Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-18

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below give information about a public library in a town called Little Chalfont.

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

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie chart illustrates the proportion of Little Chalfont Library members age in year 2016. While the table shows the percentage of library loans in 7 different categories, the bar charts compares the tatal advance taken in 9 different years from 2007 to 2016. Overall, Adults accounted for the highest proportion of library users and young adults contributed lowest. In addition, the Adult fiction category accounted for the highest laons in 2016, where adults audio books responsible for the smallest proportion. In 2016, maximum number of loans were taken, whereas 2007 was the year with minimum loans. The number of loans taken between those years showed a moderate changes which was minimum in 2007 and reached maximum in 2016. Adults between age 18-64 was the largest members of library users with nearly half of total users. Followed by children who contributed 22% share. Moreover, young adults of age 13-17 and Adults over 65 resulted in 12% and 15% share. Children's fiction and adult fiction contributed the same proportion in loans with 38%. Followed by adult non-fiction and Children's non fiction which only responsible for 13% and 6% respectively. In addition, Adult audio books and young adults shared same percentage with only 2% and the children's DVDs contributed only 1%. In 2007, the minimum number of loans was taken, which gradually increased over the years and reached nearly 22,000 in 2011 before declining. In 2013, the loans again recovered and reached below 20,000, which then gradually rose and climbed to the peak with 23,000 in 2016.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the three visual elements provided. An overview is present, highlighting the key general trends such as adults being the largest group of users and the dominance of adult and children's fiction in loans. Data is selected and reported appropriately to support the main points, such as citing the 38% figures for fiction categories and noting the overall rise in loans from 2007 to 2016. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting specific figures, such as stating young adults were 12% and adults over 65 were 15%, whereas the chart shows children at 22%, young adults at 15%, and older adults at 12%. Despite these minor data-reading slips, the response satisfactorily fulfills the requirements of Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into distinct paragraphs, starting with an introductory sentence followed by a clear overview and body paragraphs detailing the specific charts. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'While the table shows', 'In addition', and 'Moreover'. However, some of the referencing and transitions are slightly mechanical or disjointed, for instance starting sentences abruptly with 'Followed by' or 'In addition, the Adult fiction category accounted for the highest laons in 2016, where adults audio books responsible for the smallest proportion.' Paragraphing is generally appropriate, though the second body paragraph is quite dense and could be better broken down to separate the demographic data from the loan category and trend data.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'proportion', 'category', 'gradually increased', and 'peak'. There are, however, several lexical and spelling errors that detract from precision, such as 'members age' instead of 'members' ages', 'tatal advance' instead of 'total loans', 'laons' instead of 'loans', and 'adults audio books responsible' missing a verb. Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success. While communication is not impeded, these frequent minor vocabulary and spelling slips prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while' and 'where'. There are, nevertheless, frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb forms and missing auxiliary verbs (e.g., 'where adults audio books responsible', 'Adults between age 18-64 was the largest members' which suffers from subject-verb agreement issues). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but sentence construction often lacks smoothness due to grammatical slips. The majority of sentences contain minor structural or agreement errors, placing this response solidly in the band 6 category.

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