Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-17
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 provided graph illustrates the proportion of people having full driving licences in Great Britain by age and sex.
Overall, the proportion of women slightly increased in every age group, whereas the graph of men fluctuated throughout the timeline. Middle aged men had the largest number as compare to women, between 1975 and 1976.
Furthermore, the lowest people holding the licence were recorded in 2006 among the younger ones. However, approximately 80% men owned their licences over the age of 70. On the other hand, women had a greater ratio in 2006 than in late twentieth century. Among people aged 50–59, approximately 74% of men had licences, compared with 45% of women. The figures then fell to about 58% and 15% respectively for the 60–69 group, and to around 34% and 2% among those aged 70 and over.
The graph depicts the percentages of men and women owning their licences between 1975 and 1976, and 2006.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to address the task but fails to accurately interpret the data. The student confuses the timeline, referring to '1975 and 1976' as a period, whereas the graph shows data for 1975/76 and 2006. Furthermore, the description of the trends is inaccurate; for instance, the claim that 'approximately 80% men owned their licences over the age of 70' contradicts the graph, which shows a much lower percentage for that age group. The overview is also confusing, as it mentions a 'fluctuation' that is not clearly supported by the data provided. Key features are not highlighted effectively, and the misinterpretation of the data significantly impacts the clarity of the report.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The transition between the overview and the body paragraphs is disjointed, and the final paragraph seems to repeat information already mentioned in the introduction, which is redundant. While some cohesive devices like 'Furthermore' and 'On the other hand' are used, they do not always connect ideas logically due to the underlying inaccuracies in the data reporting. The referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the comparison between age groups and years.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The range of vocabulary is limited and somewhat repetitive. Phrases like 'proportion of people' and 'number' are used frequently. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'lowest people holding the licence' (which is grammatically awkward) and 'greater ratio' (which is imprecise in this context). The student attempts to use some academic vocabulary, but the lack of precision in describing statistical trends hinders the overall quality of the response. More varied and precise terminology is needed to describe data changes.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'Middle aged men had the largest number as compare to women' (incorrect comparative structure) and 'the lowest people holding the licence were recorded' (incorrect phrasing). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure is often clunky. While the errors do not completely prevent communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader and indicate a lack of control over more complex grammatical forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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