Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-12

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 chart illustrate the percentage of men and women of different age who have obtained a driving license in Great Britain between the year 1975/76 to 2006.

Overall, the graph clearly shows that men have the highest percentage in total despite the age comparison.

Male obtain their license same age as women but remain more in terms of number with teenagers to early adults at about 38% in 2006 and about 36% in 1975/76. The chart shows an upward trend from the age bracket of 21-29 to 60-60 at about 75% to 90% in 2006 respectively. At age 70 and above where old age might definitely have started occur, the rate of driving decreases to around 78% in 2006 and around 37% in the other year . Despite the downward trend at the late age, it still remained higher than in the age of 17 -20.

While women also obtain their license at the same age as the men, they still remain lower in percentage, with age 17-20 at about 36% in 2006 and around 20% in 1975/76 and maintained an upwards trend till got to its peak at age 40-49 were its rate is about 80% and gradually reduces till 70 and above where it is around 35%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the graphs, identifying the overall trend that men hold more licenses than women and noting the age-related patterns. However, the analysis is somewhat hindered by inaccurate data reporting and unclear comparisons. For instance, the statement '60-60' is a typo, and the description of the trends is occasionally confusing, such as the claim that men 'remain more in terms of number' which is imprecise. While the main features are selected, the lack of precision in describing the data points and the failure to clearly contrast the two years (1975/76 vs 2006) across all age groups limits the development of the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for men and women. However, the flow of ideas is sometimes mechanical. The use of cohesive devices is limited and occasionally repetitive (e.g., 'the chart shows', 'the graph clearly shows'). Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the phrase 'in the other year', which does not explicitly name 1975/76. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the progression of ideas within paragraphs could be smoother to better guide the reader through the comparisons.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'remain more in terms of number' and 'old age might definitely have started occur'. The student uses basic vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'upward trend' and 'downward trend', but struggles with more sophisticated collocations. Some word choices are imprecise, which occasionally forces the reader to infer the intended meaning. Spelling is generally accurate, but the range of vocabulary is limited to the basic requirements of the task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('The bar chart illustrate'), incorrect verb forms ('started occur'), and awkward sentence construction ('at age 70 and above where old age might definitely have started occur'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of spaces around percentages and dates. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the response from reaching a higher band.

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

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