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 illustrates the number of participants for multiple activities at one social centre in Australia between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, the number of participants in table tennis and musical performance increased steadily, while the film club, martial arts and amateur dramatics decreased dramatically over the period.
In 2000, the number of participants in table tennis rose significantly from about 17 in 2000 to approximately 55 in 2020. Moreover, there was no change from 2000 to 2005, but the number of participants in musical performance increased steadily over one and a half decades from 0 in 2005 to about 18 in 2020. Furthermore, there were fluctuations in martial arts over the two decades from approximately 37 in 2000 to 38 in 2020.
In contrast, the number of participants in the film club decreased dramatically over one decade from approximately 65 in 2000 to 60 in 2010. After 2010, it increased steadily over one decade from approximately 60 to 69 in 2020. Furthermore, the number of participants in amateur dramatics gradually increased over half a decade from about 27 in 2000 to approximately 29 in 2005, and dramatically decreased over one and a half decades from about 29 in 2005 to approximately 8 in 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 attempts to cover all parts of the task by reporting the trends of the various activities in the graph. An overview is provided, though it contains notable factual inaccuracies regarding the overall trends; for instance, the student states that the film club and martial arts decreased dramatically, whereas the film club actually finished higher in 2020 than in 2000, and martial arts remained relatively stable. Furthermore, several specific data points are misread or misreported against the source data, such as claiming table tennis rose from about 17 in 2000 when the chart shows 16. Despite these inaccuracies and a slightly confused handling of individual category trajectories, the response meets the general requirements of summarising main features and making comparisons.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged with an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs that attempt to group the data by category. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different sections of the analysis. However, logical progression is occasionally hindered by contradictory statements and confusing referencing. For example, the writer introduces table tennis in the third paragraph by stating it rose significantly from 2000 to 2020, but then immediately mixes in a point about musical performances. Cohesive devices such as 'moreover', 'furthermore', and 'in contrast' are utilised, but their application sometimes feels mechanical or fails to establish a truly coherent thread between the contrasting groups.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing topic-specific terms such as 'participants', 'social centre', and the names of the various activities. There are effective attempts to use vocabulary of change and degree, such as 'increased steadily', 'rose significantly', and 'decreased dramatically'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, as well as contradictions with the visual data. The description of trends contains imprecise lexical choices that misrepresent the visual information. Despite these flaws, the language remains minimally adequate to convey the general nature of the data, allowing the reader to follow the broad intent.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and time phrases effectively. There is a good variety of structural attempts, such as 'The line graph illustrates...' and 'while the film club... decreased dramatically over the period.' Grammatical control is reasonably sound in terms of basic sentence construction and verb tenses for past data. However, there are some errors and awkward phrasings, particularly in prepositional use and time descriptions (e.g., 'over one and a half decades'). These minor errors do not impede overall communication, and the majority of simple sentences are accurate.
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