Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart shows the typical weekday for students in three different countries.

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

Typical weekday for students in three different countries

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The chart illustrates how student in three different countries spend their weekend.

overall, the students in uk and Germany spend almost equal time sleeping,studying and relaxing, while students in japan spend most of their time studying followed by sleeping and relaxing.

In Uk students spend 8.5 hours sleeping,8 hour studying and spend remaining 7 hours entertaining themselves. The similar trend has been observed among students In germany, where students spend exactly 9 hours studying,8 hours sleeping and 7 hours relaxing themselves.The students in japan spend most of their time concisely 13 hours in study activiies while only 7 hours to sleeping and remaining 4 hours to relax themselves.

In comparison to japanese students , the students in Uk and Germany spend most of their time sleeping and relaxing themselves.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast: Japan’s students study the most, while the UK and Germany have broadly similar routines. Most figures are reported accurately, including the UK’s 8.5 hours of sleep and Japan’s 13 hours of study. However, the opening calls this a weekend, whereas the task describes a typical weekday, and the final comparison incorrectly says UK and German students spend most of their time sleeping and relaxing; studying is also substantial, especially in Germany. The overview is brief and the response omits a fuller comparison of the three activities. It is also 21 words below the required minimum, which limits the detail available. Develop the overview and compare the highest and lowest figures more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph describing the countries, and a concluding comparison. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is limited because the body largely lists figures country by country, then repeats a broad comparison in the final sentence. Linking is also sometimes awkward: “In comparison to Japanese students” does not clearly specify which activity is being compared, and “while” in the overview joins ideas without fully clarifying the contrast. Improve cohesion by grouping related comparisons—for example, compare study hours across all three countries, then sleep and relaxation—and use clear references to the activity being discussed. Consistent paragraphing and more precise transitions would make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main activities, including “sleeping,” “studying,” and “relaxing,” and you attempt alternatives such as “entertaining themselves” and “study activities.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing a chart. “Spend their weekend” misidentifies the time period, “spend most of their time concisely 13 hours” uses “concisely” incorrectly, and “relax themselves” is less natural than “relax” or “spend time relaxing.” There are also spelling and form errors, including “activiies,” and repeated use of “spend” makes the vocabulary somewhat limited. Choose precise chart language such as “devote,” “allocate,” and “hours per day,” and check spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple statements and longer comparative sentences, and the main figures are generally understandable. However, errors in sentence construction and punctuation are noticeable. For example, “In UK students spend 8.5 hours sleeping,8 hour studying” lacks an article and has inconsistent punctuation and number agreement; “The similar trend has been observed among students In germany” also has awkward article use and inconsistent capitalisation. The overview begins with lowercase “overall,” and several clauses run together without spaces after commas. The range of structures is limited, with most information presented in similar “students spend” patterns. Practise accurate articles and plural forms, and use a wider range of controlled comparisons, such as “whereas” clauses, while checking sentence boundaries and punctuation.

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

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