Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-23
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 stacked line graph illustrates the value of exports in various categories in one country across 2015 and 2016. The table provide the export values in petroleum, engineering, jewellery, agriculture and textile industries.
Overall, the graph shows export values across different sectors over 2 years. The petroleum and engineering industries ranked the most profitable earning sectors, while gems, agriculture and textile tailed behind.
The petroleum industry has showed a leading trend over the two years with a revenue of almost 70 billion in 2016 and a 3% incline. This increasing trajectory was typical to the engineering goods, scoring a sharp 8.5% profit is exports from 2015 to 2016.
On the other hand, lower export earnings observed in the agriculture and textile products. However, both sectors experienced an incline between 2015 and 2016, with textiles showing the most significant rise with 15.24%. Although gems fell in the export earnings, it still stands at a higher value than both agriculture and txtile industries.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the export earnings in 2015 and 2016, including specific data points and percentage changes. For example, the student correctly highlights that petroleum products led with nearly 70 billion in 2016 and a 3 percent incline, while noting the significant 15.24 percent rise in textiles. An overview is present at the beginning of the second paragraph, capturing general trends such as the ranking of profitable sectors. While some figures are slightly generalised or misread in terms of exact scale (such as petroleum reaching close to 70 billion rather than 63 billion, and minor confusions regarding the chart versus table details), the response effectively summarises the core visual data and makes relevant comparisons.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is logically organised into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that separate the growing export sectors from other categories. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Overall', 'On the other hand', and 'Although', which help guide the reader through the comparisons. However, paragraphing could be slightly more balanced, and some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, though minor abrupt shifts between sentences prevent the text from achieving a higher band score for cohesion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, incorporating terms like 'revenue', 'trajectory', 'profitable', and 'significant rise'. Less common lexical items are attempted, though occasional errors in word choice occur, such as writing 'profit is exports' instead of 'profit in exports' and the typo 'txtile'. Despite these minor inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main trends and comparisons clearly without impeding communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while' and 'although'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present throughout the text, such as 'The table provide' (subject-verb agreement), 'industry has showed' (tense usage), and 'lower export earnings observed in' (missing auxiliary/verb). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent minor grammatical inaccuracies keep the response at a Band 6 level.
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