Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-23

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 5.0)

The bar chart illustrates an ordinary weekday routine of students in UK, Japan and Germany based on three different factors: Sleeping, studying and relaxing.

Comparing the students of all three countries depending upon the given factors, the bar chart demonstrates that the highest number of sleeping students 8.5 are in UK, second comes the Germany 8 then comes Japan with the lowest number of sleeping students 7. On the other hand, the highest number of students studying are in Japan 13, Germany again on second number in this category also with total of 9, at last is the UK with the lowest number of students 8. Comparison on the basis of third and last factor relaxing, bar chart demonstrates that the students relaxing in UK and Germany are equal, 7 for each. However, the students relaxing in japan are the lowest, total of 4. Influenced by the bar chart illustration, I would argue that the Japan students are highly motivated, focused and career-oriented.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the prompt by reporting the data for sleeping, studying, and relaxing across the three countries. However, the interpretation of the figures contains several inaccuracies when compared to the visual data. For instance, the student states that the UK has the highest number of sleeping hours at 8.5 (correct), but incorrectly describes the data as the number of 'sleeping students' rather than hours per day. Furthermore, the final sentence includes a personal opinion and speculation ('Influenced by the bar chart illustration, I would argue that the Japan students are highly motivated...'), which is inappropriate for an Academic Task 1 response where an objective summary without personal commentary is required. While the main features are touched upon, the lack of an overarching comparative overview and the inclusion of subjective commentary pull the score down to a 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is organized into two main paragraphs, consisting of an introduction and a dense body paragraph that attempts to group the data. However, the progression is quite mechanical and repetitive, relying heavily on formulas like 'the highest number of ... are in ... second comes ... then comes ...'. Additionally, the student fails to use effective paragraphing to structure the response logically, cramming all data points and the concluding personal remark into a single block after the introduction. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes misused, such as 'second comes the Germany 8 then comes Japan', leading to an awkward flow. Paragraphing and logical sequencing require significant improvement to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is largely basic and repetitive, frequently reusing phrases like 'number of students' and 'highest number of'. There are noticeable lexical inaccuracies, such as referring to the hours spent on activities as 'the number of sleeping students' and 'students studying' rather than the time spent on these activities per day. Attempts at less common vocabulary are minimal, and awkward phrasing such as 'Germany again on second number in this category also' demonstrates limited lexical flexibility. While communication is generally maintained despite these flaws, the range is restricted and inadequate for higher band descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple and error-prone complex sentences. There are frequent grammatical inaccuracies and missing articles throughout the text, such as 'in UK' instead of 'in the UK', 'the Germany' instead of 'Germany', and 'in japan' with a lowercase letter. Sentence structures are often cumbersome and ungrammatical, as seen in 'second comes the Germany 8 then comes Japan with the lowest number of sleeping students 7'. Punctuation is also weak, with run-on constructions and comma splices connecting distinct clauses. These persistent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a weak control of grammatical accuracy.

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

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