Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-21

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.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The Bar chart illustrates the percentage of undergraduates and who selected three different science subjects during 1992 and 2012.

Overall, biology and physics learners decreased over the period of two decades. However, the opposite was true for computer science students. In 1992, majority of students preferred to study biology, which accounted for around 65%. This figure witnessed a significant drop to just over 40% after 20 years. A tiny proportion of learners chose computer science in the year 1992, which rose to around 24% in the year 2012. There was a difference of nearly 2% in the proportion of students who selected physics, where the figure for the former year was 22% and for the later year it was exactly 20%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the development of the task. While you have identified the main trends—the decrease in biology and physics and the increase in computer science—the analysis is quite brief. You have not provided enough detail or sufficient comparative data to fully satisfy the requirements of an Academic Task 1. To improve, you should aim to expand on the data points, perhaps by including more specific comparisons between the years or grouping the information more effectively to reach the required length.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is logically organized with an introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'However', and 'In 1992'. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the overview and the detailed data analysis are combined into one block, which makes the structure feel cramped. To improve, ensure you separate the overview from the specific data points using clear paragraph breaks. Additionally, the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking phrases to connect the comparative data more smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the main points, such as 'accounted for', 'witnessed a significant drop', and 'proportion'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'the former year' and 'the later year', which are slightly awkward in this context. Additionally, there is a minor error in the opening sentence ('undergraduates and who selected'), which suggests a lack of precision. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure that your vocabulary choices are consistently accurate throughout the report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as the unnecessary 'and' in the first sentence ('undergraduates and who selected') and the misuse of 'majority' (which should be 'the majority'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the sentence structure is somewhat repetitive. To improve, try to incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures, such as passive voice or relative clauses, and pay closer attention to articles and prepositions to ensure greater accuracy.

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

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