Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-09

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graphs below show the percentage of people holding full driving licences in Great Britain by age and sex.

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

Full car driving licence holders: by sex and age

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar graph above illustrates the percentage of men and women in Great Britain having a driving licence in 1975/75 and 2006. The graph above compares the data with respect to age, sex and time.

From the graph above it can be concluded that the percentage of older people and women in 2006 had driver license is more compared to 1975/76.

In 1975/76 more men had licence when compared to women. About 39% to 20% for the age group 17-20, 79 to 40 for the age 21 to 29 and almost twice as many as mentioned had licence than women for the age group 30 to 39. The percentage of older people having licence is less than 40 percent women having licence after the age 40.

In 2006 it can be observed that a lot more people especially women have drivers licence. 29% to 25% for the age group 17 to 20, 65% to 62% for 21 to 29, 81% to 79% for 30 to 39. Also the percentage of older women having a license is almost 10 times greater

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers the main features of the data, such as the general increase in licence holders and the gender gap. However, the analysis is incomplete; the response ends abruptly mid-sentence, failing to provide a full overview or a complete comparison of the final age groups. While the key trends are identified, the lack of a conclusion and the incomplete final paragraph mean that the task is not fully addressed. The data reporting is sometimes unclear, such as the phrase 'almost twice as many as mentioned', which lacks precision and fails to clearly interpret the provided figures.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is hindered by the incomplete ending. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often repetitive or mechanical, such as the frequent use of 'In 1975/76' and 'In 2006' to start paragraphs. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when comparing data points without explicitly stating which group is being referred to, which forces the reader to work harder to interpret the intended meaning.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is limited and somewhat repetitive. Phrases like 'having a driving licence' and 'percentage of... having a licence' are used repeatedly. There is an attempt to use comparative language, but it lacks the precision required for a high band score. For example, 'a lot more people' is informal and imprecise. The vocabulary is adequate to convey the basic message, but it does not demonstrate the flexibility or the use of less common lexical items necessary to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include missing articles ('had driver license'), incorrect verb forms ('had licence' instead of 'held a licence'), and awkward phrasing ('almost 10 times greater'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the incomplete sentence at the end significantly impacts the overall grammatical control. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of errors in basic sentence construction prevents a higher score.

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

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