Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-23

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 illustration shows a bar graph that gives us percentages of the perceived danger and the actual likelihood of being a victim of crime between the years [redacted phone].

The graph shows three kinds of crimes, Burgalry, Car crime, and Violent crime. The highest percentage of percieved danger ever recieved in these 4 years is 21% in Car Crime where as the highest actual likelihood of being a victim was also in Car crime with a percentage of 4%.

In [redacted phone], people perceived danger equally in both the Burglary, and the Violent crime, but in actual likelhood, the Violent crime had a slightly higher chance of happening than the Burglary. In these years, the Car crime gained its highest percentage of all time in both percieved danger and actual likelihood.

The Burglary and Violent crime remained equal in both the cases from [redacted phone]. But, the Car crime's percieved danger's percentage lowered from 21% to 16%, and actual likelihood decreased only 1%.

The graph shows a consistent percentage in both the Burglary and Violent crimes, where as there was a slight change in the percentage of Car crime in these 4 years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the three crime categories and make relevant comparisons, including that car crime has the highest perceived and actual figures. You also note the equal perceived figures for burglary and violent crime in 2009/10. However, the overview is not fully accurate: the figures do not remain consistent for burglary and violent crime, since perceived burglary falls from about 15.5% to 13%, while perceived violent crime changes from about 15.5% to 13.5%; actual figures also rise slightly. The statement that actual car crime decreased by 1% is inaccurate: it is approximately 4.5% in both periods. The response would be stronger with a clear overview of the large gap between perceived and actual risk and more precise reporting of the changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: it introduces the chart, identifies the categories, and then compares the two periods. Paragraphing helps separate the introduction from the comparisons, and phrases such as “In 2009-2010” and “from 2010-2011” guide the reader through the time periods. However, the final paragraph repeats the claim that the figures were consistent, which conflicts with the changes described earlier and weakens progression. Some links are also awkward or unclear, particularly “The Burglary and Violent crime remained equal in both the cases,” where the intended comparison is difficult to follow. Organise the body around perceived versus actual figures, and use references that clearly identify the series being compared.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “perceived danger,” “actual likelihood,” “percentage,” and “slightly higher,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or repetitive. “The highest percentage ... ever recieved” is an awkward way to describe a chart value, while “gained its highest percentage” and “remained equal” are not natural collocations in this context. There are also spelling errors in key terms, including “Burgalry,” “percieved,” and “likelhood,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for concise chart language such as “stood at,” “declined,” and “was unchanged,” and check spelling carefully, especially for repeated topic words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, for example, “The graph shows three kinds of crimes” and the sentence comparing perceived and actual likelihood in 2009/10. Most of the meaning remains understandable, but errors in sentence construction and punctuation make some comparisons less clear. In “The highest percentage ... is 21% ... where as the highest actual likelihood ... was also,” the tense shifts from present to past and the comparison is awkwardly joined. Commas are also used unnecessarily in “the Burglary, and the Violent crime,” and “But,” at the start of a sentence is punctuated awkwardly. Use consistent past-tense reporting for the chart and check that each comparison has a clear grammatical structure.

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