Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-18
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 illustrates the export earnings of a country from five different categories during the year of 2015 to 2016.
Overall, pertroleum products and engineered goods were most popluar, and the least exported material was textiles.
To begin with, around 60 billions of pertroleum products were exported in 2015, which increased to 65 billions dollar in the next year. Whereas the exports for gems and jewellery decreased in 2016 with the comparsion of 2015, the engineered goods exports increased in 2016, accounting for around 40 billions and 62 billions respectively. Similarly, gems and jewellery showed substainal growth in 2015 compared to 2015.
The agricultrual goods remained almost identical during the period, accounted for around thirty billions of dollars. in the end, the textiles industry is only that showed emence growth in 2026, initially the exports were around 25 billions of dollars but by the year of 2016, it experienced an of increase 7 billions, accounted for 32 billions in total.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the export earnings chart and the accompanying table. An overview is attempted, noting that petroleum products and engineered goods were highest and textiles lowest. However, the response contains several factual errors and inaccuracies regarding the data. For instance, the student states that petroleum exports in 2015 were 'around 60 billions' and increased to '65 billions dollar' (the actual figures are 61 and 63 billion). Furthermore, there is confusion in paragraph three where gems and jewellery are stated to have shown substantial growth 'in 2015 compared to 2015', and agricultural goods are misreported. Despite these data discrepancies, the main trends are generally addressed, placing the response at Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organized into four paragraphs, following a logical structure of introduction, overview, and body paragraphs detailing specific categories. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'To begin with', 'Whereas', and 'Similarly'. However, referencing and logical progression are sometimes faulty, as seen in confusing comparative structures like 'decreased in 2016 with the comparsion of 2015' and the illogical temporal reference in 'in the end, the textiles industry is only that showed emence growth in 2026'. Paragraphing is present and helps structure the text, but the mechanical nature of some transitions and mechanical errors in cohesion limit the score to Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting words related to data description such as 'export earnings', 'categories', 'growth', and 'experienced'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('pertroleum', 'popluar', 'comparsion', 'substainal', 'agricultrual', 'emence') and inaccurate word forms or collocations ('billions of pertroleum products', 'billions dollar'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general message, these persistent lexical and spelling errors impede smooth reading and cap the lexical score at Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'which increased to 65 billions dollar in the next year', 'while the exports for gems and jewellery decreased'). However, there are numerous grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as missing articles, incorrect preposition usage ('in 2026' instead of 'in 2016'), and tense inconsistencies. The frequent errors in basic sentence construction and grammar cause occasional difficulty for the reader, placing this criterion at Band 5.0.
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