Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-25

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 depicts the typical weekday for students in three different countries. Three categories have been discussed in which students spent their weekday time which includes sleeping, studying, and relaxing.

Overall, the most striking feature is that students spent their massive amount of time in studying, followed by sleeping and relaxing. However, students of UK and Japan have managed their time equally in all three figures.

It is evident that, students of Japan spent 13 hours, a great amount of time in their studies, followed by 7 and 4 hours in sleeping and relaxing respectively. On the other hand, students of UK have distributed their time equally in all three categories, spending 8.5 hours in sleeping, higher than other, followed closely by studying with 8 hours and 7 hours in relaxing.

In Germany, students spent their large amount of time in studies like in Japan. They spent 9 hours in studying, followed closely by sleeping with 8 hours, while in relaxing they spent 7 hours of their weekday time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the bar chart and makes relevant comparisons between the three countries. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. For instance, the statement that students in the UK and Japan managed their time 'equally' is inaccurate and confusing, as the data shows significant differences in their daily routines. While you have identified the primary activities, the report lacks a more nuanced synthesis of the data. To reach a higher band, ensure that your comparisons are mathematically accurate and that you highlight the most significant trends rather than simply listing the figures for each country sequentially.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs for the data. Cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand' and 'followed by' are used to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing, such as the claim that students in the UK managed their time 'equally in all three figures.' The referencing is sometimes unclear, and the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be smoother. Overall, the structure is coherent, but the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey the necessary information. You use some topic-specific terms like 'categories' and 'distributed.' However, there is a reliance on repetitive phrasing, such as 'spent their... amount of time.' There are also minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'managed their time equally in all three figures,' which does not accurately describe the data. To improve, try to incorporate a wider range of synonyms for 'spent' (e.g., 'allocated,' 'devoted') and avoid repetitive sentence structures to demonstrate more flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'students spent their massive amount of time in studying' (should be 'a massive amount of time studying') and 'higher than other' (should be 'higher than the others'). Additionally, there are issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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