Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-25
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 chart below depicts the percentile of Australian men and women in various age groups performing regular physical activity in 2010.
Overall, age group between 15 to 24 years were accounted for doing largest proportion of physical activity while male with the age group between 35 to 44 years were responsible for doing less physical activity .
Male with the age group of 13-24 years and female with age group of 55-64 years were accounted for the largest share for doing regular physical activity with 52.8% and 53.3% followed by 25-34 age group respectively while male between 35-44 years and female between 25-34 years had the smallest figure of 39.5% and 42.2% respectively.
Individuals having age group between 25-34 , 55-64 , 65 and over were moderately involved in physical activity having 42.2% male and 48.9% female involved in 25-34 age group, 45.1% and 53% male and female involved in 55-64 age group and that of 46.7% and 47.1% in 65 and older age group.
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 student attempts to address the prompt by summarising the main features of the bar chart, such as identifying the highest and lowest percentages. However, there are notable inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the text claims that 'male with the age group of 13-24 years' were recorded, whereas the chart shows 15 to 24 years. Furthermore, the overview is somewhat confused, and the selection of data is occasionally imprecise or contradictory (e.g., mixing up specific categories and trends). While the main features are touched upon, the lack of precision in data extraction and the flawed overview prevent this response from achieving a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response is arranged into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. However, the logical progression is hindered by awkward transitions and confusing sentence structures. Cohesive devices such as 'respectively' are used, but they are often applied incorrectly or awkwardly, such as linking mismatched age groups. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal organisation of the body paragraphs lacks clarity, making it difficult for the reader to follow the comparisons smoothly. Referencing and pronoun use are also occasionally unclear.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts to incorporate less common terms like 'proportion', 'share', and 'moderately involved'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and unnatural collocations throughout the text. For example, using 'percentile' instead of 'percentage', and phrases like 'responsible for doing less physical activity' instead of 'had the lowest participation rate'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but word choices are sometimes imprecise or awkward, restricting the lexical score to a 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'Individuals having age group between... were moderately involved'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with prepositions ('with the age group' instead of 'in the age group'), missing articles, and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'age group between 15 to 24 years were accounted for'). These errors occur regularly throughout the response, though they do not completely impede overall communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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