Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-03

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 5.0)

The bar graph illustrates the exports of a country during the year of 2015 and 2016 and the table shows the percentage variation in each category.

Overall, Petroleum products and Engineering goods are the main exports during the year 2015 and 2016 with significant percentage increase as well.

The petroleum products and engineering goods saw a slight increase from 6B in 2015 to 6.5B in 2016 while gems and jewellery saw a decline from 51B to 48B and textile exports rise drastically from 35B to 41B from the year 2015 to 2016. Only agricultural products maintain the same or a slight increase exports in the years 2015 to 2016 with 40B to 41B.

All exports saw a gradual rise from 0.81% of agricutural products to hit a record high of textiles with 15.24% only the gems and jewellery hit the vottom with negative 5.18% in the years 2015 to 2016.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the task only partially because the data cited in the body paragraphs is largely inaccurate or completely misread from the provided charts. For example, the student claims that petroleum products and engineering goods increased from 6B to 6.5B, which fails to reflect the actual figures shown in the visual data. Similarly, the values provided for gems and jewellery, textiles, and agricultural products do not correspond correctly to the given statistics. While an attempt is made to present an overview and mention some percentage changes in the final paragraph, the widespread inaccuracies in reporting the main features mean the response fails to fully cover the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response displays some organization with a basic introduction, body paragraphs, and an overall summary, but there is no clear logical progression guiding the reader through the data. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive or awkwardly handled, such as the frequent use of 'while' and 'from the year 2015 to 2016' within the same sentences. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of information is disjointed, leading to a mechanical feel that lacks fluid transitions between the categories and their respective percentage changes.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task, with noticeable errors in word choice and spelling that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. For instance, the student misspells 'agricultural' as 'agricutural' and uses the informal, inaccurate term 'vottom' instead of 'bottom'. While there are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary related to exports, categories, and trends like 'decline', 'drastically', and 'percentage variation', the frequent lexical slips and restricted range prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple constructions and repetitive patterns. Attempts at complex sentences are often faulty or poorly integrated, resulting in frequent grammatical errors. Issues include preposition and article omissions, agreement errors, and awkward phrasing such as 'Only agricultural products maintain the same or a slight increase exports'. These frequent errors create noticeable difficulty and distraction for the reader throughout the text.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.