Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-24

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 compares the typical weekday for students of the UK, Japan, and Germany.

Overall, the percentage of students who study at weekends are higher in Japan than other two countries, while spending time sleeping was the highest in the UK. Whereas, learners relaxing on weekdays was same proportion in the UK and Germany.

In the UK , 8.5% students are spending time in sleeping on weekdays, followed by Germany at 8%. Japan at 7%. The proportion of students who are studing on weekday was higher in Japan at 13%, while Germany and the UK accounted for 9% and 8% respectively.

German and UK students has the same shares in terms of relaxing on the weekday at 7%, while Japan had almost half percentage of the UK and Germany. Japan students are mainly focusing on studies. Whereas, the lerners of the UK and Germany are prioritizing sleep more.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the three countries and all three activities, and most figures are reported accurately: for example, studying is highest in Japan at 13 hours, while relaxing is 7 hours in both the UK and Germany. However, the overview contains a significant misreading: the chart shows hours, not percentages, and it describes a typical weekday, not weekends. The claim that sleeping was highest in the UK is also inaccurate, since the UK figure is 8.5 hours, above Germany’s 8 and Japan’s 7, so this comparison is correct, but it should be expressed as time rather than proportion. The final comparison is relevant but underdeveloped. The response is one word below the required minimum. A precise overview and accurate units would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs presenting country comparisons. This helps the reader follow the main categories, and the figures are generally grouped sensibly. However, progression is weakened by abrupt or incomplete transitions, such as “Japan at 7%” and the sentence beginning “Whereas” at the end. “Whereas” is also used to start a fragment after the overview, rather than linking two complete contrasting ideas. Repetition of “while” and repeated country-by-country statements make the cohesion somewhat mechanical. Grouping the key contrasts into fuller sentences—for example, comparing all three studying figures together—would create a clearer progression and reduce fragmentation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “accounted for,” “prioritizing,” and “relaxing,” so the reader can understand the intended comparisons. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or awkward for describing a chart. “Percentage” is unsuitable because the figures represent hours, while “shares” and “almost half percentage” also suggest proportions rather than time. There are noticeable spelling errors in “studing” and “lerners,” and phrases such as “spending time in sleeping” are unnatural. Use precise terms such as “hours spent studying” and “the figure for relaxing,” and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and more complex comparisons, including clauses with “while” and “whereas.” However, errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “students who study at weekends are higher” incorrectly makes students the thing being compared; “German and UK students has” has a subject–verb agreement error; and “8.5% students” is missing an article or other determiner. The standalone “Japan at 7%” is not a complete sentence, and the final “Whereas” clause is also incomplete. Practise forming complete comparison sentences and checking that subjects agree with their verbs. These corrections would make your meaning more consistently clear.

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

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