Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-09

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 5.0)

The bar chart compares the ratio of people holding full driving licenses in Great Britain by 17 and 70 in women and men.

Overall, there are noticeable differences among all the age groups between men and women. Men and women both had the highest figures of license holders in the age group of 30-39 in 1975, whereas in 2006 the highest age group in men is 50-59, while for women it is 40-49.

For the age groups of 17-20 and 70+, they are similar in number to holding a license in 1975, while women have significantly declined over the time periods; 70+ has only 3 members, but the 17-20 age group has 20. In contrast, 2006 for women is the same, while men's license holders increased from 38 to 78.

People who are under 50 but above 20 in both genders are closely in 2006, who have their car driving licenses, but the time period is 1975/76 for women, who saw a decline, whereas men go up.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s broad comparison by sex and age and provide an overview, including the rise in women’s licence holding by 2006. However, the overview contains inaccurate peak-age claims: in 1975/76, men peaked at 40–49, not 30–39, and women peaked at 30–39, not that both sexes did. In 2006, men peaked at 50–59, but women’s highest figure was also in the 30–39 group, not 40–49. The statement that women “significantly declined” is the opposite of the data: their figures rose in every age group. Several comparisons are too vague or unclear to report the main patterns reliably. Select a few accurate contrasts and support them with figures, especially the substantial increases among older women and the relatively small change among young men.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure, with an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs of comparisons. This gives the reader some sense of organisation. However, there is no clear progression through the chart’s main features, and the final two paragraphs are difficult to follow. For example, “For the age groups of 17-20 and 70+, they are similar in number” does not clearly identify which sex or year is being compared, while “In contrast, 2006 for women is the same” has no clear referent. The contrast signalled by “whereas” in the final paragraph is also hard to interpret. Organise the details by year or by sex, and use explicit references such as “among women in 1975/76” to make each comparison clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “age groups,” “figures,” “increased” and “decline,” and the meaning is generally recoverable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the comparisons difficult to understand. “Ratio” is not the best term for percentages, and “3 members” does not describe the proportion of licence holders. Phrases such as “similar in number to holding a license” and “are closely” are not natural ways to describe chart data. Use precise terms such as “percentage,” “proportion” and “licence holders,” and choose verbs such as “rose,” “fell” or “remained stable” to describe changes accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes some simple and compound sentences, and the overall meaning can usually be understood. However, the range of structures is limited, and attempts to express more complex comparisons often contain errors or unclear construction. For example, “For the age groups of 17-20 and 70+, they are similar in number” uses an unclear pronoun and awkward sentence structure; “People who are under 50 but above 20 in both genders are closely in 2006” is also difficult to parse. Tense and agreement are inconsistent in phrases such as “men go up” when describing past data. Practise forming direct comparison sentences with a clear subject, accurate past-tense verbs and parallel structures, such as “The proportion rose among women in every age group.”

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