Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-08

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The table shows the number of fatal, serious and slight injuries resulting from gun and knife crime in Great Britain from 1998 to 2007 and the percentage increase for each degree of injury over the period.

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

Great Britain - Gun and Knife Crime statistics - 1998-2007

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The table illustrates the number of fatal, serious and slight injuries resulting from gun and knife crime in Great Britain between 1998 and 2007 and the proprotion increase for each degree of injury over the period.

Overall, it is clear that total number of injury increased in the period shown, with slight injury recording the most significant increased in numbers. In contrast, serious injury increased slighlty and there was fluctuations in the fatal injury.

The slight injury was increased from 653 in [redacted phone] to 3296 in [redacted phone], which accounted for 405% increment in the period shown. Similarly, the numbers increased slighlty in serious injury. It started with 162 cases in [redacted phone] and peaked at 476 in the final year shown in the table.

Furthermore, fatal injury was the lowest in the number in the year [redacted phone] with only 49,and reached peak at 80 in [redacted phone] before slightly dipped to 58 in the year [redacted phone]. The percentage increased was only 18%, followed by 194% in the serious injury.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the overall rise in injuries and correctly note that slight injuries were the largest category, while fatal injuries fluctuated. You also include several relevant figures. However, some data are misreported: slight injuries reached 3,296 in 2005–06, not 2006–07, and the table gives a 405% increase for that category. Serious injuries rose from 162 to 476, but this is not a slight increase; the table reports 194%. The fatal figure peaked at 95 in 2001–02, rather than 80 in 2002–03. The total trend and the sharp jump in slight injuries in 2004–05 are not explained. The response is 141 words, below the 150-word minimum; the 26 words copied from the prompt are excluded.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the injury categories. Sequencing from the general trend to specific figures is broadly logical, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships. However, the progression is limited because the final paragraph combines fatal-injury details with percentage comparisons, while the total figures are not developed in a separate comparison. Some links are also unclear: “Similarly” introduces serious injuries even though the preceding sentence describes slight injuries, and “followed by” does not clearly show what the percentages refer to. Grouping the categories more consistently and using precise references would make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing data, including “peaked,” “fluctuations,” “percentage,” and “cases,” so the main subject is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several noticeable word-form, spelling, and collocation errors reduce precision. Examples include “proprotion,” “slighlty,” “increased in numbers,” and “the lowest in the number.” “Slight injury” and “serious injury” are also repeated without much variation, and “increment” is less natural here than “increase.” These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the broad message, but they make the report less fluent and sometimes obscure the intended comparison. Aim for accurate data-reporting collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast in “In contrast, serious injury increased…” and a time sequence in the sentence about fatal injuries. The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors occur in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and verb forms. For example, “total number of injury increased” needs an article and a plural noun, while “there was fluctuations” has a subject–verb agreement error. The construction “The slight injury was increased” uses an unsuitable passive form, and “before slightly dipped” is missing a grammatical verb structure. Commas are also missing in places, such as after “49.” More accurate sentence patterns and careful proofreading would improve control.

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