Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-11

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 provided bar chart compares the ordinary workday including sleeping, studying, and relaxing of students in UK, Japan, and Germany.

Overall, Japan recorded the highest number of students studying while the number of students relaxing are lowest in Japan. In contrast UK has slightly higher number of students preferring sleeping over studying.

In Japan, students studying peaked at 13 almost double than the number of students who preferred sleep which is 7. In contrast relaxing is least favoured in all countries with Japan having only 4. While in Germany, 9 students chose studying and only 7 students chose relaxing. sleep is 8 percentage of german students choice.

Meanwhile, UK have 8.5 percentage of students preferred sleep and than studying and than comes relaxing making relaxation least favoured by UK's 7 percent students and studying slightly under sleep with 8% students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast: Japan has the highest study figure and the lowest relaxation figure, and you include comparisons across the three countries. Most reported values are accurate, including Japan’s 13 hours of studying and 4 hours of relaxing, and the UK’s 8.5 hours of sleep. However, the overview is not fully precise: the chart gives hours, not numbers or percentages of students, and the UK’s sleeping figure is only slightly above its studying figure. The claim that relaxing is least favoured in all countries is inaccurate, since in the UK and Germany studying is higher than relaxing, but relaxation is not the lowest category in Germany. The response also falls short of the required 150 words. Add a clearer overview and report the units accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and country-based detail, so the reader can follow its general direction. The comparisons between Japan’s studying and sleeping figures and Germany’s studying and relaxing figures are relevant. However, progression is uneven: the body moves from Japan to Germany and then back to the UK, while the overview repeats some points without establishing a clear comparison across all three countries. Linking phrases such as “In contrast” and “Meanwhile” are used, but some do not express a clear contrast, and the final sentence is difficult to follow because of repeated “and than.” Group the information more systematically—for example, compare each activity across countries—and use linking words only where the relationship is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the chart’s broad categories, including “studying,” “sleep,” “relaxing” and “least favoured.” There are also attempts to vary expression with phrases such as “recorded the highest” and “peaked at.” However, word choice and collocation are often imprecise: “number of students” and “percentage of students” misrepresent figures that are measured in hours, while “ordinary workday” is not the same as the chart’s typical weekday. Repetition of “students,” “preferred” and “relaxing” also limits range, and “sleep” and “relaxation” are not always used consistently as activity labels. Use precise chart language and vary it carefully, such as “hours spent studying” and “time devoted to relaxation.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a comparison with “while” and a contrast introduced by “In contrast.” However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships difficult to understand. For example, “the number of students relaxing are lowest” has subject–verb disagreement, and “UK have” should use a singular verb. The phrase “almost double than” has a faulty comparative structure, while “sleep is 8 percentage of german students choice” lacks clear grammatical relationships and accurate sentence construction. The final sentence also becomes hard to parse through repeated “and than.” Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles and comparative forms, and build shorter, complete sentences before adding more complex clauses.

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