Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-13
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 given line graph and given chart illustrate the importance of a particular country's exports in different items, such as petroleum products, engineered goods, gems and jewellery, agricultural products, and textile items, measured in billion, over two-year period, from 2015 to 2016. Overall, it is evident that petroleum products had an upward trend in exports, whereas textile items underwent the lowest export value according to the year 2015 and 2016. On the other hand, percentage value depicted that textiles has the highest percentage value among other product items.
To begin with, in 2015, the petroleum products recorded the highest export value, was at 60 billion, followed by engineered goods was the second highest, which was at just 58 billion. Looking to the gems and jwellery items, they showed the export rate was at approximately 55 billion. Agricultural products and textile items was significantly less, at 40 billion and just 35billion, respectively.
Looking ahead to 2016, the export rate of petroleum products was slightly increased, was above 60 billion. The engineered goods along with the gems and jwellery items were 60 billion and 50 billion, respectively. Finally, agricultural products and textile items was above 40 billion, respectively.
As a result, petroleum products showed 3% increased rate, whereas the export value of engineered goods, the gems and jwellery items , agricultural products and textile items has 8.5%, 5.18%, 0.81%, and 15.24 %, respectively.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all parts of the task by identifying the main features and making comparisons. However, the analysis is somewhat mechanical, simply listing figures rather than synthesizing the data effectively. For instance, the overview mentions an 'upward trend' for petroleum, but the data shows a very slight change, and the statement about textile items having the 'lowest export value' is accurate, but the subsequent claim about the 'highest percentage value' is not clearly linked to the provided table's context. The report would benefit from a more analytical approach to the data, such as grouping categories by their performance (e.g., those that grew versus those that declined).
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Looking ahead', and 'As a result', though some are used somewhat repetitively or mechanically. The progression of ideas is generally clear, moving from the 2015 data to the 2016 data and finally the percentage changes. However, the referencing is occasionally clunky, such as the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs, which could be smoother to improve the overall flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, using terms like 'petroleum products', 'engineered goods', and 'agricultural products'. There are some spelling errors, such as 'jwellery' instead of 'jewellery'. The use of vocabulary is generally functional but lacks sophistication or variety. Phrases like 'recorded the highest export value' and 'showed the export rate' are repetitive. To reach a higher band, the student should aim for more precise collocations and a wider variety of verbs to describe trends, such as 'experienced a marginal increase' or 'remained relatively stable'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('textile items was significantly less', 'agricultural products and textile items was above 40 billion') and awkward phrasing ('was at 60 billion, followed by engineered goods was the second highest'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the data, they indicate a lack of control over complex structures, which limits the score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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