Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-29

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below give information on the location and types of dance classes young people in a town in Australia are currently attending.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The charts illustrste the information on the location and types of dance classes young people in a town in Australia are currently attending.

Overall, the private studios were the most common venue, accounting for almost half of all classes.In the term of dance styles, the ballet was considerably more popular among under 11, whereas modern dance was the most popular among under 11-16.

On at one hand, private studios accounted for 48%, making the largest category. Schools halls (after-school) demonstrated the 24% and community halls & other at 18%, maintained the average proportion.College-based studios represented only 10%, making the least category.

On at another hand, lokking at the age groups, arround 600 under-11 attented ballet classes, 11-16 age group attented approximately 300 half of under-11.In tap, both groups was relatively popular, under-11 attracting around 450 and 420 older students.Modern dance showed the opposite pattern to ballet. Approximately, 300 under-11s took classes, whereas the figure for 11-16 group was significantly higher, at around 520 students.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by reporting the main features from both charts and making relevant comparisons. An overview is provided, noting that private studios are the most common venue and highlighting key differences across age groups for dance styles. Data points such as 48% for private studios and approximate figures for ballet, tap, and modern dance are accurately cited from the visual data. While some phrasing is slightly awkward, the key trends and proportions are well covered, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 in Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall progression, divided into an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs dedicated to location and types of classes respectively. However, there are issues with cohesive devices and phrasing, such as 'On at one hand' and 'On at another hand', which demonstrate unnatural collocation and mechanical linking. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and paragraphing could be smoother. These limitations place the text firmly in the Band 6 category, where cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as 'proportion', 'category', and 'significantly higher'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors, including 'illustrste', 'In the term of', 'attented', 'lokking', and 'arround'. Additionally, awkward word choices like 'making the least category' detract from precision. While communication is not impeded, the frequency of errors caps the lexical score at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating comparative structures such as 'whereas modern dance was the most popular'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. Errors include missing articles ('the ballet', 'the 18%'), subject-verb agreement issues ('both groups was'), and awkward phrasing ('maintained the average proportion'). Punctuation spacing is also erratic. Because these errors occur frequently alongside mixed structures, the performance aligns with the Band 6 descriptor.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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