Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-26

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 graph illustrate the percentage of men and women having full driving licenses in the Great Britain by age and gender.

Overall, men the proportions of men having the full driving licenses were on higher side as compared to women throughout 1975/76 and 2006 in the 7 age groups. The women and men in the initial age group (17-20) and the last age group (70 and above) had the least amount of full driving licenses.

Between 1975/76 and 2006, both age groups had a slow start in having full license with 37% men 1975/76 and 38% in 2006. Whereas women significantly behind men in 1975/76 with a percentage of 20 and in 2006 36% women who had license which were slightly behind men. In the next age cohort of men and women the percentages almost doubled with 78% in 1975/76 and 75% in 2006 for men while, 41% and 63% were women respectively. The percentages in the middle ages for men and women slightly increased and maintained the trend till 60-69 age group later had slight a decline to 78% 38% in 1975/76 and 2006 respectively. Similar for women the percentages decreased significantly for women to 10% and 24%. Both gender peaked at having full licenses in their middle ages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You provide an overview that identifies the broad gender gap and notes that licence holding was lowest among the youngest and oldest groups. However, some key comparisons are inaccurate or unclear: for example, men aged 21–29 fell from about 78% to 70%, not 75%, and the figures for women aged 50–59 and 60–69 are not clearly reported. The statement that both sexes peaked in middle age is broadly true, but the final comparison is confusing: the oldest group’s figures were about 35% and 77% for men, and 3% and 29% for women, rather than the values given. Select a few accurate age-group comparisons and make the overall trends clearer to address the chart more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and a body paragraph, and it generally moves from younger to older age groups. However, progression becomes difficult to follow when several age bands and years are combined in long sentences. For instance, “In the next age cohort” does not clearly identify which group is meant, while the final sentence about declines gives figures without making their age groups or years clear. Linking words such as “Whereas” and “Similar” are also used awkwardly, and the body would benefit from clearer grouping—for example, younger groups first, then middle and older groups. Use explicit age labels and shorter comparisons to make the relationships easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “age cohort,” “percentages,” “significantly behind,” and “peaked,” which helps communicate comparisons. Some choices and collocations are imprecise, however: “slow start in having full license” is not a natural way to describe the low figures among younger people, and “least amount of full driving licenses” is awkward for percentages. There is also repetition of “percentages” and “full licenses,” and “gender” is used where “sex” or “men and women” would be more precise for this chart. Aim for concise, accurate phrases such as “licence-holding rates” and “the lowest proportions.” These refinements would make the description more natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons across years, but grammatical control is inconsistent and errors sometimes make relationships hard to understand. The opening has subject–verb disagreement in “The graph illustrate,” and the overview contains the incomplete construction “Overall, men the proportions of men…”. In “Whereas women significantly behind men,” the clause lacks a finite verb; later, “which were slightly behind men” also has an unclear reference and agreement. Long sentences joined with “while” or “whereas” often lack clear punctuation or complete clause structure. Practise building complete comparison clauses, checking subject–verb agreement, and separating complex comparisons into shorter sentences.

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

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