Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The line graph shows the number of first time visitors and returning visitors who visited Caryl Island from 2000 to 2008.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The line graph shows the number of first time visitors and returning visitors who visited Caryl Island from 2000 to 2008.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The graph illustrates the percentage of first time visitors and returning visitors who visited Caryl Island from 2000 to 2008.

the visitors visiting the Island for the first time in 2000 was about 8000 while second time visitors on the island was about 3000. whereas 2002 displayed a significant drop in the first time visitors on the island, 4000 less visitors visited the island. in comparison to first time visitors, visitors visiting the island second time rose enormously to 10000 in the same year.

2004 showed a boost of 2000 visitors for both categories of visitors in comparison to previous year.

2006 and 2008 proved to be accelerating growth years

for first time visitors to the island with numbers rising from 9500 in 2006 to 12000 in 2008.

wherein for second time visitors 2006 was a good year with 15000 visitors to the island however 2008 portrayed a decline in the number of visitors to only 13000 visitors.

this concludes that first time visitors on the island showed a prominent growth after only one drop in the year 2002 whereas number of second time visitors dropped after 2006.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover the main trends shown in the line graph, noting figures for both first-time and returning visitors across several years. However, there is a notable inaccuracy in the opening sentence: the student refers to the 'percentage' of visitors, whereas the graph clearly shows actual numbers (thousands of visitors). While key data points such as the drop in 2002 and the peak in 2006/2008 are mentioned, some figures are imprecise or misread from the visual data. The overview at the end correctly captures the general upward trend for first-time visitors and the later decline for returning visitors, meeting the core requirements of Task 1. Nonetheless, tighter data accuracy and avoiding misinterpretation of units prevents this from reaching a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is structured into an introduction, several body sentences tracking chronological data, and a concluding summary. However, the paragraphing is poor; sentences are clumped awkwardly, and the lack of standard capitalization at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'the visitors visiting...', 'in comparison...', 'this concludes...') severely disrupts the visual and logical flow. While basic time markers like 'in 2000', 'whereas 2002', and '2004' are used to sequence information, cohesive devices are mechanical and limited. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall progression feels disjointed due to the lack of proper punctuation and paragraph breaks.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate vocabulary for describing trends, utilizing words such as 'drop', 'rose enormously', 'boost', 'growth', and 'decline'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as 'visitors visiting the island second time' instead of 'returning visitors'. The misuse of 'percentage' in the introduction instead of 'number' also detracts from precision. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general message, repetition of basic verbs and nouns keeps the lexical score constrained.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical control is weak. There is a complete disregard for capitalization rules at the start of sentences (e.g., 'the visitors...', '2006 and 2008 proved...', 'this concludes...'), which counts as a punctuation error. Furthermore, there are awkward syntactic constructions and missing prepositions, such as 'second time visitors on the island was about 3000' (subject-verb agreement error with 'was' for plural/countable items or phrasing) and 'accelerating growth years for first time visitors'. Frequent errors in punctuation and basic sentence construction cause some difficulty for the reader.

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