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 illustrate the information that how much time do students spend in some activities across three countries.

In UK students spend roughly equal amount across all three activities 8.5 hours of sleeping that is high across all countries, 8 hours of their time for studying and manage 7 hours for relaxation. In Japan students devote by far most of the time to studying 13 hours which is highest time spend by students on study in these countries leaving with the least time for sleeping 7 hours and only 4 hours for relaxing which is low in all three countries.

On the other hand in Germany closely mirror the UK pattern with 8 hours of sleep, 9 hours of study and 7 hours spend for relaxation.

In conclusion, UK students gets the most sleep 8.5 hours, while both UK and German students get significantly more relaxation time 7 hourscompare to their Japanese counterpart 4 hours.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by reporting the main features of the bar chart and making relevant comparisons across the three countries. The data points cited are generally accurate: for instance, noting that Japanese students spend 13 hours studying and 4 hours relaxing, while UK students sleep for 8.5 hours. However, there is a tendency to over-generalise slightly in the overview, and the structure of the data presentation could be more synthesised. Nevertheless, the key information is clearly presented and covers all three categories (sleeping, studying, relaxing) for the UK, Japan, and Germany, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or solid 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the countries, discussing the UK and Japan in the second paragraph and Germany in the third. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or lacking, as seen in phrases like 'In UK students' and 'On the other hand in Germany closely mirror'. Referencing and logical progression are occasionally hindered by punctuation and missing prepositions. Overall, the organisation is logical, but cohesion requires more flexibility and better control to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to time allocation such as 'devote', 'spend', 'roughy equal amount', and 'highest time spend'. There are some word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'time spend by students on study' instead of 'time spent by students studying', and '7 hours compare' instead of 'compared'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and spelling/word-choice errors are noticeable but do not impede overall communication, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors and missing punctuation marks throughout the text. For example, 'The bar chart illustrate' lacks subject-verb agreement, and 'In UK students spend' is missing an article ('In the UK'). Sentences such as 'Germany closely mirror' show subject-verb disagreement, and missing commas make longer sentences run-on. While the errors do not severely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 6.5.

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

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