Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-12

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 5.0)

The table compares the percentage change in the values of five category namely, Gems and Jewellery, Petroleum products, Agriculture and Textiles between 2015 and 2016.

Overall, petroleum products recorded the highest percentage of export earnings. Gems and jewllery faced a slight declined, whares textile is generated the lowest percentage of export earnings. In 2015, petroleum products earned approximately $60 billion, and the figure rose about to $62 billion in 2016. Similarly, earning from engineering goods increased from $58 billion to nearly $62 billion, representing a substantial rise. In contrast, the value of gems and jewellery fell slightly from approximately $43 to $41 billion.

Regarding the remaining categories, agriculture products remained unchanged in both years, whares textile recorded a slightly increased from $38 to $41 billion.

Petroleum products increased by 3% and Engineering goods rose to about 8.5%. Other categories rose 5.18%, 0.81% and 15.24% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies several relevant categories and reports some key figures, including petroleum earnings rising from about $60 billion to $62 billion and gems and jewellery falling from roughly $43 billion to $41 billion. However, the overview is inaccurate: petroleum products were the highest-earning category, but textiles were not the lowest in 2016, and the claim that gems and jewellery rose by 5.18% contradicts the chart’s downward trend. Textiles are also misreported as increasing from $38 billion to $41 billion; the chart shows approximately $26 billion to $31 billion. The table gives percentage changes, but the response does not clearly distinguish the decline in gems from increases elsewhere. The response is five words below the required minimum. Select and accurately summarise the main trends before adding figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation: an opening sentence is followed by an overview, then details about several categories and a final sentence on percentage changes. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, the progression is not consistently clear because the response shifts between export values and percentage changes without explaining how the two sets of information relate. The final sentence lists three percentages without naming the corresponding categories, making the reference unclear. Linking words such as “Similarly” and “In contrast” help signal comparisons, but “Regarding the remaining categories” introduces a sentence containing a substantial factual error. Group the categories by whether their values rose, fell or stayed stable, and identify each category when reporting percentages.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses some task-relevant vocabulary, including “percentage change,” “export earnings,” “remained unchanged” and “increased,” so the meaning is generally understandable. There is some variation in how changes are described, but several word-choice, spelling and form errors reduce precision: “a slight declined,” “whare,” “textile is generated,” and “slightly increased” are not natural or accurate expressions in this context. “Agriculture products” is also less appropriate than “agricultural products,” the category label in the chart. These issues do not prevent the reader from following the broad topic, but they make the report less clear and polished. Use standard chart-reporting collocations such as “recorded a slight decline” and check spelling and category names carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including “In contrast, the value of gems and jewellery fell slightly…” and a sentence using “representing” to add information. However, errors occur in sentence construction and agreement, as in “five category namely” and “whare textile is generated the lowest percentage.” The phrase “a slightly increased” also uses an incorrect grammatical form, while “rose about to” is an awkward construction. Some sentences are understandable, but these recurring problems make the description less controlled. Practise accurate comparative structures, for example, “Textile earnings increased from X to Y,” and check singular/plural agreement and articles before submitting.

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