Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-05

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.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The table provides data on hours spent on the internet by male and female of various ages from Europe.

Overall, both genders had a significant amount of hours in the early ages. However, the trend shifted when they were approaching adulthood as the number of hours dropped.

Ages 11-15 in males had a total of 8 hours and females had 6 hours. However, as the age increased the hours also increased as ages 16-20 had the most number of hours spent on the internet with 19 for males and 18 for females.

By contrast, the hours spent on the internet started to decrease after the age of 21-25 as the number fell to a total of 7 hours for males and 5 for females. Similarly, the following set of ages dropped to 4 from 26-50. Lastly, for ages above 51 the use of internet had almost come to an end with only 2hours for males and 3hours for females.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the data, including the peak usage in the 16-20 age group and the decline in older age groups. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. For instance, the statement that hours 'increased' as age increased is inaccurate regarding the 11-15 to 16-20 transition, as it only applies to one specific bracket. Furthermore, the description of the 26-50 age group is slightly confusing, as the data likely represents distinct brackets rather than a single 26-50 range. To reach a higher band, you should provide more precise comparisons between genders and age groups, ensuring the data interpretation is strictly accurate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is logically organized into paragraphs, moving from an overview to specific age-based details. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'By contrast', and 'Similarly' are used to link ideas. However, the progression within the third paragraph is slightly mechanical, and the referencing of age groups could be smoother. The overall structure is clear, but the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be more sophisticated to improve the flow of information.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing for clear communication. You use some topic-specific terms like 'trend', 'shifted', and 'data'. However, the range is somewhat limited and repetitive (e.g., repeating 'hours' and 'number of hours' frequently). There are also minor issues with collocation, such as 'significant amount of hours' (a 'significant number of hours' would be more natural). To improve, try to incorporate more varied synonyms and precise collocations related to data reporting, such as 'fluctuated', 'peaked', or 'declined steadily'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'male and female of various ages' should be 'males and females of various ages'. Additionally, 'the following set of ages dropped to 4 from 26-50' is syntactically awkward and unclear. Punctuation is generally fine, but there are minor errors in phrasing that slightly disrupt the flow. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures while ensuring subject-verb agreement would help improve this score.

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

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