Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the number of French adults whose parents spoke a French regional language to them when they were children and the number who speak a French regional language to their own children.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

Number of adults (in thousands) whose parents spoke a regional language to them in childhood

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar graph illustrates, number of adults whose parents spoke with them in a regional language to them in childhood by comparing with the parents who speak regional language habitually and occasionally and the number of adults who speak a regional language to their children.

Overall Occitan is seen as mostly spoken by parents when they were children of different categories in it. Secondly Alsatian is second most language spoken by parents to their own children. Whereas Corsican, creole, Breton is least spoken by all of them.

Occitan is the widely spoken language by the parents who spoke a regional language to their children occasionally by more than 1 million whereas parents who spoke habitually was slightly more than 600k which was same for Alsatian with 600k. However, comparing it with adults who speak regional language to their children, Alsatian was widely spoken with 400k rather than Occitan with 250k only.

However, there was other 3 languages which was spoken Breton, Creole and Corsican. In which Corsican was spoken least by all categories number receding below 100 or on 100. Moreover, Breton was spoken widely among this three in 1st bar graph and came on rank 3rd among all. However, Creole was also under 100k in 2nd graph and just above for the 1st one.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that Occitan dominates the parental figures, especially in occasional use, and you note that Alsatian leads among adults speaking to their own children. These are relevant comparisons, and several figures are broadly accurate, including Occitan at just over one million occasional speakers and Alsatian at about 400,000 in the final chart. However, the overview is unclear when it says Occitan is “mostly spoken” across categories, and the claim that Corsican, Creole and Breton are the least spoken “by all of them” overlooks Breton’s higher figures than Creole and Corsican. The report also gives limited coverage of the full comparisons, particularly the habitual figures and the substantial drop from childhood exposure to speaking to children. Select the key contrasts more precisely and support them consistently with data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable report structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of details. It also attempts to guide the reader with expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “Moreover.” Nevertheless, progression is not always clear because the discussion shifts between the two charts and the three smaller languages without a consistent comparison pattern. Phrases such as “in 1st bar graph” and “2nd graph” make the references less clear, while “However” is repeated even when the relationship is not a contrast. The final paragraph combines several comparisons in a compressed way. Organise the details by chart or by clear groups of languages, and use linking words only where their logical relationship is accurate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “habitually,” “occasionally,” “widely spoken,” and “regional language,” so the reader can generally understand the subject. There is also some attempt to vary wording, for example “rank 3rd” and “receding.” However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural: “mostly spoken by parents when they were children of different categories” does not clearly describe the data, and “number receding below 100” is not an appropriate way to report a figure. Repetition of “spoken” and “widely” also limits the range. Choose precise chart-reporting language such as “recorded,” “stood at,” and “the lowest figure,” and use “share a language with their children” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons introduced by “whereas” and “although”-type contrast structures. However, errors are frequent enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. The opening sentence has a faulty structure (“illustrates, number of adults … by comparing with”), and “Alsatian is second most language spoken” lacks a grammatical construction. Agreement and sentence formation are also problematic in “there was other 3 languages which was spoken,” while “Corsican, creole, Breton is least spoken” has a plural subject with a singular verb. Work on complete sentence patterns, subject–verb agreement, articles, and punctuation; shorter, accurately formed comparisons would improve clarity before adding more complex structures.

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

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