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 graphs elucidates the value of one country's exports in numerous categories over the period of two years in billions and percentage change in each category of exports in 2016 as compared with 2015.
Taking a general overview, the maximum number of export earnings was of petroleum goods in 2016 and the minimum change in the value was of agricultural products over the two years.
It is pellucid that the earnings of petroleum goods in two years was around 70 billions which remained almost the same for engineered goods in 2016 but was slightly less than that in 2015. The export earnigs of gems and jewellery reduced further to almost one-half in two years. This downward trend can be observed in the export of agricultural products also. The earnings of textiles export was around 40 billions in 2016.
Moving further, the export of petroleum products increased by 3% in two years which was surpassed by the export of engineered goods. The export of gems and jewellery was declined by 5.18% over this period. There was a slight upsurge in the export of agricultural products but a drastic increase can be noticed in the export of textiles.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to address both parts of the task by summarising the export earnings for 2015 and 2016 alongside the percentage changes. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies when compared to the visual data. For instance, the student states that the earnings of petroleum goods were 'around 70 billions', whereas the chart shows them at 61 and 63 billion. Similarly, stating that gems and jewellery reduced 'to almost one-half' is incorrect, as the drop was only from 43 to 41 billion (with a 5.18% decrease). Furthermore, the overview is rather vague and misinterprets key trends. While the response attempts to report the main features, these data errors pull the task achievement score down into the lower-middle bands.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The text is organized into four paragraphs, following a logical structure of introduction, overview, and body paragraphs detailing the chart and table. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'Taking a general overview', 'It is pellucid that', and 'Moving further'. However, paragraphing could be tighter, and some referencing is slightly confusing or imprecise. For instance, transitions between the bar chart data and the percentage change table feel somewhat disjointed. Overall, the arrangement is coherent enough to follow, earning a solid mid-range score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common collocations and topic-specific terms like 'export earnings', 'downward trend', 'upsurge', and 'drastic increase'. However, there are notable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as 'elucidates' (used awkwardly for a bar chart and table) and 'pellucid' (which sounds overly archaic and unnatural in an IELTS Task 1 response). Spelling is generally accurate, but vocabulary control prevents the score from reaching higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and introductory participial phrases ('Taking a general overview', 'Moving further'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'the maximum number of export earnings was of petroleum goods' (earnings cannot be counted with 'number') and 'The export earnigs of gems and jewellery' (spelling slip and plural/singular agreement issues with 'was reduced'). Additionally, 'The export of textiles export was' contains a redundant duplication. Despite these errors, meaning is generally conveyed, placing this in the Band 6 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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