Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-07

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 the typical weekday schdule of students from three different countries – the UK, Japan, and Germany.

Overall, it is clear that the Japanese and German students have spent the most of their time while studying. The UK students followed a different trend by dividing their time equally among all tasks.

The students of the UK and German have devoted 8%, and 9% of their time to study, while Japanese students has spent 13% of their time on study which the highest. Although both the UK and German students are accounted for spending 7% each of their time for sleep, Japanese students used only 4% on sleep which is the lowest among three countries.

By contrast, the UK students have spent the highest amount of their time on relaxing activity, while Japanese and German stood at 7% and 8%, respectively. The UK remained the only country who divided their time equally.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the three countries and the main categories, and you attempt an overview by noting Japan’s high study figure and the UK’s apparent balance. However, several key details are misreported, which limits the accuracy of the summary: the UK and Germany studied for 8 and 9 hours, not percentages, and their sleeping figures are 8.5 and 8 hours, not 7. The relaxing figures are also reversed for Japan and Germany: they are 4 and 7 hours, respectively. The overview’s claim that Japanese and German students spent the most time studying is not accurate as a comparison, since Japan is highest but Germany is below the UK only slightly. Select the main contrasts and check each figure against the chart before reporting it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable four-paragraph structure: an introduction, an overview, and two detail paragraphs. The contrast marker “By contrast” helps signal a shift to relaxing, and the information is generally grouped by activity. However, progression is weakened by repetition: the UK’s supposedly equal allocation is stated in both the overview and the final sentence, while the final paragraph does not clearly compare all three countries. Some links are also awkward, such as “Although both the UK and German students…” followed by a comparison that does not complete the contrast clearly. Organise the details around accurate comparisons, and use references such as “these figures” or “in comparison” to connect them more smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “illustrates,” “devoted,” “dividing,” and “By contrast,” so the meaning is usually understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, and some affect the precision expected in a chart summary. For example, “spent the most of their time while studying” is awkward, and “accounted for spending” is not a natural way to describe the data. “Relaxing activity” is also less suitable than a concise category label such as “relaxation.” There is a spelling error in “schdule,” and “8%” incorrectly presents the figures as percentages. Use consistent, precise terms such as “hours spent studying” and “the figure for relaxation.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast clause beginning “Although” and an overview introduced by “Overall.” However, errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction recur. For example, “Japanese students has spent” should be “Japanese students have spent,” while “the UK and German” needs a plural noun such as “students.” The phrase “the most of their time” is also grammatically awkward, and “which the highest” needs a verb, as in “which was the highest figure.” These errors do not prevent the reader from following the general message, but they reduce accuracy. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and ensure each comparison clause forms a complete sentence.

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

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