Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-17
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 CHARTS PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT EXPORT EARNINGS BY ONE PERTICULAR COUNTRY IN 2015 AND 2016, ILLUSTRATING DATA RELATED TO EXPORTS VARIOUS CATEGORIES IN THAT TIME FRAME AND CHANGE IN EACH CATEGORY OF EXPORTS IN 2016 COMAPRED WITH 2015 IN PERCENTAGE.
OVERALL, IT QUITE EVIDENT THAT EXPORT EARNINGS BY GOODS WAS MOST SIGNIFICANT ASPECT OF THE DATA, WHILE CHANGE IN VALUES RPRESENTED THE NOTABLE FEATURE. FURTHERMORE, THE FIGURES DISPLAYED CLEAR DIFFERENCES ACROSS THE CTEGORIES, WITH SOME SHWOING CONSIDERABLY HIGHER VALUE THAN OTHERS.
LOOKING FIRST AT BAR CHART, PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, ENGINEERING GOODS, GERMS AND JEWELLERY, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND TEXTILES RECORDED ROUGHLY 60, 55, 40, 30 AND 25 BILLION EXPORTS IN YEAR 2015. AMONG THESE, PETROLEUM PRODUCT WAS THE HIGHEST FIGURE, FOLLOWED BY ENGINEERING GOODS, WHEREAS TEXTILE ACCOUNTED FOR THE LOWEST VALUE. NOTABLY, THE SIMILAR FIGURE AND TREND SHOWED IN YEAR 2016, WHERE PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DOMINATING WITH MORE THAN 60 BILLION EXPORT EARING. IN CONTRAST, ONLY GEMS AND JEWELLERY DECLINED OVER THE TIME TO 40 BILLIONS TO NEARLY 38 BILLIONS IN 2016.
AS FOR TABLE DATA, TEXTILES PRODUCTS ACCOUNTED FOR 15.24%, MAKING IT THE LEADING CATEGORY. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY ENGINEERED GOODS AT 8.5%, WHILE GEMS AND JEWWLLERY DECLINED 5.18% FROM 2015 TO 2016. MOREOVER, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS REPRESENTED THE SMALLEST PROPORTION AT 0.81% CHANGE ONLY.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The candidate attempts to cover all parts of the task by summarising both the bar chart and the table. An overview is provided, noting that petroleum products were the highest export and that values changed across categories. However, the overview is somewhat vague and underdeveloped ("export earnings by goods was most significant aspect"). Furthermore, there are several minor inaccuracies in reading the data: for instance, describing engineered goods as roughly 55 billion in 2015 when the value is around 57, and stating that gems and jewellery declined from 40 to nearly 38 billions in 2016 when the chart shows 41 billion. Additionally, the table data interpretation confuses percentage change figures with proportions (e.g., stating textiles accounted for 15.24% as the leading category, rather than a 15.24% *increase*). These flaws place the response securely at Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged into four logical paragraphs: an introduction, an overall summary, a body paragraph detailing the bar chart, and a final paragraph discussing the table data. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the data, such as "LOOKING FIRST AT BAR CHART", "AMONG THESE", "IN CONTRAST", and "AS FOR TABLE DATA". However, paragraphing and referencing can be somewhat mechanical. The logical progression is generally clear, though the overall summary lacks sharpness. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the response, allowing the reader to follow the distinct parts of the visual data. Overall, the organizational structure meets the criteria for Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The candidate demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms such as "export earnings", "categories", "proportion", and "declined". However, there are notable spelling errors and awkward lexical choices throughout the text, including "PERTICULAR" instead of particular, "RPRESENTED" for represented, and "CTEGORIES" for categories. Additionally, terms like "GERMS" are used instead of gems, and "EARING" instead of earnings. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they recur frequently enough to prevent the score from reaching Band 7. Less common vocabulary is attempted but lacks precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "THE GIVEN CHARTS PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT..." and "THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY ENGINEERED GOODS AT 8.5%, WHILE GEMS AND JEWWLLERY DECLINED 5.18%...". There are, however, several grammatical errors and punctuation issues, notably writing the entire response in ALL CAPS, which is inappropriate for an academic task. Other errors include missing articles ("LOOKING FIRST AT BAR CHART") and awkward verb phrasing ("WHERE PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DOMINATING"). Grammatical slips occur frequently, though they rarely impede the overall comprehension of the report. This performance aligns well with the Band 5.5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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