Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-17

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 given bar chart depicts the information about categories of criminal offences, which were perceived and actual likelihood of being a victim of crime in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Overall, it is conspicuous that maximum ratio of the perceived crime and the actual crime case has been observed in Car crime, the least perceived crime cases were reported in Burglary and Violent crime respectively. In contrast, the minimum actual criminal record was noticed in Bulglary.

To begin with, the perceived crime rates noticed greater among the actual crime cases, around 16% had been reported in intial year in Bulgary. Meanwhile, the percentage of Car crime and Violent crime was almost 20% and 16% respectively. After a year, the total number of crimes were decreased significantly in all types of percieved crimes.

Furthermore, the actual crimes cases recorded below 5% over the period of time. Car crime ratio was almost 4% in both years. However, Violent crime was 1% less than Car crime. Lastly, the percentage of Bulglary merely 2% in 2009/10 and 3% in 2010/11.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover the main features of the chart, identifying the three crime types and comparing perceived versus actual likelihood. However, there are notable inaccuracies in reading the data. For instance, the student states that the actual crimes cases recorded 'below 5%', which is generally true, but claims 'Violent crime was 1% less than Car crime' (actual car crime is around 4.5%, while violent crime is 3%, making it 1.5% less) and misinterprets specific figures. The overview is somewhat flawed as it focuses heavily on rankings rather than the stark contrast between high perceived danger and low actual likelihood. Furthermore, there are spelling and typographical errors in data references such as 'Bulgary' and 'intial'. Overall, the task is addressed, but data handling is loose and imprecise, placing it at Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is divided into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs, demonstrating an awareness of standard Academic Task 1 structure. Logical connectors such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', 'To begin with', and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, as seen in the transition 'the least perceived crime cases were reported in Burglary and Violent crime respectively. In contrast, the minimum actual criminal record was noticed in Bulglary.' Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but internal flow within paragraphs can be disjointed due to awkward phrasing. This performance is consistent with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for describing statistical data, including terms like 'perceived', 'likelihood', 'categories of criminal offences', and 'significantly decrease'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('Bulgary' for burglary, 'intial' for initial, 'percieved' for perceived) and awkward lexical choices such as 'maximum ratio of the perceived crime and the actual crime case'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy in word formation and collocation. While communication is not severely impeded, the accumulation of spelling mistakes and imprecise vocabulary prevents the response from reaching Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The given bar chart depicts the information about categories of criminal offences, which were perceived and actual likelihood...' However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with several errors including subject-verb agreement issues ('the perceived crime rates noticed greater among the actual crime cases', 'the total number of crimes were decreased') and missing prepositions or articles ('percentage of Bulglary merely 2%'). Punctuation and sentence structures are adequate to convey basic meaning, but frequent errors in grammar cause occasional strain for the reader. This corresponds to a Band 5.0.

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

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