Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

below shows the value of one country’s exports in various categories during 2015 and 2016. The table shows the percentage change in each category of exports in 2016 compared with 2015.

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar chart compares the export earnings of a country from various categories during 2015 and 2016 and the table provides information about the percentage changes in the values.

Overall, it is evident that execpt gems ans jwellery, earnings from all the other categories showed an upward trend. Furthermore, value of petroleum products were highest in both the years, whereas that of agricultural products and textiles was the least.

Earnings from exporting petroleum products and engineering goods increased from aproximately 60 and 55 billion $ to around 63 billion $. While the former raised by 3%, the later raised by almost three times of petroleum products, which was by 8.5%. Gems and jwellery was the only category to decrease its value by 5.18%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart and table and give a relevant overview: petroleum products are the highest-earning category, while gems and jewellery is the only category to fall. You also report several figures and percentage changes accurately. However, the response addresses the data only partially: it stops before describing the changes in agricultural products and textiles, and the overview incorrectly calls both of these the least-earning categories; textiles rose to about $31 billion, while agriculture was roughly level. The comparison of engineering goods is also unclear. The response is 27 words below the required minimum, which contributes to the limited coverage. Include the omitted categories and a more complete overview of the main contrasts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure, moving from an introduction to an overview and then to selected details. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore,” and “While” help signal the relationships between ideas. However, the final paragraph combines several comparisons in a way that is difficult to follow, particularly “the later raised by almost three times of petroleum products,” and the response ends without covering all categories. The overview’s claim that agriculture and textiles were both the least also makes the progression less clear. Use separate, focused sentences to compare the categories, and organise the details so that all five are covered in a logical sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a suitable range of task-related vocabulary, including “export earnings,” “categories,” “upward trend,” and “percentage changes.” These choices make the topic clear, and “increased” and “decrease” help describe movement. However, several spelling errors—“execpt,” “jwellery,” “aproximately,” and “later”—reduce accuracy. Some phrasing is also imprecise or unnatural, such as “raised by almost three times of petroleum products” and “value of petroleum products were highest.” Aim for accurate spelling and more natural collocations, for example, “rose by nearly three times as much” or “recorded the highest earnings.” This would make the comparisons more precise and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the comparison introduced by “While.” The main trends are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. In “value of petroleum products were highest,” the subject and verb do not agree, and the noun phrase needs an article or plural form. “Gems and jewellery was the only category” also has a number-agreement problem, while “from approximately 60 and 55 billion $ to around 63 billion $” leaves the comparison structure incomplete. Check subject–verb agreement and make sure each comparison has a clear subject and matching figures. More consistently controlled complex sentences would strengthen the response.

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