Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-03

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 an ordinary working day of students in the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. Unit in hours.

Overall, Japan has the most studious students as their study to relaxing ratio is more than that of the UK and Germany. Students in Japan, also, sleeps the least out of the three countries.

Regarding the details, Japanese students study 13 hours a day while having only 4 hours of leisure time, the least among the three countries. Their students also sleeps the slightest as they only sleep for 7 hours compared to 8 and 8.5 hours for Germany and the UK respectively.

German students have the best balance among the three countries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several important comparisons accurately: Japan records the most study time (13 hours), the least leisure (4 hours), and the least sleep (7 hours), while the UK and Germany sleep for 8.5 and 8 hours. However, the response only partially covers the chart. It omits the UK’s 8 hours of study and the full comparison of relaxing time, and the claim that Germany has “the best balance” is not explained or clearly supported by the figures. The overview focuses on Japan but does not summarise the main pattern across all three countries. The response is also 37 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail and development possible. Include a fuller overview and compare all three activities across the countries.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph of supporting details. The information about Japan is grouped logically, and phrases such as “Regarding the details” help signal a shift. However, progression is limited because most of the response concentrates on Japan, then ends abruptly with the unsupported statement about Germany’s balance. The comparison between countries could be developed more systematically, for example by discussing sleep, study and leisure in turn. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “also.” Clearer connections between the overview and the figures, along with a more complete final comparison, would make the organisation more effective.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the chart, including “illustrates,” “ratio,” “leisure time” and “compared to,” and the meaning is generally clear. However, the range is limited, with repeated references to “students” and “hours,” and some choices are unnatural or imprecise. “Most studious students” describes people rather than the chart’s measured time; “the slightest” is not a natural way to describe the shortest amount of sleep; and “best balance” is vague without specifying the activities being balanced. “Ordinary working day” also does not accurately convey the chart’s typical weekday for students. Use precise terms such as “study time,” “sleep duration” and “relaxation time,” and vary comparison language to report the data more accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple sentences and some more developed structures, including “while having only 4 hours of leisure time” and a comparison with “compared to.” The main information remains understandable, but some errors in agreement and sentence construction are noticeable. In “Japan has the most studious students as their study to relaxing ratio is more than that of the UK and Germany,” the pronoun reference and comparison structure are awkward. “Students in Japan, also, sleeps” and “Their students also sleeps” have subject–verb agreement errors; use “students … sleep.” The fragment “Unit in hours” would be clearer as a complete sentence, such as “Figures are given in hours.” More accurate agreement and a wider range of controlled sentence patterns would improve clarity.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.