Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-12
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The graph below gives information on the numbers of participants for different activities at one social centre in Melbourne, Australia for the period 2000 to 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The provided graph illustrates information on the number of participants for different activities at a social centre in Melbourne, Australia between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, it can be observed at a glance that film club remained the most popular activity throughout the period. Whereas Amateur dramatics experienced substantial declined. In contrast table tennis showed most significant growth.
More in depth it can be seen that number of participants of film club decreased slightly in 2005 and then increased to 65 in 2020. Moreover martial arts members remained fluctuated throughout the period. The number of participants in amateur dramatics fell steadily to approximately 6 in 2020. Further examination shows that table tennis participants increased significantly and overtook both Amateur dramatics and Martial arts members. It can be observed that Musical performance members quantity is 0 in 2005 and then rose to 25 .
Australians are more interested in film club and less in Amateur dramatics.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the given period. The overview is clear and identifies the key general trends, such as the film club remaining the most popular activity and table tennis showing significant growth. Specific data points are included, like mentioning that the film club reached 65 in 2020 and amateur dramatics fell to approximately 6. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in data reporting, and the final concluding sentence about Australians' general preferences is somewhat subjective and outside the direct data provided. Nevertheless, the main features are sufficiently highlighted, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 6 descriptor profile. Overall, the task is addressed adequately with relevant ideas presented throughout the response.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs detailing specific data trends. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'Whereas', 'In contrast', and 'Moreover'. However, paragraphing is somewhat fragmented, with single sentences or very short paragraphs disrupting the logical progression. For instance, the transition 'More in depth it can be seen' is awkward, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'Musical performance members quantity is 0'. Cohesive devices are at times mechanical rather than flexible. This places the response firmly in the Band 6 category, where cohesion and referencing are generally understandable but feature noticeable flaws and some unnatural grouping of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'substantial', 'significant', 'fluctuated', and 'overtook'. However, there are several word choice and collocation errors that detract from the overall quality. For example, the student writes 'substantials declined' instead of 'substantial declines', and refers to 'members quantity' rather than the number of participants. Additionally, there are awkward phrasing choices like 'martial arts members remained fluctuated'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they demonstrate a lack of precision in lexical control, aligning the response with the Band 6 descriptor where vocabulary is adequate for the task but exhibits noticeable inaccuracies.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at variety with structures like 'Whereas Amateur dramatics experienced substantial declined' and 'Further examination shows that table tennis participants increased significantly'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as missing articles ('number of participants of film club'), incorrect verb forms ('remained fluctuated' instead of 'fluctuated'), and punctuation issues. Sentence boundary errors also occur, such as fragmenting sentences without proper connection. Despite these errors, they rarely impede the reader's overall understanding. Because the writer produces a mix of error-free and faulty structures, a Band 6 is the most appropriate score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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