Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-20
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 charts illustrates the number of French adults, measured in thousands, whose parents spoke French regional language to them in their childhood, as well as the number of adults who currently spoke French regional language to their own children.
Overall, Alsatian and Occitan were the most commonly spoken languages by parents, depending on the measurement whether they were spoken habitually or occasionally. In contrast, Corsican is the least spoken language in both charts.
Regarding the language spoken habitually by parents, Alsatian and Occitan were at the top, with 600 thousand. Corsican were at the bottom with by 90 thousand only. Breton number quite high as compare to Crele, by 180 thousand. On the other hand, the language spoken occasionally by parents, Occitan took lead by 1.08 million. Breton stand at the ranked second with 400 thousand. While, Creole and Corsican stand bottom with almost same number. However, Alsatian were have around 250 thousand.
As for the adults who spoke French regional language to their own children, Alsatian ranked first with 400 thousand and Occitan ranked second, at 250 thousand. Furthermore, Corsican were at the bottom and Breton took lead by 10 thousand from Creole.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the charts, identifying key trends and comparing the data points. However, the report lacks precision in data reporting. For instance, the phrase 'Breton number quite high as compare to Crele' is vague and lacks specific figures. Additionally, the description of the second chart is somewhat underdeveloped, as it fails to provide a clear overview of the decline or shift in language usage between the two generations. While the main trends are identified, the lack of accurate data reporting and the omission of a clear comparison between the two charts (parents vs. children) limits the score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs focusing on specific data sets. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In contrast', 'Regarding', and 'On the other hand', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'While, Creole and Corsican stand bottom'. The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. Overall, the information is arranged coherently, but the use of cohesive devices is not always flexible or natural.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to describe the charts and compare figures. There are attempts to use specific terminology like 'habitually' and 'occasionally'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'Breton number quite high' (instead of 'The number of Breton speakers was high') and 'took lead by 10 thousand' (instead of 'led by'). These errors do not impede communication, but they demonstrate a limited range and lack of precision in academic reporting.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'The bar charts illustrates', 'Corsican were at the bottom', 'Alsatian were have'). There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of basic grammatical errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. The student needs to focus on ensuring that subjects and verbs agree and that tense usage is consistent throughout the report.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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