Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-29

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The line graph below shows past and current overweight rates, as well as a projected future overweight rate in nine selected countries.

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

Past and projected future overweight rates in selected OECD countries

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The given line graph illustrates the past, current and predicted future overweight rates of nine OECD countries.

Overall, USA has the highest overweight proportion throughout the timespan. While Korea retains it's position of having lowest rates. All the countries showed an upward trend across the data.

Initially, all countries except USA had zero overweight proportion. Whereas, USA had 45% in the beginning. After which it saw a steady decline and hit its lowest in late 1970s then it continued increasing steadily. In early 1980s, Austria started off at nearly 40% which then constantly rose. At the end of that decade, Australia, Spain and France had 33%, 42% and 30% portion of overweight. All of them further saw a steady growth.

In the year 1990 Englad had 47% overweight rate which continued increasing till early 2000s. Towards the end of 1990's Canada had 50% followed by Italy at 47% which was still higher than France and Korea at 25% which is lowest of all the countries. In the year 2020 while USA and Korea maintained their position of having maximum and minimum rates respectively, England had second highest rates followed by Australia which saw a significant rise, Spain and Canada have nearly the same proportion. Austria, Italy, and France have similar proportion of overweights as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover the main features of the line graph, including general trends and some specific country data, successfully noting that all countries experienced an upward trend and that the USA and Korea maintained the highest and lowest positions respectively. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, the claim that 'initially, all countries except USA had zero overweight proportion' is factually incorrect according to the graph, where data series begin at various non-zero points (e.g., Austria at 39% in 1983). Additionally, there are minor confusions in reading specific dates and figures (e.g., mixing up the years and percentages for Canada and Italy). While an overview is present, the inaccurate data extraction pulls the score down into the Band 5 to 6 range. It addresses the task, but contains noticeable misinterpretations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is arranged into four paragraphs, including a brief introduction and an overall summary. However, the logical progression within the body paragraphs is disrupted by confusing transitions and chronological jumps. For example, moving abruptly from the US beginning to Austria in the early 1980s, then back to the late 1980s for other countries, creates a disjointed reading experience. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes misused, such as 'After which it saw', which leads to poor sentence linkage. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal organization lacks clear cohesion, resulting in a somewhat mechanical structure that fits the Band 5 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary to discuss data trends, such as 'illustrates', 'upward trend', 'steady decline', and 'minimum rates'. However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'portion of overweight', 'having maximum and minimum rates', and misspelling 'Englad'. The misuse of words like 'portion' instead of 'proportion' or 'rate' occurs multiple times. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success. The vocabulary is minimally adequate for the task, but errors in word choice and spelling place it firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using 'While Korea retains it's position...' and 'In the year 2020 while USA and Korea maintained...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring punctuation errors, missing commas in complex structures, and a notable possessive/contraction error ('it's' instead of 'its'). There are also run-on sentences that lack proper punctuation. While communication is not entirely impeded, the high frequency of grammatical errors and basic structural control align with the Band 5 descriptors.

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