Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The table gives information about the average hours spent on the Internet by European people of different age groups.

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

Average hours spent on the Internet by European people of different age groups

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The table provides data about how many hours European people spent on the internet according to their ages.

Overall, internet usage is most common among males compared with females. The maximum hours spent by the people on the internet is among the aged between 16 and 20.

Males have shown to spend more time on the internet. Among the age group of 11-15, European residents spent 8 hours. However, teenagers possessing age from 16 to 20 demonstrate highest hours, i.e.,19 in using the internet. The time then gradually start decreasing with increasing age. People of age 21-25 have shown less hours while the 29-50 aged people with few hours. Elderly people of age over 51 spent only a couple of hours.

In contrast, female population have engaged less time on internet. With only 6 people of age 11-15

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main peak correctly: both sexes spend the most time online in the 16–20 group, at 19 hours for males and 18 for females. However, the overview that use is “most common among males” is too broad, since females record higher figures in the 31–50 and 51+ groups, and the sexes are equal at 26–30. Several figures are omitted, and “29–50” misreports the 31–50 category. The female section stops mid-sentence, so the comparison is incomplete and the response does not fully summarise the table. The response is also below the required 150 words. Include the key female figures and complete the age-group comparisons to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs beginning with “Males” and “In contrast, female population.” This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is limited because the male paragraph moves through age groups without consistently reporting the corresponding female figures, and the final paragraph ends abruptly after “With only 6 people of age 11-15.” As a result, the contrast signalled by “In contrast” is not developed. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly “However” before the peak figure. Complete the final comparison and organise the data consistently by age group or by sex to make the progression clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “internet usage,” “age group,” “maximum hours,” and “increasing age,” so the subject is generally clear. There is also some attempt to vary phrasing, for example “spent more time” and “engaged less time.” However, several expressions are unnatural or imprecise, such as “teenagers possessing age from 16 to 20,” “have shown to spend,” and “with few hours.” “Most common” does not accurately describe the amount of time, and “people” is used where the table reports hours. These choices sometimes make the comparisons harder to interpret. Prefer direct, precise collocations such as “spent the most hours online” and “the figure fell to.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including the overview sentence with “compared with” and the contrast introduced by “In contrast.” However, control is uneven, and several sentences contain errors or incomplete structures. For example, “The time then gradually start decreasing” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “People of age 21-25 have shown less hours while the 29-50 aged people with few hours” is not a complete, well-formed comparison. The final phrase, “With only 6 people of age 11-15,” is also a sentence fragment. These problems can make the intended meaning difficult to follow. Practise complete sentences with accurate verb forms, and check agreement and sentence boundaries when comparing figures.

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

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