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 graph illustrates, weekday activities of students in UK, Japan and Germany.

Overall, studying is the highest activity done by students in Japan and Germany, meanwhile for Uk, sleeping is the most loved one.

Firstly, In Japan, studying accounts for 13 hours , and sleeping represent 7, but relaxing is the least around 4, meanwhile, In Germany, students are spending more time in studying around 9 hours in weekday, and 8 for sleeping, and 7 for relaxation respectively. Moreover, In the UK, students spends approximately 8.5 hours studying and 7 hours relaxing.

In contrast, the most noticeable difference is that Japanese students enjoy maximum time to studying and much less time to relaxation than students in the UK and Germany.

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 ability to fully develop the response. While you have identified the main features of the bar chart, the analysis is quite brief. You have attempted to make comparisons, such as noting that Japanese students spend more time studying than those in Germany or the UK, but the lack of detail and the failure to reach the required length mean the task is only partially addressed. To improve, ensure you provide a more comprehensive overview and include more specific data points to support your comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which is a positive step. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'meanwhile', 'firstly', 'moreover'). The progression of ideas is logical, but the transitions between sentences could be smoother to improve the flow of the report. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall structure feels a bit disjointed due to the brevity of the paragraphs. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear focus would enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the sophistication expected for higher bands. You rely on basic verbs like 'illustrates', 'accounts for', and 'spending'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'sleeping is the most loved one', which is not appropriate for an academic report. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary related to data description, such as 'constitutes', 'allocates', or 'a significant proportion of time'. Avoid informal phrasing to maintain an objective tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but accuracy is inconsistent. You have several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('students spends') and punctuation errors (e.g., unnecessary spaces before commas). Additionally, the phrasing 'sleeping represent 7' is grammatically incorrect as it lacks a plural verb form. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to lower the score. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring correct punctuation will help improve your accuracy.

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

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