Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-24

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 graph above depicts the information on perceived crime in comparison to actual likelihood of being a victim of crime.

All the crimes show a high perceived percentage of crime whereas the actual percentages are significantly low across all categories for year 2009 and year 2010.

Additionally, the car crime has been noted with highest percentages followed by violent crime and lastly burglary.

The graph also illustrates that the perceived crime percentages were higher in 2009 compared to 2010 in all categories.

However, the actual percentages for year 2009 and year 2010 are similar but different across categories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s central contrast: perceived risk is much higher than actual victimisation in every crime category, and car crime has the highest perceived figures. You also correctly note that perceived percentages fell from 2009/10 to 2010/11. However, the response is substantially underdeveloped: it gives no figures, and the statement that violent crime ranks above burglary is not accurate for perceived risk in 2009/10, when both are about equal. The comparison of actual rates as “similar but different” is too vague to report the small increases clearly. The response contains 90 words, below the required 150; eight words copied from the prompt were excluded from that count. Add an overview and support the main comparisons with selected data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The ideas are presented in a generally understandable order: you introduce the chart, describe the broad gap between perceived and actual risk, then mention category rankings and changes over time. Linking words such as “Additionally” and “However” help signal relationships. Nevertheless, the response has no paragraphing or clear progression from an overview to specific comparisons, and each point is compressed into a separate general statement. “However” introduces a comparison that is not fully explained, while “across all categories” and repeated references to “the graph” make the writing feel repetitive. Group the information into an overview and a detail paragraph, and connect related comparisons—for example, compare the two perceived years together, then the actual figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for describing the chart, and phrases such as “significantly low,” “highest percentages,” and “across all categories” show some ability to use descriptive language beyond basic labels. Meaning is generally clear. However, several expressions are imprecise or repetitive: “perceived crime percentages” can suggest crime itself rather than perceived likelihood, and “different across categories” does not explain what differs. “The car crime” is also an awkward collocation in this context. Use precise chart language such as “perceived likelihood of victimisation” and “actual rates,” and choose verbs that report change or comparison directly. More varied, accurate wording would make the limited comparisons clearer without requiring unnecessarily complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses mostly clear sentence forms, including a subordinate clause in “whereas the actual percentages are significantly low” and a contrastive construction beginning “However.” These structures communicate the main ideas, and grammatical errors do not seriously obstruct understanding. Some phrasing is grammatically awkward, particularly “the car crime has been noted with highest percentages,” where the construction and article use are not well controlled. The repeated pattern of short, simple statements also limits the range of structures demonstrated. Practise accurate comparative forms and clauses, such as “Car crime had the highest perceived rate, while actual rates remained below five per cent.” This would allow you to express the chart’s relationships more naturally while maintaining control of sentence structure.

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

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