Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-04
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 five categories of one country's export income from 2015 to 2016.
It is clearly visible that the country had more export income in 2016 than in 2015 among all the product categories. Petroleum products were the most beneficial by securing the highest number of export earnings during both years while textiles were the least beneficial in case of exports.
In 2015, Petroleum products earned nearly $ 61 billions which was the biggest earning among all the other products. Additionally, engineering goods were slightly lower amounted to $58 billions. Gems and Jewellery made nearly $ 52 billions and agricultural goods earned aproximately $42 billions. In contrast, testiles made the leat earnings of $35 billions.
In 2016, approximately $ 62 billions was earned by petroleum products wchich was fairly close to the earnings made by engineering goods of $ 60 billions. Gems and Jewellery amounted to $50 billions. Moreover agricultural product was slightly more than previous year's earning accounting at $41 billions. By contrast, textiles amounted at nearly $41 billion which made a progress in earning from 2015 but not as much as other categories.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0
The response attempts to address the visual data by describing the categories and figures, but it suffers from significant factual inaccuracies and relies on heavy misinterpretations of the source charts. For instance, the text claims that textiles made earnings of $35 billions in 2015 and $41 billion in 2016, whereas the chart shows 2015 figures for textiles at around 26 billion and 2016 at 31 billion. Similarly, figures for gems and jewellery and agricultural products are incorrectly cited. While there is an attempt to present an overview and select main features, the pervasive data errors mean the response only minimally responds to the requirements of the task, failing to accurately summarise the provided information.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, overview, and body paragraphs logically by year. Information is generally easy to follow, and the essay is structured into distinct blocks. However, cohesion at times feels mechanical, and referencing between sentences can be slightly disjointed. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts, such as 'In 2015', 'Additionally', and 'In contrast', but referencing pronouns and logical transitions occasionally lack fluidity. To move to a higher band, the student should ensure more seamless logical progression and tighter linking of ideas across sentences.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'illustrates', 'categories', 'export income', and 'earnings'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies, inappropriate word choices, and spelling errors that prevent a higher score. For example, 'most beneficial' is an awkward collocation when describing export earnings, 'testiles' and 'aproximately' contain spelling mistakes, and 'wchich' is a typo. Furthermore, the misuse of numbers and terms like 'progress in earning' reflects a limited control of precise vocabulary. To improve, the student needs to expand their range of functional synonyms and pay closer attention to word forms and spelling.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating a reasonable attempt at structure with clauses such as 'which was the biggest earning among all the other products' and 'while textiles were the least beneficial'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('agricultural product was slightly more'), awkward phrasing ('amounted at nearly'), and spacing issues around dollar signs ('$ 61 billions'). Nonetheless, these errors do not severely impede communication. To reach higher bands, the writer must increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and refine prepositional use and subject-verb agreement.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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