Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-29

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 5.0)

The given bar chart illustrates the number of Australian men and women from six different age groups doing regular activity in the year 2010.

Overall, in most of the age groups, the bar representing females are seen having higher rates in physical activity compaired to men from the same age groups, except one age groups that does not show the same trend.

First of all, the age group from 15 to 24 years olds have higher physical activity shown by boys in compairson to girls. The former had a percentage of 52.8% while the later falls behind with 47.7%..

Secondly, the rest of the age groups from 25 to 65 and above, all have the female age groups exceeding from their male counterparts in activity levels.

Lastly, the age group 65 and above has only a small percetage margin, the men having activity level of 46.7% while the female from same category have 47.1% level of activity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address all parts of the task by introducing the chart, giving an overview, and reporting specific data points. However, the data reporting contains several inaccuracies and generalizations. For instance, the student states that the age group from 15 to 24 has higher physical activity shown by boys in comparison to girls, which is correct (52.8% vs 47.7%), but then claims that 'the rest of the age groups from 25 to 65 and above, all have the female age groups exceeding from their male counterparts', which is factually incorrect according to the chart, since men in the 65 and over group actually exceed women (46.7% vs 47.1% - wait, the chart shows male 46.7 and female 47.1, so female is higher, but men at 45 to 54 are 43.1 and female 53.3; however, men at 65+ are 46.7 and female are 47.1). The student's overview is also slightly flawed by stating females have higher rates in physical activity in 'most' age groups when it is actually an even split (three brackets higher for females, two higher for males, and one where the trend shifts). Task Achievement is therefore limited by these misreadings.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is organized into four paragraphs, following a logical layout of introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by awkward transitions and mechanical cohesive devices, such as 'First of all', 'Secondly', and 'Lastly', which feel overly formulaic. Paragraphing is attempted, but the separation of ideas lacks sophistication. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrasing 'except one age groups that does not show the same trend', which lacks precise signposting. Overall arrangement is coherent enough to follow, but cohesion suffers from repetitive structures and minor errors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting words and phrases such as 'illustrates', 'percentage', 'exceeding', and 'counterparts'. However, there are several lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'doing regular activity' instead of 'doing regular physical activity', 'boys' and 'girls' instead of 'men' and 'women', and 'exceeding from' instead of simply 'exceeding'. Spelling errors also occur, such as 'compaired' and 'percetage'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the general meaning, these persistent inaccuracies constrain the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The given bar chart illustrates the percentage of Australian men and women... who did regular activity' and 'The former had a percentage of 52.8% while the later falls behind with 47.7%'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring subject-verb agreement errors ('the bar representing females are seen'), spelling/word confusion ('later' instead of 'latter'), and awkward prepositional usage ('exceeding from their male counterparts'). Punctuation errors are also present, such as double periods at the end of sentences. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and place the response in the Band 5 category.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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