Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-11

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 illutrates the country's export value in various categorize during 2015 and 2016. The table provides information about the percentage change in each category during the same time period.

Overall, petroleum products and engineered goods were the top export categories in both years, while the agriculture products and textiles were the least exports. The gems and jewellery was the average export produducts.

In 2015 and 2016, the petroleum products export was on the top, 70 billion and around 73 billion, respectively. Only 3% change noticed in these these two years. Engineered goods was second highest export category, around 67 billion in 2015 and 70 billion in 2016, 8.5% increased recorded in two years.

Gems and gewellery was average export category in both years, around 50 billion in 2015 and 48 billion in 2016, 5.18% decreased reported in these two years. Agricultural products and textiles were lowest export categories, In 2015 and 2016 agriculture accounted for 39 and 40 billion respectively, while textiles accounted for around 35 billion in 2015 and around 41 billion in 2016. Agricultuural products recorded 0.81% and textiles reported 15.24% increased in [redacted phone].

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and include the percentage changes, and your overview correctly notes that petroleum products and engineered goods were the leading exports. However, several reported values conflict substantially with the chart: for example, petroleum is about $61–63 billion, not $70–73 billion, and agriculture is about $31 billion in both years, not $39–40 billion. Textiles were among the lower-value categories in 2015, but rose to about $31 billion in 2016; describing agriculture and textiles as the least exports in both years misses this change. The overview also calls gems an average category without clearly summarising the overall movement. More accurate figures and a clearer account of the key rises and fall would make the response more complete and reliable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs grouping the export categories. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow, and phrases such as “In 2015 and 2016” and “while” help signal comparisons. However, the grouping is not always effective: agriculture and textiles are presented together as the lowest categories even though their values and changes differ, and the overview’s “average” category is not developed clearly in the detail. Some links are mechanical or repetitive, particularly repeated references to the two years. Organise the details around the largest values and the most notable changes, and use clearer comparisons between categories to strengthen progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “export value,” “percentage change,” “category,” and “accounted for,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision. “The least exports” is not a natural way to describe categories with lower values, while “average export category” is unclear in this context. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “illutrates,” “categorize,” “produducts,” “gewellery,” and “Agricultuural.” Use standard category names consistently and choose precise terms such as “lowest-valued categories” or “mid-ranking category.” Proofreading spelling and avoiding repeated wording would improve clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the contrast in “while textiles accounted for…” and the overview sentence beginning “Overall.” However, grammatical control is uneven, and errors occur in several sentence patterns. For example, “The gems and jewellery was” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “8.5% increased recorded” does not form a correct passive construction. The phrase “Only 3% change noticed” also lacks a suitable verb and article. Some sentences omit articles or use awkward tense and number patterns, which can make the relationships between figures less clear. Practise complete comparison sentences, checking agreement and verb forms, and use a consistent past-tense structure when describing the data.

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.