Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-22

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 5.0)

This graph illustrates the number of people who visited Caryl Island and returned for visiting the island.

The number of the first time visitors decreased from 8000 to 4000 during the year 2000 and 2002 while the returning visitors increased from 2000 to 1000 people in the same period of time.

meanwhile the year 2004 saw increase in number of first and returning visitors

during the years 2004 and 2006 the first time visitor's increased from 6000 to 1000 and the number of 2nd time visitors increased from 12000 to 15000

but the year 2008 saw a downfall of the returning visitors from 15000 to 13000

but the first time visitors number increased in the year 2008 from 10000 to 12000

overall the Caryl island has saw both increase and decrease the number of visitors in the different years

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers the main trends in the line graph, noting the figures for first-time and returning visitors across several years. However, there are significant data transcription errors. For example, the student states that returning visitors increased from '2000 to 1000 people' between 2000 and 2002, which misinterprets the axis (returning visitors actually rose from 3,000 to 10,000). Furthermore, the overview provided at the end is very basic ('saw both increase and decrease the number of visitors'), failing to highlight the overarching trend that returning visitors generally outnumbered first-time visitors throughout the period. Additionally, the length requirement of 150 words was not met, as the response contains only 139 words, negatively impacting the task achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.5

The response attempts a chronological progression through the data points, using basic time markers such as 'during the year 2000 and 2002', 'meanwhile', and 'in the year 2008'. However, the paragraphing is extremely poor; almost the entire text is written as a single, poorly structured block of short, disconnected sentences that lack proper punctuation and capitalization (e.g., beginning sentences with lowercase letters like 'meanwhile'). Cohesive devices are repetitive and mechanical, and referencing is sometimes unclear, which disrupts the flow and makes the logical relationships between ideas difficult to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, relying heavily on simple verbs and nouns such as 'increased', 'decreased', 'number', and 'visitors'. There are also lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'returning for visiting the island' and 'saw a downfall'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and spelling or word-choice errors, while generally not completely impeding communication, occur frequently enough to restrict the score to a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The student uses a very limited range of sentence structures, mostly consisting of simple or poorly linked compound sentences. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly missing articles ('the first time visitor's increased'), incorrect prepositions, and a total lack of standard punctuation (periods and capital letters are largely ignored throughout the text). These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate weak control over basic grammatical structures and punctuation.

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

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