Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-02

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 given bar chart illustrates, how the different age groups of Australian men and women involved in exercising on daily basis in 2010.

Overall, the female age groups interest in physical activity were increasing with compared to male group, while young male groups were shown more involvement in exercising.

52.8% youngest male between 15 to 24 year age doing physical activity on regular basis, which was recorded highest among all participants, followed by 42.2% and 39.5% of second and third age groups respectively. However, the older age male group of 45 year and above age percentage of regular exercising were increased significantly to 46.7.

In female groups, the youngest one depicts less interest for physical activity initially, which was increased subsequently from till 53.3%. The older age females shows less promptness for doing regular fitness work, because of that after 55 year the percentage of female groups were decreased continuously till 47.1. However, these percentage was recorded highest with compared to male group of 65 and over.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making comparisons between Australian men and women in 2010. However, some parts are more fully developed than others. The overview is somewhat unclear and contains awkward phrasing regarding the trends. While specific data points are cited, such as the 52.8% for the youngest male group and the 47.1% for the oldest female group, some details are slightly inaccurate or confusingly presented, such as describing age groups as 'second and third age groups' without naming the ranges. To move to a higher band, the overview needs to clearly outline the overarching trends without minor inaccuracies, and all data points should be selected and reported with greater precision and clearer comparison between the genders.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement and is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for male and female data. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is occasionally unclear. For instance, transitional phrases like 'However' and 'because of that' are used awkwardly, and referencing between sentences can feel disjointed, such as 'these percentage was recorded highest'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but the logical progression between sentences within paragraphs requires smoother transitions. To achieve a higher band, cohesive devices must be used more flexibly and accurately, and the relationships between ideas across sentences need to be managed more naturally without repetitive or faulty linking.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'involvement', 'significantly', and 'promptness'. However, there are noticeable word-choice, collocation, and word-form errors that detract from precision, such as writing 'involved in exercising on daily basis' instead of 'regular basis', 'female groups interest', and 'fitness work'. Spelling and word choice generally do not impede communication, but inaccuracies prevent the writing from reaching a higher level of lexical control. To improve, the writer should focus on natural collocations, accurate word forms for nouns and adjectives, and precise reporting verbs and phrases suitable for academic data summary tasks.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include 'the different age groups... involved', 'youngest male between 15 to 24 year age doing', and 'these percentage was recorded'. Punctuation errors, such as the comma splice in the opening sentence ('illustrates, how'), also occur. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they persist throughout the response and limit the grammatical score. To reach the next level, the writer needs to produce a higher proportion of error-free sentences, maintain strict agreement between subjects and verbs, and demonstrate better control over relative clauses and participial phrases.

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

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