Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-15

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 chart below shows the value of one country’s exports across five product categories in 2015 and 2016, while the accompanying table gives the percentage change in each category’s export value between the two years. Export earnings unit measured in dollars.

Overall, all the exported products earnings increased in 2016 apart from gems and jewellery which dropped a total of 5.18%.

Agricultural products showed the lowest gain in 2016 of all the 5 goods exported by only rising by 0.81%. Textile goods on the other hand, had the lowest earnings in 2016 by just being above 40 billion dollars followed by agricultural exports which were slightly above the textile product numbers.

Only petroleum products and engineered items managed to cross 60 billions in earnings by 2016 with both rising by 3% and 8.5% respectively. Additionally, textiles exports saw a significant increase in its proportion by 15.24% which was the highest in all categories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main overall pattern that gems and jewellery declined while the other categories rose, and you correctly highlight textiles’ largest percentage increase and agricultural products’ smallest. However, the overview is not fully accurate: agricultural earnings were essentially unchanged at about $31 billion, rather than clearly increasing, and textiles reached about $31 billion—not just above $40 billion. Agricultural products did not exceed textiles in 2016; they were approximately equal. The response also omits the substantial fall in gems’ earnings from about $43 billion to $41 billion. The unit statement is unclear, and the response is 145 words, below the 150-word minimum; the nine words copied from the prompt are excluded. Add accurate comparisons and a little more detail to cover the key data fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing selected categories. Linking phrases such as “on the other hand” and “Additionally” help signal contrasts and additions. However, the progression is weakened by grouping figures in a way that creates confusing comparisons: the textiles sentence says earnings were “just being above 40 billion” and then compares them with agricultural exports, although both were around $31 billion in 2016. The final paragraph also combines petroleum, engineered goods, and textiles without a clear organising principle. Use one paragraph for the highest-value categories and another for the lower-value categories, and make each comparison explicit. Clearer referencing and more accurate links between claims would make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “export value,” “percentage change,” “earnings,” and “significant increase,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, several expressions are imprecise or awkward, such as “Export earnings unit measured in dollars,” “all the exported products earnings,” and “cross 60 billions.” “Proportion” is also not the right term for the change in textile export value; it suggests a share of a whole rather than a percentage increase. These choices reduce precision in a data-reporting task. Aim for standard collocations such as “export earnings were measured in billions of dollars,” “export values increased,” and “exceeded $60 billion.” Varying “products,” “goods,” and “exports” carefully would also improve accuracy rather than simply repeating near-synonyms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including a complex overview sentence with “apart from” and a contrast using “on the other hand.” Most of the message remains understandable, but grammatical control is uneven. For example, “Export earnings unit measured in dollars” is a sentence fragment, while “all the exported products earnings increased” has an unclear noun structure. In “by just being above 40 billion dollars,” the construction is awkward and makes the comparison difficult to interpret. There are also issues with number and phrasing in “60 billions.” Build complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check articles, plural forms, and sentence boundaries. A more controlled mix of simple and complex sentences would help communicate the figures accurately.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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