Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-03

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The pie charts below show exports from various EU countries to India and China in 2000 and 2011.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

EU Exports of Goods to India and China in 2000 and 2011

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie charts compare EU countries export in 2000 and 2011 to India and China.

Overall, there is fluctuation in percentage of goods exported to both countries; India and China.

To begin with, year 2000, United Kingdom, exported 29% of its goods to India while 9% were sent to China. Furthermore, 38% of export was sent to China from Germany and only 15% was sent to India in the same year. The lowest contributor of export to India was Austria with only 1% while in China was Spain and Austria with 2% each.

In year 2011, Germany replaced United Kingdom as the biggest contributor of export to India with 25% of its export. Apart from that, Germany with-hold its place in China as the major exporter but its percentage elevated by 10% in 2011. The amount of export by Spain and Sweden is same in both countries i.e 3% of the export.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the task by providing an overview and selecting several key features, such as Germany replacing the United Kingdom as the top exporter to India in 2011 and its dominant position in China. However, some aspects of the data are treated unevenly or under-developed. For instance, the overview merely states that there is fluctuation, which is inaccurate for many categories and misses the broader trends in shifting market shares. Furthermore, details like the specific percentages for Spain and Sweden lack proper contextualisation within the wider comparison. To reach a higher level, the response needs a more precise and fully realised overview of the overall changes across the decade, coupled with more consistently extended comparisons between the two destination countries.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical division into an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. Information is generally easy to follow, and the writer makes an effort to structure the details chronologically. However, referencing and cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or handled awkwardly, such as starting paragraphs with 'To begin with' and 'In year 2011', which feel a bit formulaic. Transitions between sentences could be smoother to establish a clearer sense of progression. To improve further, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing between data points is handled with greater precision.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to successfully report percentages and country names. There are some appropriate attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'biggest contributor' and 'major exporter'. However, noticeable word-choice and collocation inaccuracies occur, such as writing 'countries export' instead of 'countries' exports' and stating that Germany 'with-hold its place' instead of maintaining or retaining it. Spelling and word-form errors are present, but they do not impede communication. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to expand their range of functional economic vocabulary and improve precision in collocation and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. For instance, sentences comparing the two destinations show an attempt at complex phrasing. Nevertheless, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, including missing prepositions, article omissions (e.g., 'in year 2000' instead of 'in the year 2000'), and awkward phrasing like 'amount of export by Spain and Sweden is same'. While these issues rarely impede overall communication, they persist across the text. To reach the next level, the writer must exercise better control over grammatical structures, articles, and subject-verb agreement to produce more error-free sentences.

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

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