Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-01
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)
This line graph illustrates about the number of participants at social centre for their work in Melbourne, Australia between the year 2000 and 2020. Overall, participation in most activities changed considerably between 2000 and 2020.The Film club shows the highest level of number of participants and was most popular activity throughout the entire period, while table tennis experienced the most dramatic growth. Thus some experienced an upward trend whereas others remained stable. Firstly, film club comprised 64% of participants in the year 2000 and its proportion increased by 67% in the year 2020. Conversely, martial arts and amateur dramatics showed fluctuations up and down. However, martial art constituted of 35% rise in 2010 whereas amateur dramatics exhibit falls in number of participants in the year 2010. On the other hand, table tennis demonstrated a significant trend account for 16% in the year 2010 and workers level exceed up to 55% in the year 2020. Meanwhile, musical performances portray no significant growth in the year 2000 but participation started to rise in the year 2005 and its proportion rose 10% to 13% and then remained stable.
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 response attempts to cover all parts of the task by identifying key features and making some comparisons, such as noting that the Film club showed the highest level of participation and table tennis experienced significant growth. However, there are notable mechanical misinterpretations of the visual data. The student treats raw numbers of participants as percentages (e.g., writing '64% of participants' and 'account for 16%'), which misrepresents the units shown on the graph axis. Furthermore, some of the data points cited, such as 'its proportion increased by 67%' or 'workers level exceed up to 55%', lack precision and fail to accurately reflect the actual values in the graph. While an overview is present, the development of ideas is limited by these inaccurate figures, preventing the response from achieving a higher rating.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a basic overall arrangement with an introductory sentence, an overview, and body details. However, the progression of ideas is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and mechanical cohesive devices. For instance, the use of transition words like 'Thus', 'Firstly', and 'Conversely' feels forced and does not always logically connect the sentences. Paragraphing is also an issue, as the entire body of the response is crammed into a single block of text rather than being divided into logical paragraphs for different activities or trends. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow which data points correspond to which years without closely cross-referencing the original visual.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for communicating basic trends, with attempts at less common items such as 'dramatic growth', 'fluctuations', and 'upward trend'. However, lexical control is inconsistent. There are frequent lexical inaccuracies, such as using the noun 'exhibit' instead of the verb form ('exhibited'), and confusing percentages with absolute numbers of participants. Collocations are sometimes awkward, for instance, writing 'workers level' instead of 'participation numbers' or 'participant figures'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but word choices often lack precision, which occasionally impedes the clarity of the message.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, tense usage, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. For example, the opening sentence contains an unnecessary preposition ('illustrates about'), and later sentences contain awkward passive or prepositional constructions such as 'martial art constituted of 35% rise'. Subject-verb agreement and article usage also show frequent slips, such as missing articles before activity names ('film club' instead of 'the film club') or singular/plural mismatches. While these errors rarely completely obscure the intended meaning, they occur frequently enough to hinder fluency and restrict the grammatical score.
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