Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-14

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 rendered bar chart demonstrates the proportion of people having full driving licence in great Britain categorizing by age and sex.

Overall, the percentage of retired people in men had the highest licence ratio, whilst it was the least in women.

Commencing with, in 2006, the age group of 17-20 and 21-29 had the least ratio of driving licence in men, which accounted for 39% and 76%, respectively. Interestingly, the age group of 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 exhibited a similar number, marking just under 90%. About 80% people held the licence with the age of 70 and over.

Furthermore, in 1975 and 1976, in both men and women witnessed the maximum licence number with middle age, represented to almost four fifth. Moreover, the age group from 30 to 59 held the same pattern of driving licence and remained consistent in the year 2006 and 1975/76, correspondingly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to summarise the main features of the chart, noting details for different age groups and sexes. However, it fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, coming in at 147 words, which negatively impacts task achievement. Furthermore, the selection of data contains significant inaccuracies and misinterpretations of the visual information (for instance, misattributing years and misinterpreting the demographic categories). While some general comparisons are attempted, the lack of precision and under-length penalisation restrict the score for this criterion to Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay attempts a logical structure with an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, and the progression of ideas is occasionally obscured by confusing data references (e.g., 'Commencing with, in 2006...'). Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly deployed (e.g., 'Furthermore, in 1975 and 1976, in both men and women witnessed...'). Referencing is also imprecise at times. Overall cohesion provides a discernible structure, but the mechanical nature of transitions and unclear relationships between sentences place this at Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary to discuss statistics and demographics, using terms such as 'proportion', 'ratio', and 'age group'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'proportion of people having full driving licence in great Britain categorizing by age and sex' and 'percentage of retired people in men'. Word choices are sometimes unnatural, and spelling or capitalisation errors (e.g., 'great Britain') appear. The range is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic meaning, fitting the Band 5.5 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors including missing articles ('having full driving licence', 'in great Britain'), preposition errors ('in men', 'with the age of'), and awkward passive/active confusions ('in both men and women witnessed'). These errors require some effort from the reader to interpret, although they do not entirely impede communication. This reflects the characteristics of a Band 5.0 response.

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

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