Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-13

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)

This bar chart typically compares the activities of students from three different countries in a weekday.

Overall, students from all the three countries spend a huge amount of their time in studying but students of Japan spend the most.

Even though students pf Japan study alot, they get a little time for relaxing. In contrast students of UK and Germany get an average of 7 hours to relax. There is an imbalnace between distribution of hours for tasks of a student during weekday in Japan. On the other hand, students in UK and Germany have a very structured routine for sleeping, relaxing and studying.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main contrast that Japan allocates the most time to studying and less time to relaxing, and you compare the UK and Germany’s seven hours of relaxation. However, the response only partially reports the chart: it gives no figures for studying or sleeping, and the claim that all students spend a “huge amount” of time studying is not accurate, since the UK figure is eight hours and Germany’s is nine, compared with Japan’s thirteen. The description of the UK and Germany as having a “very structured routine” is also not clearly supported by the data. The response is 104 words, below the required 150, which contributes to the limited coverage. Include a clear overview and select key figures to support comparisons across all three activities.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall shape: an opening sentence is followed by an overview and comparisons, and phrases such as “In contrast” and “On the other hand” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the progression is limited because the chart’s three activities are not systematically compared, and the final contrast about a “structured routine” does not follow clearly from the preceding points. The two contrast markers also do not establish distinct, well-developed relationships between the ideas. Organise the report into a brief overview and a body that compares sleeping, studying and relaxing, using clear references to the countries and figures. This would make the sequence easier to follow and the connections less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary, including “activities,” “distribution,” and “in contrast,” and the reader can understand the broad comparison. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or informal for an academic chart report. “Huge amount” overstates the figures, while “a little time” is vague; “average of 7 hours” is not the best description when both countries have exactly seven hours. There are also spelling errors in “alot,” “imbalance,” and “pf,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for precise terms such as “hours spent,” “the highest figure,” and “a similar amount,” and use the chart’s activity labels consistently. More accurate collocations would make the comparisons clearer and more appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including “Even though students of Japan study…, they…” and “On the other hand…,” and the main meaning is generally understandable. However, control is uneven. The opening phrase “students from three different countries in a weekday” has an awkward grammatical construction, and “students of Japan” and “students of UK” omit or misuse articles and prepositions. In “Overall, students from all the three countries spend…,” the determiner is also incorrect. Punctuation is inconsistent, with missing commas after introductory clauses such as “In contrast.” Practise accurate country references (“students in Japan,” “the UK”) and check articles, prepositions and clause punctuation while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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