Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 shows the proportion of Australian men versus women in a specific time period (2010) who were having daily exercise back then.

To begin with, the study was conducted among eight different age groups. the trends were relatively higher for young male adults as compared to females of the same age group. However,the middle age females were more active as compared to males of the same age group and the trend remained same among the later age groups when it was found that the numbers were equal for both genders.

Teen aged boys and young guys till mid twenties were having more activity i.e 52.8% as compared to young girls standing at 47.7%. the trend was shifted towards ladies in late twenties doing more of the exercise (42.2%) than men in the same age group (48.9%) and this conntinued in the later age groups till early sixties with a little bit of shift in numbers.

one significant finding was men in late thirties till early fifties were quite less active as compared to the opposite gender and the drop in the proportion was significant, for example 52.5% women vs 39.5% men in late thirties to early fourties.

However, the older age groups who were in their mid to late sixties, showed an equal prportion in terms of their activity habits,i.e 46.7% men and 47.1% women.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad contrast between men’s higher activity in the youngest group and women’s higher rates through much of middle age, and you include several relevant figures. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear: the chart has six age groups, not eight, and the rates are for regular physical activity, not specifically daily exercise. The claim that the oldest group had equal proportions is not supported by the figures (46.7% for men and 47.1% for women), and the description of the trend as continuing “till early sixties” misses the female peak at 45–54. The response also lacks a clear, accurate overview of the main pattern. Select the key trends and report them precisely, rather than relying on vague age descriptions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure and uses signposts such as “To begin with,” “However,” and “one significant finding” to separate points. The reader can generally follow the intended comparisons. However, the progression is weakened by repetition and by ideas that are not clearly grouped: the middle-age contrast appears in both the second and fourth paragraphs, while the age-group sequence is sometimes difficult to track. Linking words are occasionally used mechanically or without a clear contrast, and the opening does not establish a concise overview. Organise the report around the overall pattern, then compare the younger, middle, and older groups in a consistent order, using precise references to the age bands.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary, including “proportion,” “active,” “trend,” and “significant,” and you attempt to describe comparisons rather than simply list figures. However, several expressions are imprecise or unsuitable for an academic chart report: “daily exercise,” “back then,” “ladies,” and “young guys” are either unsupported or too informal. Phrases such as “the trend was shifted” and “a little bit of shift in numbers” are awkward, and spelling errors such as “conntinued” and “fourties” reduce accuracy. Aim for concise, neutral terms such as “participated in regular physical activity,” “rate,” and “increased/decreased,” and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences with subordinate clauses, for example, “However, the middle age females were more active as compared to males of the same age group.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but errors recur in sentence boundaries, capitalisation, articles, and agreement. Examples include the lowercase “the” after a full stop, the run-together punctuation in “However,the,” and “the numbers were equal,” which overstates the comparison. Some long sentences combine several ideas without clear grammatical control, particularly the sentence beginning “Teen aged boys and young guys.” Use shorter, well-punctuated sentences for each comparison, and check articles and plural forms while retaining some varied sentence structures.

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