Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-28
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 line graph shows the number of people who participated in different activities at a social centre in Melbourne, Australia, between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, the film club was the most popular activity for most of the period. In contrast, table tennis became increasingly popular and had the highest number of participants by 2020. Meanwhile, participation in musical performances remained relatively low.
In 2000, around 60 people took part in the film club, compared with about 15 for table tennis. The number of film club participants changed slightly and finished at approximately 20 people in 2020. Table tennis, however, increased steadily, reaching about 55 participants at the end of the period.
The number of people attending musical performances was about 10 in 2000 and remained fairly stable until 2010. After that, it rose gradually to around 20 participants in 2020. Finally, participation in another activity started at roughly 25 people and showed some changes over the period, ending at about 20 participants.
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 covers most of the key features of the line graph, providing a clear overview that identifies the film club's dominance and table tennis's rising popularity. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, the student states that film club participants finished at approximately 20 people in 2020, whereas the graph shows it actually rose to 66. Similarly, musical performances started at 0 in 2000, not 10, and the description of 'another activity' is vague. These misreadings of the chart prevent a higher score, aligning the response with Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and then two body paragraphs detailing specific data trends. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', 'Meanwhile', and 'Finally' are used to structure the text effectively. Paragraphing is appropriate, and there is a clear overall progression, even though the underlying data points are sometimes inaccurate. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, such as 'participated', 'popular', 'stable', and 'gradually'. Attempts are made to use less common phrasing like 'remained relatively low' and 'increased steadily'. However, inaccuracies in data interpretation affect vocabulary precision, and the range remains somewhat limited for higher bands. Spelling and word choice are generally clear and do not impede communication, placing the Lexical Resource at Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures effectively (e.g., 'The line graph shows the number of people who participated...', 'compared with about 15 for table tennis'). While there are occasional errors and misinterpretations in the data, the grammatical structures themselves are reasonably well-controlled and rarely impede communication. This performance fits comfortably into Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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