Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-08

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 graphs illustrate the percentages of full car driving licence holders in Great Britain by age and gender in 1975/1976 and 2006.

Overall, more men held a car driving licence as compared to women. The percentages of people, who owned a driving licence increased with ages, and it decreased relatively at old age. However, this decline is more pronounced among females as compared to males.

At age 17-20, both men and women who held a driving licence recored below 40% at approximately 38% and 36% in 2006. In contrast, higher percent of people from age 21 to 69 held a driving licence, for women the percentage is just below 80%, while proportion of men was just above 80%.While women at age of 70 and over held least amount of licences at nearly 35% in 2006 and 3% in 1975, men recorded at just below 80 in 2006 and nearly 35% in 1976.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s subject and give an overview that men generally had higher licence rates, while rates were lower among the oldest group. However, the response only partially reports the main features and includes several inaccurate or unclear comparisons. For example, the claim that licence holding increased with age is too broad: in 2006, rates peak around ages 40–59 and then fall, while the youngest group is also low. The statement that both sexes aged 17–20 were at approximately 38% and 36% in 2006 is inaccurate; the figures are about 37% for men and 33% for women. The 21–69 comparison is also too general, since rates vary substantially by age and sex. Select key patterns and compare the two years more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph with selected figures. This gives the reader a coherent overall arrangement, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In contrast” help signal relationships. However, the final paragraph moves between the youngest, middle-aged, and oldest groups without a clear sequence, making comparisons harder to follow. The sentence beginning “In contrast” combines a broad age range with figures that do not represent it consistently, and the following “While” clause is not smoothly connected to a main clause. Organise the details by age group or by year, and use clear comparison sentences so each figure has an unambiguous reference.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “percentages,” “proportion,” “pronounced,” and “held a car driving licence.” These choices allow you to describe the chart and make basic comparisons. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “people, who owned a driving licence” is not a natural description of licence holders, and “least amount of licences” is unsuitable for a percentage. “Higher percent” also needs a more appropriate form. There is a spelling error in “recored,” and repeated use of “percentage” and “held” limits flexibility. Aim for precise chart language such as “the proportion of licence holders,” “the lowest figure,” and “rose/fell,” while checking spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex forms, including the overview sentence with “However” and the contrast introduced by “While.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems remain. In “The percentages of people, who owned a driving licence increased with ages,” the relative clause is incorrectly punctuated, and “with ages” does not fit the intended pattern. “At age 17-20” would be clearer as “Among those aged 17–20,” while “both men and women who held a driving licence recorded” needs a clear subject and verb construction. There are also missing spaces after full stops and a comma splice in the final paragraph. Use shorter, complete comparison sentences and check agreement, clause structure, and punctuation.

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

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