Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the perceived danger and actual likelihood of being a victim of crime.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Perceived and actual likelihood of being a victim of crime: by crime type

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar graph illustrates the percentages of three crime types such as Burglary, car crime, and violent crime, according to the perceived danger and the actual likelihood of being a victim in two time periods 2009/10 and 2010/11.

Overall, the perceived danger of all crimes made up the higher percentage compared with actual likelihood. The perceived danger of crimes reduced by the time, however, its actual likelihood stayed the same or slightly increased. Car crime had a relatively higher percentage compared with others.

In detail, the highest percentage was recorded by the car crime, its perceived danger was at about 21% in 2009/10 which declined to nearly 17% in 2010/11. In terms of actual likelihood of car crimes, it was at about 4.5% in 2009/10 and slightly fell to around 4% in 2010/11. Burglary and violent crimes had similar share, burglary made up just over 15% in perceived crime which fell to approximately 17% in the following year, and at about 2% of actual likelihood of being a victim which rose to about 2.5% in the second year. The violent crime had 15% which decreased to 17.5%, perceived danger in 2010/11 and actual likelihood was at 2.5% which remained the same in the both year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by identifying the main features and making relevant comparisons across the data. The student highlights the overall trends, noting that perceived danger consistently exceeded actual likelihood, and details specific figures for car crime, burglary, and violent crime across the two periods. However, there are some noticeable factual contradictions and logical inconsistencies in the body paragraph. For instance, the student states that burglary perceived crime 'fell to approximately 17%', which contradicts the earlier mention of 15% and also misinterprets the trend shown in the visual data. Additionally, violent crime perceived danger is described as decreasing from 15% to 17.5%, which is a mathematical impossibility. Despite these data-reporting inaccuracies, the overview is clear and the main features are successfully selected, placing the response solidly at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is arranged coherently with a clear overall structure consisting of an introduction, an overview paragraph, and a detailed body paragraph. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different aspects of the task. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'In detail', and 'In terms of', providing a logical framework for the response. However, referencing and referencing progression are occasionally faulty, particularly in the body paragraph where pronouns and comparative structures create confusion regarding which year or category is being referred to. For example, phrases like 'the both year' exhibit mechanical cohesion issues. Because the logical progression within the detailed body paragraph is somewhat hindered by data confusion and mechanical linking, the response fits the Band 6.0 descriptor well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, utilizing terms such as 'percentages', 'perceived danger', 'actual likelihood', 'declined', and 'fluctuated'. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'Burglary and violent crimes had similar share' and 'reduced by the time'. Word choice errors occasionally surface, such as using 'fell to approximately 17%' when describing a rise from 15%. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and the vocabulary is sufficient to allow the reader to grasp the main concepts, even if precision is lacking. These features align closely with the Band 6.0 criteria.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to vary sentence structures with clauses like 'The bar graph illustrates...' and 'while the actual likelihood stayed...'. There are, however, several noticeable grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, including 'such as Burglary, car crime, and violent crime' (incorrect capitalization and lack of parallelism), 'reduced by the time' (incorrect preposition use), and 'remained the same in the both year' (article and pluralization error). Furthermore, run-on sentences and comma splices appear in the detailed paragraph, such as '...the highest percentage was recorded by the car crime, its perceived danger was at about 21%...'. Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, supporting a Band 6.0 score.

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

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