Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-19
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 graph compares the export potential of different categories of goods between 2015 and 2016, whereas the table illustrates the variations in the values of various products.
Overall, the highest amount of earnings were obtained through the export of petroleum and engineered products during both years, while the agricultural and textiles stood the lowest in terms of export earnings. Conversely, the textiles industry showed greatest percentage change in terms of value, while engineered products, gems and jewellery remained second highest, and agricultural products showed the least change in its prices.
On the one hand, there was approximately 15.24% of change in the values of textile products between 2015 and 2016. Whereas, engineered goods and jewellery exports also showed a considerable amount of variations, peaking at 8% and gems being lowered by 5.18% respectively. However, the agricultural and petroleum prices showed very little fluctuation in their value change, constituting 0.18% and 3%.
On the other hand, during 2015, the export earnings from petroleum and engineered products stood the highest, peaking at $ 65 billions and $ 58 billions respectively. In contrast, the earnings from gems and jewellery and the agricultural goods remained almost steady during both years, with approximately 54% and 40% in 2015, and almost a slight change in the next year. However, exports from the textile industry contributed the lowest with 40% in 2015 and 45% in 2016.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
You identify several relevant broad features, including petroleum and engineered goods as major earners and textiles as the category with the largest percentage rise. However, the response only partially reports the data because several figures and comparisons are inaccurate. For example, you give agricultural change as 0.18% rather than 0.81%, and describe gems and jewellery as “second highest” in percentage change despite its decline. The earnings figures are also substantially misread: textiles were about $26 billion in 2015 and $31 billion in 2016, not “40%” and “45%”; gems were about $43 billion, not 54%. The overview also incorrectly places textiles among the lowest earners in both years. Select the main trends accurately and distinguish dollar values from percentage changes.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs, with the earnings and percentage changes treated separately. This gives the reader some organisation. However, progression is weakened by unclear or contradictory comparisons. The overview says agricultural products and textiles were the lowest, while the final paragraph gives figures that do not match the chart; the phrase “engineered products, gems and jewellery remained second highest” also leaves unclear whether you mean earnings or percentage change. Linking expressions such as “On the one hand,” “Whereas,” and “On the other hand” are sometimes mechanical or do not express the relationship between the information. Group the categories by trend and use precise references to make each comparison easy to follow.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “export earnings,” “percentage change,” “fluctuation,” and “stood the highest.” These choices generally make the topic clear, and you attempt more formal phrasing. Some expressions are imprecise or awkward for describing a chart: “export potential” suggests capacity rather than recorded earnings, “prices” is not the same as export values, and “peaking at” is unsuitable for simply reporting a figure. “The agricultural and textiles” is also an inaccurate category label. Prefer consistent terms such as “export value,” “earnings,” “rose,” and “fell,” and use “percentage change” only for the table’s rates. This would improve precision while retaining your current range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a clear contrast structure in “whereas the table illustrates…” and several clauses linked with “while” and “although”-type contrasts. Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions are present. For example, “the highest amount of earnings were obtained” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “the agricultural and textiles stood the lowest” is not formed correctly. The sentence beginning “Whereas, engineered goods…” is a fragment, while “there was approximately 15.24% of change” uses an awkward construction. Check agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and make sure subordinate clauses are attached to a complete main clause.
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