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 given bar chart and table illustrate a country's export earning in different catagories from 2015 to 2016.

Overall, the maximum earning came from exporting petroleum products, while the least came from textiles over the years. Earnings from gems and jewellery was decreased only, while the earning of other catagories was increased.

Earning from petroleum products was 60 billion dollar in 2015, then around 2 billion increased in the following year in 2016. Similarly, 55 billion dollar earned by exporting engineered goods. It was also increased by 6 billion and stood at 61 billion in 2016. Agricultural products export earning increased slightly. It was 41 billion in 2015. After increasing just 1 billion, it stood at 42 billion in 2016.

The least amount of money was made from textile sector, which is accounted for only 35 billion in 2015. In 2016, earning from this sector was 42 billion. In contrast, Only gems and jewellery earning decreased by 5.18% and accounted for half a billion in 2016.

Textiles and engneering goods earning increased by a huge proportion which is 15.24% and 8.5% respectively. By contrast, Earning from petroleum products and agricultural products decreased slightly, which is accounted for 3% and 0.81% respectively in a year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the chart and table and provide an overview, noting petroleum as the leading category and gems and jewellery as the only category to fall. However, several key figures and trends are misread, which substantially weakens the report’s accuracy. Textiles were about $26 billion in 2015 and $31 billion in 2016, not $35 billion and $42 billion; agricultural exports were about $31 billion in both years, not $41 billion and $42 billion. You also say petroleum and agricultural earnings decreased, although both rose slightly or remained almost unchanged, and describe gems’ 2016 value as half a billion rather than about $41 billion. Select the main comparisons carefully and check each figure and direction against the visual.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing figures and percentage changes. This gives the reader some sense of progression, and connectors such as “Similarly” and “In contrast” help signal comparisons. However, the organisation is weakened because related information is split across paragraphs and some comparisons are difficult to follow. For example, the paragraph beginning “The least amount of money” gives textile figures before abruptly moving to gems, while the final paragraph repeats percentage changes already mentioned and incorrectly groups categories as decreases. A clearer grouping—such as the highest-earning categories, followed by the remaining categories—would make the report more coherent. Use linking expressions only when the relationship between the facts is accurate and clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “export,” “earning,” “increased,” “decreased,” and “accounted for,” so the topic is generally understandable. There is some repetition of “earning” and “increased,” and several word-choice or form errors reduce precision: “export earning” is better expressed as “export earnings,” “catagories” and “engneering” are misspelled, and “a huge proportion” is not a natural description of a percentage change here. “Half a billion” also communicates a radically different value from the chart, so precise numerical language is essential. Build a more varied set of accurate reporting phrases, such as “stood at,” “rose to,” and “remained stable,” and proofread spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including “while” and “which” clauses, and most sentences convey a basic comparison. However, errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction recur. For example, “Earnings from gems and jewellery was decreased” has incorrect agreement and verb form; “60 billion dollar” needs a plural unit and an appropriate article or construction; and “which is accounted for only 35 billion” is an awkward passive structure. The sentence “After increasing just 1 billion, it stood…” also leaves the subject of the increase unclear. Practise accurate past-tense reporting patterns, such as “Textile earnings rose from … to …,” and check subject–verb agreement and singular/plural forms. These corrections would make the comparisons easier to follow.

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