Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-01

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 8.0)

The bar chart compares the perceived and actual likelihood of becoming a victim of three types of crime (burglary, car crime and violent crime) in the periods 2009/10 and 2010/11.

Overall, people significantly overestimated the risk of being a victim for every crime type in both years. Perceived rates were consistently several times higher than the actual figures. Car crime showed the highest perceived risk, while actual rates remained low across all categories (generally under 5%).

In 2009/10, the perceived likelihood of car crime was the highest, at just over 20%. Perceived risk of burglary and violent crime stood at around 15% each. By contrast, the actual rates were much lower: approximately 5% for car crime, just over 2% for burglary, and around 3–4% for violent crime.

In 2010/11, perceived risks declined slightly for all categories. Perceived car crime fell to roughly 15–16%, while burglary and violent crime remained close to 13–15%. Actual figures stayed very low and changed only marginally: car crime stayed near 4–5%, burglary rose slightly to about 2.5–3%, and violent crime remained around 3–4%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

The response covers all parts of the task well, providing a comprehensive summary of the visual data. The student successfully identifies the main features and makes clear, relevant comparisons between the perceived danger and the actual likelihood of being a victim of crime. The overview is particularly strong, highlighting the stark contrast that people significantly overestimated the risk across all categories. Data points for both 2009/10 and 2009/10 are accurately reported and well-selected to support the comparisons. Ideas are fully developed with only rare minor omissions, ensuring the response fully satisfies the requirements for this high band level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.0

The information and ideas are logically sequenced, creating a clear progression throughout the response. The student makes effective use of paragraphing, with an introductory paragraph, a clear overall summary, and two well-structured body paragraphs detailing the specific years. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In 2009/10', and 'By contrast' are managed naturally and appropriately without being overused or mechanical. Referencing throughout the text is clear and precise, ensuring the reader can effortlessly follow the comparisons between perceived and actual crime rates.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.5

The student demonstrates a wide, fluent, and flexible range of vocabulary suited to an Academic Task 1 response. Less common items and collocation phrases such as 'perceived likelihood', 'actual rates', 'remained low', and 'declined slightly' are used effectively. There is good precision in describing statistical trends ('overestimated', 'marginally', 'roughly'). Only occasional, very minor inaccuracies in word choice or phrasing occur, but these do not detract from the overall high quality and precision of the lexical resource deployed.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 8.0

A wide range of complex structures is used with a high degree of flexibility and control. The majority of sentences are completely error-free, demonstrating excellent command over past tense forms required for the data description ('compared', 'showed', 'stod at'). Complex dependent clauses and comparative structures are handled smoothly, and punctuation is accurate throughout. Only very occasional, non-systematic slips occur, which is characteristic of this advanced level of grammatical performance.

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