Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-21

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 describes how much time a student spend on sleeping, relaxing and studying in a day, in three Countries, UK, Japan and Germany.

Let it explain one by one. The relaxing period of students in UK is 7 hours a day which is same as in Germany, but in Japan It is only 4 hours a day.

The sleeping and studying time is different in all three countries. In UK, students sleep more than doing study and relaxing, which is about 8.5 hours a day while in Germany it is half an hour less and in Japan is an hour less than UK. The interesting thing is the study period for students in Japan that is an hour more in a half day, and is the most time taken for studying among the three countries. In Germany the study period in a day consists of 9 hours and in UK it is an hour less.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the prompt by addressing the three main categories (sleeping, studying, and relaxing) across the three specified countries. Key data points are accurately reported, such as Japan's high study hours (13 hours) and lower relaxing hours (4 hours), as well as the UK and Germany figures. However, the report lacks a clear overall summary or introduction overview sentence required for a high Task Achievement band. The writer moves immediately into individual details rather than synthesising the broader trends first. While the information provided is factually grounded in the chart, the lack of an overview limits the response to Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The text has an overall logical arrangement, but the paragraphing is poor and unconventional. The writer uses very short, informal transitions such as 'Let it explain one by one,' which detracts from the academic tone and cohesion expected in Task 1. Cohesive devices are somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'while in Germany', 'and in Japan'). Paragraphs are not used effectively to group related information; instead, single sentences stand alone as paragraphs. This lack of sophisticated structural flow and appropriate paragraphing caps the score at Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for communicating the basic message, but it is somewhat repetitive and lacks variety. Phrases such as 'spend on sleeping', 'time taken for studying', and 'study period' are used repeatedly. There are also unnatural collocations and minor word choice issues, such as 'doing study' instead of 'studying'. Less common lexical items are attempted with mixed success, and overall precision is limited. The range is sufficient for the task, but lexical limitations place this clearly in the Band 5.5 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though control is inconsistent. There are noticeable grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('how much time a student spend') and awkward phrasing ('in Japan is an hour less than UK' missing a subject or verb). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but structural slips and faulty complex constructions occur frequently enough to impede smooth reading in places. This performance aligns with the Band 5.5 descriptors.

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

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