Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-11

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 above charts illustrates, 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.

Overall, the Alsatian and Occitan were the most commonly speaking regional language in their childhood, while Creole and Corsican were spoken by less people. However, the number of adults passing their language to children was considerably low.

Alsatian was spoken habitually by 600,000 adults, making it one of the most common language. A similar number of people were spoking Occitan. In contrast, the figures of, Breton, Creole and Corsican were less 300,000, 100,000 and 100,000 respectively. In terms of occasional use, Occitan was by far most common, at approximately 1.1 million people, whereas the figures for other language were low.

The second chart show the substantial decline in the number of people who passed these language on to their children. Alsatian remained more at 400,000 approximately followed by Occitan as 250,000. Breton accounted over 100,000 speakers. Creole and Corsican were same as 100,000 nearly speak by adult children's.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task by describing both charts and identifying key trends. You successfully highlight the most common languages and the general decline in usage. However, the report lacks a clear overview of the data, and some figures are slightly inaccurate or confusingly presented, such as the claim that 'Alsatian remained more at 400,000'. To improve, ensure that your summary clearly contrasts the two charts and that all data points are transcribed accurately from the source. The structure is logical, but the analysis could be more precise to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on the two charts. You use some cohesive devices like 'In contrast', 'Overall', and 'The second chart', which helps the flow. However, some transitions are mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final sentence where the phrasing 'speak by adult children's' is awkward and disrupts the flow. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus will help improve the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'habitually', 'substantial decline', and 'approximately'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'most commonly speaking regional language' (should be 'most commonly spoken') and 'less 300,000' (should be 'less than 300,000'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your report. To achieve a higher score, focus on using more accurate collocations and ensuring that your word forms (e.g., adjectives vs. adverbs) are used correctly in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The above charts illustrates', 'The second chart show') and incorrect verb forms ('were spoking', 'nearly speak by adult children's'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the unnecessary comma in 'the figures of, Breton'. While these errors rarely prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they are frequent enough to keep the score in the 5.5–6.0 range. Focusing on basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for verb tense consistency would be highly beneficial.

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

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