Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-24
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 graph demostrates the amount of indiviuals who had participated in various activities at one social center in Melbourne and Australia, starting from 2000 up until 2020.
Overall, In the graph, film club has taken the lead with table tennis being the second best and having an exponential increase. The remaining activities fluctuated throughout these years.
The film club had the most number of participants in the year 2000 with 65%. However, Amateur dramatics, Table tennis and Martial arts had an almost similar start with Table tennis being at the lowest percentage of 16% and Amateur dramatics being in the middle at 26%. The highest of these three was Martial Arts with a percentage of 35% at the start in 2000.
Moreover, Number of participants at the film club remained somewhat consistent throughout these years. In 2010 Table tennis had an enormous increase in 2020 of 55%. Musical performance had a late start in 2005 at 0% which went up until 2020 at 16%.
In a nutshell, Amateur dramatics fell exponentially to 5% in the year 2020.
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 addresses all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of the graph, including comparisons. An overview is attempted, noting that the film club took the lead and table tennis saw an increase while others fluctuated. However, there are some inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, the student states that the film club started at '65%' rather than 64 participants, and incorrectly applies percentage signs (%) to absolute numbers throughout the text (e.g., '16%', '35%'). Furthermore, the time reference for table tennis ('In 2010 Table tennis had an enormous increase in 2020 of 55%') is confused. Despite these data misreadings, the main trends are adequately captured, placing this response at Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall structure consisting of an introduction, an overview paragraph, body paragraphs detailing specific data, and a concluding sentence. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related ideas. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly handled, such as the abrupt transitions ('Moreover', 'In a nutshell') and repetitive sentence openings. Referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the sequencing of time periods and data points in the body paragraphs. Overall cohesion is sufficient for a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'exponential increase', 'consistent', and 'enormous increase'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, most notably the persistent misuse of percentage units (%) when describing raw participant numbers (e.g., '65%', '16%'), as well as a spelling error ('demostrates' instead of demonstrates, 'indiviuals' instead of individuals, 'center' instead of centre). These errors do not impede communication but prevent the score from reaching a higher band. Lexical resource is assessed at Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'starting from 2000 up until 2020', 'with table tennis being the second best'). There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, including missing articles and awkward phrasing ('the amount of indiviuals who had participated'), capitalization errors ('Overall, In the graph'), and punctuation slips. However, simple sentences are generally accurate and the errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall meaning, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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