Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-07

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 provides a comperative overview of exports in terms of different product category in the year 2015 and 2016, with the figures expressed in billions.

Overall, it is evident that petroleum products accounted for the highest figure, whereas textiles registered the lowest. A particularly striking feature is considerable disparity between petroleum and textiles.

Looking first at petroleum and engineering goods, petroleum recorded 65 billion slightly exceeding the figure for engineering products, at 5 billion. Likewise, gems and jewellery stood at number 50 billion, which was considerably higher than agriculture products, at a difference of around 10 billion.

With regard to the remaining categories, gems and jewellery registered 50 billion in 2015 and fell to 45 billion in 2016, followed by agriculture products at 40 billion. By comparison, textiles, accounted for merely 35 billion, making it the least significant category. Collectively, the figures reveal a marked variation among the categories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response includes an overview and attempts comparisons, but its account of the data is substantially inaccurate, which limits how well it fulfils the task. Petroleum is correctly identified as the leading category, but textiles were not the lowest in 2015: agricultural products were lower, and textiles and agriculture were both about $31 billion in 2016. Several figures are misreported: engineering goods were about $57 billion in 2015 and $62 billion in 2016, not $5 billion; gems were about $43 billion and $41 billion, not $50 billion and $45 billion. The response also omits the percentage-change information and gives no reliable account of the main rises and fall. Select a few accurate comparisons and summarise the overall trends.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable four-paragraph structure: an introduction, an overview and two sections of detail. Sequencing phrases such as “Overall,” “Looking first” and “With regard to” help signal movement through the report. However, the progression is weakened by repetition: gems and jewellery are discussed in both detail paragraphs, while the categories are not grouped in a clear, consistent way. “Likewise” and “By comparison” do not always express a clear relationship between the figures that follow. The final sentence repeats the general idea of variation rather than drawing the report together. Organise the details by meaningful comparisons, and use linking expressions only where the relationship is accurate and clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

There is an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “accounted for,” “registered,” “stood at” and “considerable disparity.” These choices show an attempt to vary the language used to describe figures. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, however: “comperative overview” is misspelled, “stood at number 50 billion” is unnatural, and “at a difference of around 10 billion” does not clearly express the intended comparison. “Least significant” is also less precise than “lowest figure” for describing export values. Use standard chart-reporting phrases such as “was valued at,” “rose to,” “fell to” and “was approximately $X billion,” checking spelling and collocation carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a subordinate clause in “whereas textiles registered the lowest” and a participial phrase in “making it the least significant category.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation issues reduce accuracy. In “petroleum recorded 65 billion slightly exceeding the figure,” a comma is needed before “slightly exceeding”; “textiles, accounted” has an unnecessary comma; and “in the year 2015 and 2016” has a number-agreement problem. The sentence beginning “Likewise” also has an unclear construction around “at a difference.” Aim for cleaner sentence boundaries and check agreement and punctuation, while retaining the range of structures already attempted.

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