercises from youth age towards early middle age has been observed in men, which then starts to improve over time as they approach old age. However, in women the percentage kept rising till late middle age and then decreasing slope is observed towards their old age. Still, in the late age the percentage for both men and women is almost the same.
Youth years in men has recorded the highest percentage 52.8 for 15 to 24 year olds, this decreases to 42.2% for 25 to 34 and 39.5% the lowest record, in 35 to 44 i.e. the eary middle age. This, moving onvards rises to 43.1% and consequently 45.1% for age groups 45 to 54 and 55 to 64. And 46.7% of men maintained their enthusiasm in late ages 65 and over.
Ladies, on the other hand started at 47.7% in early age 15 to 24 and unlike men rose the slope to 53.3% till the ages 45 to 54 and then declininig to 47.1% followed by a slight decline of 0.3 percentage. However, still ahead of men by 0.4%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student successfully covers the main features and trends for both men and women across the given age groups. An overview is attempted in the introduction, highlighting key trajectories such as the decline and subsequent recovery for men, and the rising and falling trend for women. Data points are accurately referenced, such as the peak of 52.8% for young men and the low of 39.5% for 35 to 44-year-old men. While some comparisons are made, the response would benefit from a more cohesive integration of data points to highlight starker contrasts between genders. Overall, all parts of the prompt are addressed competently, aligning well with a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6 descriptor.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay is divided into three paragraphs, providing a logical structure that separates the introduction, the male data, and the female data. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'on the other hand', and 'moving onvards' are used, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or awkward. Paragraphing is adequate, but the division could be improved by grouping information thematically or comparing trends side-by-side rather than in isolated blocks. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional clunky phrasing like 'And 46.7% of men...' disrupts the smooth flow of ideas. This places the response comfortably in Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as 'enthusiasm', 'ascending age', and 'declininig'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'excercises' instead of 'exercises', 'eary' instead of 'early', 'onvards' instead of 'onwards', and referring to women as 'Ladies', which is overly informal for an academic task. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main points, these lexical errors and occasional awkward collocations prevent the response from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as participial phrases ('With ascending age, decline in excercises...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors, including missing articles ('decline in excercises', 'in late ages'), awkward preposition usage, and run-on structures. For instance, the sentence starting with 'Youth years in men has recorded...' contains subject-verb agreement issues ('years... has') and punctuation slips. Although communication is not seriously impeded, the frequency of errors restricts the score to Band 6.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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