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 gives the data of exports earnings in different categories between 2015 and 2016. The table illustrates the comparioson of percentages of changes in each category of exports from 2015 to 2016.

Overall, the value of exports increased in both petroleum and engineered goods have gone up whereas gems and jewellery small decline. The agriculture products and textiles industry increased.

The export value of petroleum prodcuts slighty increased from 70 billion to almost 75 in 2016. The engineered goods were sitting just at 65 in 2016 but saw an rise in its value resulting in around 73 in 2016.Gems and jewellery declined slightly from 55 to 48 billion with agricultural products saw a very modest rise from 40 to 42 billion. Textiles significant jumped from 35 to 43 billion by end of 2016.

The percentage change in values from 2015 to 2016 saw 3 sector benefiting the most with textiles becoming the most valued saw an increase of 15.24% with engineered goods rising to 8.5%. The petroleum valued also rose by 3% whereas agriculture products only increased modeslty just 0.81%. The gems and jewellery significantly decreased its value by 5.18%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main categories and include the percentage changes, and you note the broad direction of change for most sectors. However, several figures conflict substantially with the chart: petroleum rises from about $61 billion to $63 billion, not $70 billion to nearly $75 billion; engineered goods go from about $57 billion to $62 billion, not $65 billion to $73 billion; and gems fall from about $43 billion to $41 billion, not $55 billion to $48 billion. The overview also says both agriculture and textiles increased, although agriculture is essentially unchanged at about $31 billion in the chart. These inaccuracies and the limited comparison of the main features mean the task is only partly addressed. Prioritise accurate key figures and a clear overview of the highest and lowest values and the strongest change.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph describing the chart, and a final paragraph on percentage changes. This helps the reader distinguish the two visual elements. However, progression within sentences is sometimes unclear, as in “The engineered goods were sitting just at 65 in 2016 but saw an rise in its value resulting in around 73 in 2016,” where the comparison and time reference are difficult to follow. The final paragraph also repeats some trends already mentioned rather than organising the figures into clear comparisons. Use shorter, logically ordered sentences and connect each category’s 2015 value directly to its 2016 value; reserve the overview for the most important overall patterns.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “exports,” “percentage change,” “declined,” and “increased,” so the topic is generally clear. There are also attempts at more descriptive language, such as “very modest rise” and “significant jumped,” but some choices are inaccurate or awkward and reduce precision. Examples include “exports earnings,” “the most valued” for the category with the largest percentage increase, and “3 sector benefiting the most,” which does not clearly express the comparison. Spelling errors such as “comparioson,” “prodcuts,” and “modeslty” are noticeable. Build a more reliable set of collocations for describing data, and check spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, but control is uneven, and several sentence structures make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “Overall, the value of exports increased in both petroleum and engineered goods have gone up” combines two incompatible structures; “whereas gems and jewellery small decline” lacks a complete verb phrase; and “with agricultural products saw” uses an incorrect clause pattern. There are also problems with articles and agreement, as in “saw an rise” and “its value” when referring to plural “goods.” Punctuation is inconsistent, including the missing space after the full stop in “2016.Gems.” Practise complete, controlled comparisons such as “Petroleum exports rose from X to Y, while gems and jewellery fell.”

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