Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-27

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 illustrate the proportion of three different countries that shows the representative weekday for students.

Overall, studying was the most popular activity in Japan and Germany, while sleeping was most common activity in UK and Germany. In contrast, relaxing was the least common activity in all three countries specially in Japan.

Looking first at sleeping, the UK recorded the highest figure 8.5, followed by the Germany at 8, while japan had the lowest number, at 7. Furthermore, studying was the most popular trend in all three countries in UK it depicts 8 and in Japan had the highest figure at 13, which was considerably higher as comparing all the three given countries and in Germany it is 9.

Turning to relaxing, in UK and Germany recorded relatively similar figures, at 7 and 7 respectively. In contrast, Japan had the lowest figure, at just 4.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and report most figures accurately, including Japan’s high study figure (13) and its low relaxation figure (4). However, the overview contains a key contradiction: it says studying was most popular in Japan and Germany, then says sleeping was most common in the UK and Germany. In fact, studying is the highest activity in all three countries. The body also says this correctly, but the overview should state the main pattern clearly and consistently. The response is slightly below the required 150 words, and some comparisons are only briefly reported. Add a concise, accurate overview and develop the cross-country comparisons to cover the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and paragraphs covering sleeping, studying and relaxing. Phrases such as “Looking first” and “Turning to” help signal movement between categories. However, the progression is weakened by the contradictory overview and by a long, crowded sentence about studying that combines several country figures without clear punctuation. The paragraphing also groups sleeping and studying together before treating relaxing separately, which makes the comparison less systematic. Organise the body consistently—either compare all three activities in turn or compare countries—and use clearer sentence boundaries and links between figures. This would make the relationships between the data easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “recorded the highest figure,” “lowest number” and “relatively similar figures,” so the reader can understand the comparisons. However, the range is limited and some expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “the proportion of three different countries that shows the representative weekday” and “the most popular trend.” “Popular” also suggests preference, whereas the chart reports time spent on activities. Repeated use of “figure” and “highest” makes the description less flexible. Choose precise terms such as “hours,” “time spent” and “activity,” and vary comparison language where appropriate. More accurate collocations would make the report clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, and several short statements communicate the figures clearly, for example, “Japan had the lowest figure, at just 4.” However, errors occur in basic agreement, articles and sentence construction. “The bar chart illustrate” should use a singular verb, while “in UK” and “the Germany” show inconsistent article use. The sentence beginning “Furthermore, studying…” runs several clauses together, leaving the relationships between them unclear. Capitalisation is also inconsistent for “Japan.” Use a reliable sentence pattern for each comparison, check subject–verb agreement and articles, and separate linked country figures with full stops or semicolons. These changes would improve accuracy while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

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