Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-09

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 what students do during the week for the countries of UK, Japan and Germany.

Overall, it shows that Japanese and German students prefer to study, meanwhile UK students like sleeping more during the week. For the three countries the least chosen activity is relaxing, which means they don't have much time because of school life. The most fluctuation of student numbers we can see in Japan, meanwhile UK and Germany present relatively similar data.

Students mostly choose to study in Japan and Germany, with a number of 13 and 9 students. The second activity done in these countries is sleeping with relatively similar numbers of students (7 and 8) and finally relaxing takes the last spot, with Japan having only 4 students who prefer sleeping on weekdays.

For the UK, more than 8 students prefer to sleep, 8 go on with their studies and 7 (same as Germany) relax on their school days.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response provides a basic overview and attempts to report on the main features. However, the analysis is hampered by inaccuracies in data interpretation. For example, you state that 'the most fluctuation of student numbers we can see in Japan', which is not clearly supported by the data, and you misidentify the activities (e.g., claiming Japan has 4 students who prefer 'sleeping' when the category is 'relaxing'). The report lacks a clear, analytical focus, and the data points are not always accurately transcribed or compared. To improve, ensure you carefully cross-reference the labels on the chart with your text to avoid misreporting figures.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally confusing. For instance, the use of 'meanwhile' is repetitive and sometimes used incorrectly to contrast ideas that are not necessarily opposites. The transition between the overview and the body paragraphs is abrupt. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus that flows logically from the previous one.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'the least chosen activity' and 'takes the last spot' are functional but lack the precision expected in an academic report. There are also issues with word choice, such as 'most fluctuation', which is not the most natural way to describe data trends. To improve, try to incorporate more precise vocabulary related to data description, such as 'predominant', 'marginal', or 'a significant proportion'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, 'what students do during the week for the countries of UK, Japan and Germany' is slightly awkward, and '8 go on with their studies' is informal. There are also issues with article usage ('the UK' is correct, but 'the countries of UK' is not). While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band.

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

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