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 bar chart illustrates how the students in UK, Japan, and Germany spent their regular weekdays.

Overall, the most striking feature is that the study time for japanese students is the highest and the relaxing time is the lowest among other two countries. Meanwhile, UK and Germany students recording an average figure.

In detail, the students of japan usually study for almost 13 hours so that they have less time to relex or freshen their mind. By comparison, the students of Germany and UK gets nearly 7 hours for relaxation.

Additionally, sleeping time for UK students are 8.5 hours, whilst Germany students are 8 hours. On the other hand, sleeping time for japanese students are 7 hours. Though students of Germany sleep less than UK, studying time is higher than UK. However, studying time for japanese students are much higher than this.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast: Japanese students spend the most time studying and the least relaxing, while UK and German students have similar relaxation figures. You also report the sleeping figures accurately and note that German students study more than those in the UK. However, the overview is vague in saying UK and German students record “an average figure,” and the comparison of study hours is not fully reported: Germany is at 9 hours, the UK at 8, and Japan at 13. The response also falls short of the required 150 words, which limits the opportunity to select and develop the key comparisons. Add a clearer overview and cover all three activities with precise comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about studying, relaxing and sleeping. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “By comparison,” and “On the other hand” help signal relationships between points. However, progression is limited: the second paragraph moves from study to relaxation, and the final paragraph returns to study without a clear organising principle. Some connections are also awkward, particularly “Though students of Germany sleep less than UK, studying time is higher than UK,” where the comparison is difficult to follow. Grouping the information by activity or by country, and using clearer references, would make the comparisons easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the chart, including “illustrates,” “striking feature,” “by comparison,” and “whilst.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main points, but several choices are inaccurate or repetitive and reduce precision. For example, “average figure” is unclear, “gets nearly 7 hours for relaxation” is an unnatural collocation, and “freshen their mind” does not describe the chart as directly as “relax.” There are also spelling errors in “japanese,” “relex,” and “japan.” Use consistent country names and more precise chart language, such as “spend,” “record,” and “hours per day,” while avoiding repeated use of “time.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “Though” and clauses introduced by “whilst” and “so that.” The main information is generally understandable, but errors in agreement and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some comparisons less clear. For example, “UK and Germany students recording” lacks a finite verb, while “the students of Germany and UK gets” has an agreement error. In “sleeping time for UK students are 8.5 hours,” the subject and verb do not agree; similar errors occur in “studying time for japanese students are.” Practise building accurate comparison sentences with plural subjects and consistent verb forms, and check articles and country references.

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

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